117.8km ridden today
1693.6 ridden so far
534.3km to go
860m up
522m down
3716 calories burnt
Pain factor: 6/10
Strava that shit: https://www.strava.com/activities/18248167543
Hills. Hills were the flavour of today. I didn’t realise before starting it was one long very gradual rise up to 500metres (from 200). This was fine by me. The wind was good. I think that was mainly because today was through national park/forest so there was a lot of tree wind breaking going on. Thanks trees.
Let’s touch on wind again… Today I covered 117.8km with a “moving” speed of 17.3km/h (uphill 860m). Yesterday was a moving speed of 16.4km/h (uphill of 360m). This is why I hate headwind. I also covered 20km more today and feel fine, but was completely shagged after the 98 yesterday.
The road was good today. Shoulder didn’t know if it was coming or going. A few sketchy sections were I would throw my arm out to the left to indicate to upcoming truck I was pulling over. I usually got a flash of the indicators as thanks. Got 15 mentions on the CB today. A record. All simply quickly safety messages “silver tanker, pushbike southbound ahead of you, yellow bags”. As I suspected it was quieter on this stretch. I’m finding too the trucks tend to cluster together. If there is one, there is likely a couple right behind. I far prefer the freighters & tankers. Them cattle trucks leave a rather interesting smell for about a minute in their wake…
So today was all about Astronomy. So Coonabarabran is the “Astronomy” capital of Australia. I am not sure if that was self-presented or bestowed upon them. I found a random sign about Neptune at my first break rather odd. But then when I came across Uranus, the penny dropped. On the Newell Highway it is the largest “virtual solar system” with a picture and editorial on each planet along the way – spaced out to scale as the planets are. Saturn made an appearance just outside of Coonabarabran.
I will struggle sleeping tonight in anticipation of reaching Jupiter.
Then the rocky planets or Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury are further on. Yet another example of how little things really excite you in the kilometers on the bike.
And here is Coonabarabran, proudly announcing its status.
It was actually quite a nice ride into Coonabarabran. Town seems to have some vibe and swagger going on. Nice parks, main strip etc…
I’ll touch back on yesterday’s ride for a moment (no, not another wind rant). Yesterday was all about the farming fields. Layers and layers of fields. We know each one is big. But compared to when in a car, on a bike you get a feel for their sheer size and an understanding of the volume of food just one farmers field can provide. We are so lucky to have all this. And another reminder to me that the trucks on the road are more important.
Song of the day: So Sophie’s stinky sock needs some lovin’ having gone a few days without a photo. It is however still holding on for dear life on my handlebars, “riding shotgun, in the hot sun” right next to the Garmin. So today in honour of the sock I give you “Shotgun” by George Ezra (also blaired from the front pannier today). Something in there for me too I guess… “South of the equator, navigator, gonna hit the road”