DAY 2: Mount Garnet to the Oasis road house (with Ben’s stinky sock)

Distance ridden today: 163 km
Ridden so far: 268 km
Estimated to go: ~2482 km
Pain factor: 8.5.
Up: 1069 m
Down: 1113 m.
Calories: 5,048.
Something I learnt today: The days of being prone to cramps seem to be gone (hopefully).
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/22425534653

Slept like a log in my Donger. Owners were nice and talkative. Got round the property on e-bikes and would wave and say hello as they rode past. I ducked back into the BP servo to top up on supplies and was on the road by 8:30ish. More hills. I spent the next couple of hours undulating my way up from 600 metres to nearly 1000. Again. WTF? Winds were generally easterly and hitting me from the side. A bit of head wind. A bit of tail wind. Winds up here are confused like all Queenslanders. I know they had a lot of rain up this way and it shows. The whole way was rather lush, with the grass (rye I guess?) as high as me with healthy looking trees. This kind of limited rest stops as I had to wait till gravel traps or the entrance to a cattle station to sit down. Cairns is now a fading away and there is a whole lot of nothing ahead. “The Lynd” is a bit of a misnomer. Only a roadhouse and shit all else.

I go through lots of water which was the main concern of this trip. I know I do because I drink lots and go hours without a pee. Small at that. I think I am just a sweater. So, again I filled all bottles and put about 7 litres in the water bladder (partly also in anticipation I might sleep the night). Anyway, there is rare chances to get water so you imagine my delight when I came across a tap at the entrance to a property. You know life is good when a simple tap brings you joy. I took my chance that it was drinkable (and as of writing this post, no issues).

So I intended to camp or stay at this “Adventure Park” place. EPIC FAIL 3: I did not account for the fact it was 30 KILOMETRES down a road. So that would be 30 there and back for a total of 60 wasted km. F*&k that I thought and sat for 10 minutes planning my move. I had 70 kms under the belt. The next known reliable water was 95 km down the road at the Oasis Road house and nothing in between. I had plenty of water should I need to camp. I called them up to check what time they closed and off I sailed. THANKFULLY, at that point I seemed to have reached the top of the gradual climb. I knew it had to end somewhere as the Oasis was about 500 metres above sea level. The bliss of about 25km of ever so gently descending road. I was doing about 35 km/h for this time (carrying all the weight, not too bad I say).

After the turn off which went to Georgetown, things on the road got REALLY quite. Nothing for 10 of more minutes. I also FINALLY came across road trains (3 carriages). No issue with them. Cars I road close to the side, but trucks I was pulling over to let pass. Really, these roads are for those things to get what we want round the country, so why wouldn’t I? Still, they moved to the middle of the road to pass me which was good. I only had to stop max 5 or 6 times to let the big guys through. Far less trucks than I thought there would be.

Once I hit about the 110 km mark, the decision had to be made. Camp or gun it for the Oasis 55 km down the road. I was feeling good so decided the later. This would mean night riding. I knew I’d be doing this so bought and packed a Rockbros 1600 lumen light (plus the flashy red for the rear). Gone are the days of a separate battery pack for the light. This USB-C baby plugs straight into a USB batter pack. I have a 20,000 mAH. For the 1.5 hours I rode in the dark it used just 8% of it (on high beam). For kicks I turned it of for a second. Dark. Damn dark.

I did struggle for the last 10kms to the Oasis. I think was a mix of knowing I was almost there as well as not feeding for over 2 hours. Constant food matters. Big time. The Oasis was basically a servo with dongers. Run by a young French couple from Paris. Why?! (still I can’t talk, they looked at me in bewilderment when I told them what I was doing). Anyway, when checking in I wolfed down a Poweraide, pasta, hot chips & sultanas. Reminder, eat as much sugary, salty, carbie, fatty foods you can get your hands on. Bike behaving. So far.

It is at this point I must introduce you to my first random riding companion. My nephew’s (Ben) dirty sock. In my final packing at my sisters house, I threw in a dirty shirt of mine on the floor (by mistake) which I found also had Ben’s sock with it (dirty also I assume)

My motto is to only bring what you need. But I now consider it my duty to return it (hopefully via bicycle). I am even letting it ride shotgun up in the cockpit with me. You will see more of this sock on my travels…

So tomorrow will be interesting and I need to be mindful of the 163 km day today. The next reliable food and water is Greenvale, which is only 50 km up the road. Then there is NOTHING for 200 km to Charters Towers. I was well aware of this bit before I schemed up this ride. It is really going to depend on how I feel. At this stage I am thinking 50 km to Greenvale. Rest up, gorge & hydrate. Then hit up the 200 km with a camp at a rest stop/gravel trap mid way. The water bladder will be full so a heavy ride. Part planned, part making it up as I go, I’m sure I will figure it out….

(Oh and posts might be patchy over the next few days as I go real bike-about).