Day 092, Monday, 29 June 2009

Distance travelled – 148.7 km
Avg speed – 21.5 kph
Max speed – 44.1 kph

Georgetown to Croydon

Three months ago we left home and although we miss everyone back in Canberra we still do not miss being at home.

Because we had a good day riding yesterday we decided last night to try and ride our first 150km day today. Originally we had planned to break the leg to Croydon into two, staying beside the Gilbert River overnight. However, the rest area at the Gilbert was not meant to be the best so we thought we would try for Croydon in one day. After all we needed to know if we could do the distance given some of our planned legs in the future. We decided to carry everything we needed for an overnight camp and see how we felt when we got to the Gilbert River. So with an extra 12 litres of water (an extra 12kg) on top of our normal daily 10 litre allowance we left Georgetown at 8.00am.

Denise was the pace setter today and we covered the first 40 km in well under 2 hours. At times I had trouble keeping my front wheel inside her draft and after an hour I was not that confident of achieving our goal of Croydon. During the trip we have found that on some days one of us is able to ride better than the other but we have not been able to work out what the trigger is that determines this. We eat the same and sleep the same number of hours but there is nothing obvious to us that determines that today Mark will have a hard day and Denise will have an easy day and vice versa. Talking to other cyclists they also experience this phenomena.

As we approached the Gilbert River we came across a sign advertising fruit and vegies and out of season mangoes, which made us get a little excited about the opportunities for morning tea. However, as we came to the roadside stall at the front of the mango plantation there was nothing on sale. What ever happened to the out of season mangos promised back up the road?

180 degree pano from the centre of the Gilbert River Bridge

We definitely enjoy being out in this country and at times it feels we have it all to ourselves. Today we had the added bonus of riding through a lot of flowering trees and bushes and the perfume was very pleasant. Although today was extremely hot it was pleasant when we were riding, it is amazing how much cooler it is when you are moving than standing still in the sun. 

Rest and lunch stops in the shade of a nice tree are very relaxing particularly when there is a good view and lots of birds about. These are all things you miss in an air-conditioned car.

We have often been surprised by comments from people at the caravan parks saying there are no birds about as we see them everywhere. Today as we approached Croydon the number of birds around the ‘farm’ dams was really amazing.

We arrived at Croydon at 5.40 and put up the tent, had a shower and headed for the pub for dinner. We met up with Greg and Kathy who have been on the road for 15 months and ended up getting back to our tent at 10.00pm.

We had a nice day today.

We will stay in Croydon for the next three nights and catch the Gulflander to Normanton on Thursday.

Zoom into the map and use the 'Satellite' layer to see our new location.

The locals trying to work out what we are doing.

Today was a day of many stops - #1

Today was a day of many stops - #2 - Gilbert River

Fossilised road kill in the bitumen!

Today was a day of many stops - #3

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