Everyday on a cycle tour there is some event,scene or person that makes the day memorable,and one never knows what it will be until it happens.Today we were up at the normal 05.00,down for breakfast at 06.00,everybody had an extra layer of clothes on,but the roads were dry,the sky had a good bit of blue and the wind was due to be a tailwind. Upstairs to finish the packing and dressing.Elizabeth decided to wear a shoe bag on her head for warmth,I opted for a plastic bag over my scalp and a layer of cloth to cover the vents in the helmet.Two jackets,a tee shirt and my cycle shirt,leg warmers,new gloves and as we left hand warmers in each glove.The light rain turned to hail,the hail to balls of snow and so we cycled out of town,in a freezing wind with the snow accumulating in wind blown corners and the sky becoming darker.
With a steady slight descent and the brisk tail wind we made good time until I had a rear wheel puncture.Found a flint and a small wire,removed,tube changed and off we go,20 minutes later the same scenario and another small wire.We made it to the first stop,everybody else had gone on.A quick trip to the ladies for Elizabeth,a hurried banana and off to go,5 minutes and a third puncture.The wind was now increasing in power and decreasing in temperature,horrible when one had to stop.the snow showers continued to come and go and the miles rolled by thanks to the tail wind-hold on there was a plaintive cry from behind me and Elizabeth has a puncture.In one sense I was relived that it could happen to somebody else but another stop in the vicious wind,this time there were three wires in the back tyre,repair and load up with more spare tubes and off we go again.Make it to the next stop and Elizabeth has to ride the rabbit for a souvenir photo.One more stop to celebrate the song 'Standin on the corner' and a photo below.
All this time the scenery is very flat,with a few cows but little else as a distraction,just the wind and the miles,and then we are in Holbrook and at the hotel,and out of the wind and cold.Thanks to the tail wind we have cycled 150.9 Kms at an average speed of 31.4 Kph- a record for us both but a fantastic record for my Mrs Sensational.
We rewarded ourselves with a McDonalds!!
With a steady slight descent and the brisk tail wind we made good time until I had a rear wheel puncture.Found a flint and a small wire,removed,tube changed and off we go,20 minutes later the same scenario and another small wire.We made it to the first stop,everybody else had gone on.A quick trip to the ladies for Elizabeth,a hurried banana and off to go,5 minutes and a third puncture.The wind was now increasing in power and decreasing in temperature,horrible when one had to stop.the snow showers continued to come and go and the miles rolled by thanks to the tail wind-hold on there was a plaintive cry from behind me and Elizabeth has a puncture.In one sense I was relived that it could happen to somebody else but another stop in the vicious wind,this time there were three wires in the back tyre,repair and load up with more spare tubes and off we go again.Make it to the next stop and Elizabeth has to ride the rabbit for a souvenir photo.One more stop to celebrate the song 'Standin on the corner' and a photo below.
We rewarded ourselves with a McDonalds!!
I was hoping to see a picture of the shoe bag but Elizabeth on the rabbit makes up for it.
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