Day 6 Wagga to Young 140kms

Actually we rode 160kms today for just over 11 hours because we decided to call into the Junee fair to have a look and rattle the tin. That added another twenty kms to the trip.

We left Wagga at 7.00 am sharp . The weather was perfect . No wind , no clouds , and the temp was just right. Craig and i set a cracking pace for the first hour and a half going great guns. Then you would not believe what happened ? The wind came up and hit us right in the face. All of a sudden we were back to fifteen kms per hour and pushing hard , straining with with every revolution , reliving the nightmares from the previous days , head tucked down just wishing it would go away.

I came up with a description the other day of what it feels like to ride a Penny-farthing up even the slightest hill whilst i was struggling to recover from a 3km climb without getting off the bike. Imagine a sand dune that goes up hill for about 1 km and its really steep . leave your shoes on and throw 2 x bags of concrete over your shoulders. Tuck your head down and go for it at a steady pace. Carry those heavy bags all the way to the top without stopping once. No matter how much pain you are in or how tired and drained you feel , you must ignore the burning feeling and resist the temptation to stop . Imagine that. And now imagine doing that for eleven hours straight.

We were having a terrible time today fighting the elements when Mal suddenly came up with a brilliant idea. That's right Mal came up with it. Who would imagine. It was a brain storm. He drove the support vehicle in front of us instead of behind using the car and the huge sign to block the wind. There was practically no traffic so it was easy and very affective. In no time we were back to twenty kms per hour and going fine again .

We are drinking between 4 and 7 litres of water each per day. Its not that you are thirsty , its because you must drink that much. You have to continually remember to drink as you go in order to keep from dehydrating . Its important that we monitor how much and if at all we are sweating because if you stop sweating its to late to do anything about it.

After a long and painfull day craig and i dismounted from our bikes and limped into our cabins at the Young Touist park for a long awaited shower and some fresh clothes.

Enough about the complaining . Every day is full of highs and lows. And every day we laugh uncontrollably about a bunch of things. The funniest moment today involved Craig being attacked by a bird. Not because he is famous and a chick magnet . It was because he rode too close to a magpie nest. He was about 50 metres in front of us and the bird came from no where. As it swooped like mad at Craigs helmet , i was able to call the whole attack over the radio and beam it straight to Craigs ear piece. I was yelling , Duck , Here it comes again , Look out Craig , Duck , its gone , no it hasn't , Duck , its coming in hard, duck again and it went on for what seemed an eternity. The magpie was not going to quit until it knocked Craig of the bike. Mal , Amanda , and myself had a fantastic view from behind of the whole fiasco. We were able to watch him duck , swerve , and swing his arms wildly over his head whilst only just managing to keep control. Meanwhile the three of us were laughing hysterically. Mal had to stop the car , i needed to dismount and Amanda needed to get Mal a towel to wipe the tears from his face. Its moments like those that lift your spirits and lighten up your day.

Today we had many generous donations from the motorists and we even had a special visit and a donation from the Cootamundra Mayor (Paul Braybrooks ) while we were travelling through his town. Tomorrow is going to be allot easier than the last few and we are looking forward to it. Our bodies are wrecked but still going , and Craig and myself are very confident that we will make it the distance.

Mal pushed a couple of wrong buttons while i was typing and there are full stops all over the place that we cannot remove. Sorry about that. .

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