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Day 2: Battle of my body and my bike. PDF Print E-mail
Written by Chig   
Monday, 15 June 2009 18:30

Day 2: Mandurah >> Yalgorup National Park

After a night of good sleep at Tak's house, along with a hearty meal the night before, I managed to set off from Tak's place at about 9:30am, but not before realising I'd left my mobile phone sitting in his lounge room! Luckily i'd not gone far, however it wasn't the best start to the day.


Making my way through the busy road to Bunbury was interesting - bike lanes on some stretches of road and not others, bike paths off the road that would start and stop at random. That didn't last too long however and i was back making good time, as i had a reasonable tail-wind which put my speed up around 25km for a few k's.

It wasn't much further however that i came across a problem. The road i was on took me to a bridge across a river, a bridge that bicycles were not allowed onto. No stress though, there was a bicycle path which crossed the road and took me to a pedestrian/bicycle underpass for the bridge. Except it was closed. After a little negotiation with some contractors who were working on the bridge, they allowed me to take my bike across, which was lucky as if I'd not been able to I would have had to head back into Mandurah and cross a different bridge, then make my way back onto Old Coast Road.

Just when I thought that my troubles were over, when i pulled off the road further on for a drink, I had found that my rear wheel quick release(axle) had come loose. It probably didn't do any damage up until I pulled off the road, where my rear wheel had angled itself nicely to jam the rim up against the brakes. One of the brake pads has sheared off its mount slightly, but it seems to be ok for now. I do have a spare one in my kit anyway, if i need to replace it.

It may have just been a coincidence, but after that problem riding the bike seemed to be a bit harder than it should. Maybe just my body telling me to stop, due to my lack of training lately. It seemed that no amount of drink, carbs, or jelly beans could keep me going much further for the day, so I decided to pull into the Yalgorup National Park, about 57km south of Mandurah.

I write this just as i finish setting up my camp. Very simple, just my tent, a stove and far too many mozzies. Really making me reconsider the gear that i need to take with me on this trip. Hopefully I should be able to cull the amount of gear i have with me significantly when I hit Bunbury.

I hope to get an early start tomorrow, and maybe make a quick stop-off at a roadhouse just ~15km from my current location. Total distance for tomorrow should be somewhere in the region of about 50km, so with any luck i should be able to explore a bit of Bunbury for a while before meeting up with my mate Russ.


Today's stats:

Total traveled: 57.6km
Average: 18.5km/h
Maximum: 35.9km/h

Overall, I guess not a bad day. I will need to do a full maintenance check on my bike tomorrow though. As I mentioned in my first days writeup, i had hoped to hit Bunbury in just one day. Sadly, my body wasn't as enthusiastic as I was, so i decided to call it quits.

Should be a fairly easy ride tomorrow, with only one significant hill to worry about, I hope! There was one today that just about knocked me flat... First time i had to use my 'granny gear' on the bike to get up a hill. REALLY made me think about the weight i was carrying!

Anyway, here's to a better day tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

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