|
Day 4: Bunbury >> Busselton
I started off the day today rather slowly. Not all bad though - I had a few things to do on the 'net that couldn't wait, so made use of it while i could. After I'd managed to complete as best possible those items, i went about totally unpacking all of my gear, ready for the big cull.
See, for the first time I was able to leave behind items that I would need further down the track - my battery chargers for my laptop, phone and AAs, I managed to leave behind a rather significant amount of gear, actually. You see in today's blog a photo which shows my bike fully packed, ready to go - with all of the items i left behind not included. Not only did i not have anything strapped on top of my rear rack on the bike, but i managed to get away without needing any rack bags at all!
Ok, in this configuration i'm hardly able to tackle a desert, as i have limited water carrying ability, and also lack the ability to recharge any of my electronic devices. Regardless, what I have packed is close to my bare essentials, not including my laptop ofcourse - we all need our luxuries :)
After packing up my gear and filling my 5 water bottles (totaling about 4L of water) I set off for the day at about 11am, heading south towards Busselton. Before leaving I checked the weather conditions, which didn't look TOO bad... Should be a fairly fine day, but with some gusty winds - turned out to be pretty accurate in the end.
I was making really good time early on my trip, with average speeds hovering well above 22km/h, that later settled for around about 21km/h for the most part of the day. Earlier this morning I attached a mirror to my handlebars, but had a few issues with orientation while on the road, soon fixed however. If it wasn't for the fairly rough roads most of the way it would actually be useful, rather than a blur of colours. Not that it particularly mattered much on this stretch of road, it was nearly always busy.
At about the 25km mark i pulled off the road for a quick drink, and decided I'd try altering the angle of my seat again, and raising the height a little. I couldn't help but feel I was sitting just a smidgen too low. A 1cm correction and it felt much better. The pain I had started to feel in the last few k's in my right knee-cap subsided, and I was again making good time, despite the crosswinds from the west, and an occasional headwind.
Roughly half way through the trip to Busselton, there was an 'alternative' route, which took me onto Tuart Drive, and through the Tuart Forest National Park. The roads along this stretch were actually particularly good, even for a tourist road. For this stretch of tarmac I was still hovering around 22-23km/h, which I was rather pleased with.
Half way through the road, and only about 15km away from the start of Busselton, I stopped off at a small parking spot setup with a table and seats. This was a rather nice place to relax for lunch, so out it came. Even though it was a pine forest, it was nice to just sit down and appreciate my surroundings - I'm feeling pretty lucky right about now.
It was now about 1:30pm, so i figured if I wanted to make Dunsborough before dinner, I'd better get a move on. That was one of my possible campsites for tonight, though I'd also been considering finding one on Caves road just outside of Busselton for a slightly easier day today, and then head into Margaret River and onto the Conto Road campsite at Leeuwin-Naturaliste National park tomorrow afternoon.
Sadly though, it looked like that choice was going to be made for me. Only 5km from my lunch break my right knee had started to act up again. I had tried different pedaling techniques to see if it was anything I was doing, or if there was anything I could do to fix it, but it appeared not. It was only when I rejoined the Bussel Highway at the end of Tuart Drive that it really set in bad, and I knew that no amount of breaks would help this one get better.
Don't get me wrong, there was no way i was going to give up, but I knew that I wasn't going to make it through to Dunsborough today, let alone pushing onto Margaret River - the thought had crossed my mind earlier today due to me making such good time.
I struggled my way into the city center of Busselton, basically crawling along at about 12km/h - to go any faster was only increasing the pain. After I reached the city center and had a quick look around to explore the facilities I walked my bike onwards to the foreshore, where I decided that it was time to medicate not only my body, but also my soul. So I slapped on some anti-inflammitory gel on my knee, threw on some water-proof pants and jacket, so I looked almost respectable, then made my way into the nearby cafe.
It was now 3pm, though I did manage to get served some fish and chips before the chefs knocked off for a few hours between lunch and dinner. The Cappuccino certainly helped a little too! After finishing up my meal (not that I felt I needed the energy, but hey!) some Panadol and Nurofen were on the menu, to try and reduce the amount of pain my knee has been putting me through!
Though it didn't feel like the drugs were working, I was able to get back cycling at about 16km/h - hopefully enough to get me to a campsite before dark, as it was now 4pm. I'm not sure if the drugs were working and I was just punishing my knee by going this fast, but the pain seemed to be dulling slightly.
Another thing becoming dull was the sky - I could see some big gray clouds coming in overhead, I'd rather get to a campsite before they met me. Alas, it wasn't to be, down it came. Luckily, I was still wearing my waterproof pants and jacket from the cafe, so only my face was a little wet, nothing to cry about ;)
My knee did feel like it was getting a bit worse though - pushing that little bit harder to try and find a campsite and not just a caravan park was putting some perhaps undue pressure on my poor body. Darkness was looming and all that appeared in front of me were what seemed like never ending entrances to religious camps. It seemed that there was one for every single denomination of Christianity - shows that they can't even shake hands and share a campsite or two between themselves!
Just as I was about to turn back and head into one of the caravan parks I'd recently passed I came across a campsite sign which was NOT a religious camp, but instead a scouts camp. Considering I have been involved in the scouting movement since I was about 11, it seemed perfect for me to roll on in!
After checking the facilities available to me (running water, electricity (though I've nothing to charge!), BBQs) I was set! The toilet block was locked however, though that was not a big deal. The running water was a bit of a luxury however, so I made use of it and washed up my mess kit (saucepan, bowl, cup, knife fork and spoon) properly after which I setup camp for the night, just as the darkness took hold.
If I'd not found this scout campsite, I'm not sure how much further I would have had to have gone before something appeared to me.
I am a little stressed out about my knee - I hope it has the ability to get me to the campsite near Margaret River tomorrow. After that it can have a 3 or 4 day rest, while I catch up with some mates. Just keep dosing myself with drugs and anti-inflammitory gel I guess.
While writing this it has just started raining - with any luck tomorrow morning will be clear so that I can at least pack up my gear while it's dry. I don't mind so much riding in the rain, but I'd sure like to have dry gear to wear and sleep in tomorrow night! Also of interest, I can hear some kind of animal grazing just outside my tent - by the sounds of things a Wallaby/Kangaroo. I'm glad that it's the one getting wet tonight and not me!
Anyway, I've rambled on enough for today... Hopefully I've not bored too many of you! So here's my stats:
Distance: 61.1km
Average: 18.1km/h
Maximum: 36.0km/h
Not all that bad, considering my bung knee - average speed before it got bad was up around 21km/h still, which shows how much it slowed me down for the last 10km or so into Busselton.
Fingers crossed I'll make it into Margaret River tomorrow!
|
