wind, fuel and sunsets
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Day 5 – 4/03/2015
Start – In the bushes 30km south of Ivanhoe Finish – Adelaide Distance travelled – 780km Words by - Swells |
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The wind started about 1 in the morning, and I paid it no particular attention. Siting on my bike ready to roll out and tackle the last 783km into Adelaide, Dan like an old sailor, faces directly into the angry wind and yells “This head wind is not going to help us make Adelaide”, “no” I said simply, while thinking in my helmet, wow the fact I missed this critical connection made me appreciate Dan’s on the road wisdom even more.
Riding in the open planes with nothing but 1foot high salt bushes either side for miles is boring, so I should have been grateful for the wind which gave me something to do, it was impossible to keep the bike in a straight line, when riding directly into the wind it dropped the cruising speed by 20km/h down to 80, turning a slight bend in the road, with the wind now ripping into the side of the bike, leaning into the wind on what felt like 30degre angle was the only way to progress in somewhat of a straight line. Luke and I quickly sort shelter in behind Dan’s bike, being pulled along in his slip stream for the 180k’s into Balranald. With the exception of one quick stop to share some fuel between the bikes as Luke’s had run dry.
From Balranald the Sturt Hwy would take us all the way to Adelaide, with one small detour which Dan found, which took us over the Murray River on a ferry then onto a swimming spot equipped with rope swing. As I have now not had a shower since leaving home the Murray River provided the perfect adventure bath.
The sunset over the Adelaide hills was magnificent, the only problem was we were riding directly into it. Once again Dan took the lead while Luke and I followed behind guided by his silhouette. With the air temp quickly dropping it went from a welcome relief to shivering inside our jackets as we crested the hills and caught our first glimpses of Adelaide. It was now that my bike the Super Sherpa ran out of fuel and on the side of the Hwy Luke now shared his fuel to get us into the next service station.
Arriving at our nights’ accommodation the sense of adventure accomplishment was stoked on by our host’s sense of hospitality, as we were treated to Coronas and a large healthy nutritious meal that our stomachs yearned for.
Riding in the open planes with nothing but 1foot high salt bushes either side for miles is boring, so I should have been grateful for the wind which gave me something to do, it was impossible to keep the bike in a straight line, when riding directly into the wind it dropped the cruising speed by 20km/h down to 80, turning a slight bend in the road, with the wind now ripping into the side of the bike, leaning into the wind on what felt like 30degre angle was the only way to progress in somewhat of a straight line. Luke and I quickly sort shelter in behind Dan’s bike, being pulled along in his slip stream for the 180k’s into Balranald. With the exception of one quick stop to share some fuel between the bikes as Luke’s had run dry.
From Balranald the Sturt Hwy would take us all the way to Adelaide, with one small detour which Dan found, which took us over the Murray River on a ferry then onto a swimming spot equipped with rope swing. As I have now not had a shower since leaving home the Murray River provided the perfect adventure bath.
The sunset over the Adelaide hills was magnificent, the only problem was we were riding directly into it. Once again Dan took the lead while Luke and I followed behind guided by his silhouette. With the air temp quickly dropping it went from a welcome relief to shivering inside our jackets as we crested the hills and caught our first glimpses of Adelaide. It was now that my bike the Super Sherpa ran out of fuel and on the side of the Hwy Luke now shared his fuel to get us into the next service station.
Arriving at our nights’ accommodation the sense of adventure accomplishment was stoked on by our host’s sense of hospitality, as we were treated to Coronas and a large healthy nutritious meal that our stomachs yearned for.
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