Monday, Sept 16.

Day 47.         Cowra to Bathurst.

Distance: 103 km in 6hrs 27min at 15.9 km/hr.

Distance so far: 4685 km.

Climbed: 3743 ft.

Elevation tonight: 2205 ft ASL.

AHR: 110 m.

Punctures so far:  5.

Out at 6.30 am.       In at 3.30 pm.

 The forecast was bad for today so I hit the road early. There was talk of heavy rain (possibly thunderstorms) in the Bathurst area, of NE winds and I knew that today was all uphill. Not a prospect to get you out of bed on a Monday morning.

The weather turned out just like that. Headwind was there from the word go; rain started spitting at the 20 km mark; became heavier at 50 km and stayed like that for the day. I arrived in this evening like the proverbial wet rat; but I was just soaked to the skin...nothing deeper.

The headwind really hampered progress. There were times that even with a 2% fall I had to pedal hard to maintain 18 km/ hr. The average speed for the day tells the story.

Hills weren’t unexpected. I knew that today and tomorrow were to be the two climbing days into the Blue Mountains and I savoured the prospect of doing just that ....in pleasant conditions. Hills just kept coming at me. Some were long, up to 1 km long hitting 10% in places. Progressing at just 8km/hr was acceptable in the circumstances. Sometimes I paused on a crest and happen to glance back and couldn’t believe that I had cycled up that. That heartened me. Still I never dismounted or felt like it. After all the pedalling of the last 7 weeks, the legs are so much stronger.

At 68 km I reached Blayney in the rain and settled for morning coffee. Actually, since the rain had just got heavier, I immediately followed it with lunch. In the Visitor Centre a booklet mentions that it may be named after Castleblayney (Monaghan) as it’s located in a valley of similar proportions. Another suggestion is that it is called after an Irish shepherd called Blayney who looked after this out-station.

Either way, there is a definite Irish touch about the place. I dined in Ryan’s Bakery. Across the street was Tooheys Bar and Hotel, and down a bit was O’Brien’s Constructions. One lady in the Bakery told me that there were a lot of Ryan's around; got different story in the Visitor Centre. Rain just kept pouring down outside the window.

After Blayney, the road kept rising to the 80 km mark. At this point I was up into fog / cloud but my two red flashers behind and flasher on front made me quite visible as I cycled along the shoulder. Here at the highest point of the day I was at 3340 ft ASL...almost as high as Carrantouhill.

With all the rain gear on and the rain continuing, I was reluctant to take out the camera, but I just had to stop and capture Dicks Creek. It looked healthier than a lot of creeks I’ve seen over the last few weeks.

Shortly afterwards the unmentionable happened. The front wheel hit an edge and resulted in a pinch flat. At least I heard a clunk and felt on the rim almost immediately. At least it wasn't the back wheel. I whipped off the wheel, in with a new tube and off again. Need to locate the hole and patch it tonight.

With poor visibility I arrived into Bathurst shortly after 3pm and checked into the Explorers Motel and was assigned to Seomra a hOcht. It had been a long day but before changing I dropped off the bags and cycled up to Mount Panorama.

Mount Panorama is an iconic racing circuit in Australia. It hosts a 12 hour endurance race for closed body V8 supercars each Feb and the Bathurst 1000 each October (1000km ultra endurance race). These V8 can attain up to 300km/hr on the long Conrod Straight. At the end of the Finishing straight is the 90deg left-hander called Hell Corner.

It’s a 6.2 km circuit with a vertical height difference of 174 metres between the lowest and highest points. When racing is not taking place it is a two-way public road. I cycled part of it (didn’t go up to the higher part...had enough hills already today) and made a great dash along the finishing straight to the applause of all those on the stands! I'm glad I made the trip up in spite of my soaked condition ....couldn't get any wetter anyhow.

I cycled back through the centre of Bathurst and noted Jack Duggans Irish Pub. But, I’m not going there tonight. It's still pouring away outside and the forecast for tomorrow is much the same as today. But, I change direction in the morning and I might get a bit of wind assistance.

A day that had it all......rain, headwind, hills and a puncture thrown in for good measure. That’s life!

Tham

Nk God for the health and thank God for the energy.