Day 6, Katanning to Mount Barker, 119km, 6h 52m!!!!
Unfortunately even though I am thousands of miles away from England I can't seem to break my Arsenal addiction. Since arriving in Australia I have pretty much watched or listened to every game. This means waking up at 4am in the morning as it did last night. I drifted in and out of sleep listening to the Arsenal Newcastle game until I awoke properly for the last 15 minutes of the game. Whilst drinking a tomato cup-a-soup, Thomas Varmaelen was sprinting up the field in the dying minutes of the game to latch onto a cross from Theo. I went crazy, silently though. How's the gap now bloody spuds.... mind the gap indeed! I knew the last minute goal and win would put me in a good mood and spur me on for today, I acknowledged how sad this is. Now the heat wave had passed the plan was for a big push south. I wanted to reach Mount Barking, 120km away, 50 kms north of Albany. I was told that most of it should be downhill by a local lady.
So I set off into the morning sun, wait no I didn't it was bloody raining and windy as f***! It felt like a typical English winters morning, cold, windy and wet. It was that bloody sideways rain as well. Undeterred I pushed on, there was no use in stopping as there was no cover. This was to be the beginning of a 7 hour battle with a very cross headwind. The wind was swirling around and pushing me side to side and gusts would literally grind me to a stop. I refused to get angry or annoyed, I knew I would encounter these conditions sooner or later. With my legs feeling strong I managed to find a rhythm, albeit a slow one.
The highway was becoming increasingly busier and I was encountering more road trains, which caused more problems. Road trains are big trucks which have two or three sections, they cause loads of unstable air behind them. I have seen pictures of caravans that have exploded in the wake of these Goliath's. Along with having to deal with the headwind and it's gusts I had to deal with kickback from the trucks and the sideways rain! I took it in my stride, felt in control and safe but mentally all the concentration to keep the bike under control was draining. With the weight and large surface areas of my bike bags a surprise gust of wind could blow you into the middle of the road and the passing pressure from the trucks can suck you in towards them, very disconcerting. I battled on and slowly ground out the kilometres and reached Cranbrook, the last town on the Great Southern Highway. I stopped for some beans on toast but soon left as I was eager to finish the ride as soon as possible.
Soon enough I reached the t-junction that signalled the end of the Great Southern highway. It felt momentous,
I had ridden every kilometre of this highway from start to finish. With 45km to go till Mt Barker I was beginning to struggle, my average speed was down to 17km an hour, on a normal day it would be around 25. Physically my legs still felt fine I just had no appetite in my head for another 45km. I again began to grind out the kilometres very slowly. Before long I was clock watching, I would look down at my speedo to check on my progress, I was constantly disappointed. The wind was still battering me as I reached the last 20km and then I remembered Tommy V making that last minute run from his own half to score the winning goal to put Arsenal one point behind the spuds. That glorious moment inspired me to dig in. I started cursing the wind, at one point shouting "burn, BURN, BURN..." not sure who at, the wind can't exactly burn, or can it....?
Anyway, I finally rode into Mt Barker with my pained grimace face on. It looks like some one has tightened all
My muscles in my face and my mouth hangs open like one of those whale sharks which feeds off plankton. To the lady who told me it was downhill, it wasn't! It was peaks and trofs all day. I am expecting a 50km downhill to Albany tomorrow or I'm coming to slash your tires!
It was a hard day, it was my first +100km day. The wind didn't like me today but I have managed to catch up with my itinerary, I have a small 50 km ride into Albany tomorrow where I can rest up for a couple of days and most importantly arsenal are one point behind Tottenham thanks to Tommy V!
Till tomorrow