A lot of surprise happened during this trip. Some good new and some bad news. I met many nice people like Joy & Graham, Matt and his girlfriend, The Team (Kate & Graham, Neil, Sue & John, Charles). I had a problem with my trailer wheel’s hub. Then I’ve stayed in Alice Springs a bit longer than expected, waiting for my new hub to arrive.
Category: South Australia
Marla > Alice Springs (454km by car)
Today is another great day :-) Well, I’ve got some trouble with my bike but this is not the end of the world though. This is the third day I’m travelling with Neil, Graham, Kate, John and Sue and it has been wonderful so far. We crossed the border from South Australia to the Northern Territory this morning so I’ve been visiting 4 states in Australia until now. From now the rain might be really rare because of the start of the dry season. The last obstacle will be the wind. Neil travelled a lot in Australia from what I’ve heard and he said, each time he drove on the Stuart Highway he got headwind. The adventure goes on :-)
Coober Pedy > Marla (230km by car)
This is a big day with something like 50 pictures today! I’m over the limit! But how could I avoid this when visiting a town like Coober Pedy. This is a completely new experience, a place like this where I’ve never been to before. Let’s start that wonderful visit!
Bon Bon Rest Area > Tarcoola (40km, 4h) > Coober Pedy (120km by car)
Aie aie aie… Today happened what I did not want to. Firstly, the wind is a strong head one today (Anthony, you were right). Secondly, my hub is not doing well. It started making a bad noise which means I’m certainly damaging the magnet system inside it. It’s not good. I must find a solution before being stuck in the middle of nowhere! But let’s start the day from the beginning, before everything happens…
Glendambo > Bon Bon Rest Area (85km, 4h30)
Today, I’m continuing this great adventure in the desert :-) I’ve got about 250km to reach Coober Pedy, the next big city which is far doable. I know there is two Rest Area with rainwater tank every 80km which is far doable. The wind is still against me. It’s light but it’s here. Anyway, I’ll make it.
Pimba > Glendambo (114km, 6h40)
Hey, this is my third day cycling in the Australian desert. Unfortunately, for the second day in a row the wind is against me. It’s not a strong wind though but always a bit annoying. Looking at the map yesterday I realized that Pimba is on the top of a hill. And, I will spend all my day going up hill again. Regards the sightseeing, there is still some salted lakes around today and I got water at Lake Hart rest area (40km from Pimba), nice!
Range View Rest Area > Pimba Roadhouse (111km, 6h15)
The first word that comes to my mind when I think about today is Wow! I wanted something different and not too easy. I think I found it. On the top of this, the wind was not on my side today which made pedaling harder. And who said Australia is flat? In a year of cycling I had only 3 days of really flat road. Every other roads were hilly! Well I knew that Alice Springs is about 800m high so it’s a looong slope of 2000km each side. But “they” have added more hills between to be sure it’s not too boring. I think… ;-)