Simply cycling around
Today is the first day when I can ride some few hills. There is still some long flat bit but I can enjoy the view sometimes. I expect to ride at least until Eliott and then I will improvise. I will sleep there or continue a bit more. I’ve met another cyclist too today. An English guy, George. He decided to cycle when he was in Darwin and he is going down to Adelaide. It’s gonna be cold down there, good luck man!
Last night was very good. I’ve heard someone driving around maybe around 9, 10 or 11pm. I was asleep and heard a engine outside. The car disappeared and it stayed quiet the whole night. BIG day ever today! I’ve never thought I would be able to cycle 150 on day but that’s it :-) I remember the day I met a german motorcyclist back on the west coast of New Zealand. He told me when I would be in Australia I would do 150km to 200km per day with a good tailwind. It did not happen very often though. I’m not trying to be as fast as I can as I’ve got time but after that lazy day yesterday, I don’t know, I feel like cycling :-) And look at that landscape! Amazing sky! Amazing straight road! Everything is perfect haha :-)
Today, I’ve spent most of my time in the library. The wind is cold again and this morning was hard to get my hand warm as I woke up early and nothing was open yet. I want to update my blog before I leave Tennant Creek because I’m not sure when I will get another connection. It might be in Katherine. It’s not a big deal :-) I won’t stay here another night as I have planned yesterday. There is too much Aboriginals wandering around and I don’t want to create trouble by sleeping somewhere they would maybe! I will cycle few kilometres out of town and will find a nice spot. I’m not worried about that.
I did start very early this morning. Last night was very windy and I hope strongly that it would be the same today as the wind comes from east/southeast. It shook my tent the whole night! At 6:15am, I’ve started packing. At 6:45am, I was on the road :-) The road towards Tennant Creek is still straight and I’ve seen a lot of campervan overtaking me. Then, one more car overtaken me and this time I knew who it was. I met those guys in Alice Springs less than a week ago front of the library. We left Alice the next day at the same time. They firstly went south to visit Uluru and Kings Canyon. We knew they would pass me on their way to Darwin around yesterday or today.
Today is a short day. It was getting pretty hot so I’ve stopped for lunch for 4 hours. Even after that when I was cycling again this late afternoon, the temperature went up to 32 degrees! It does not feel that hot because I’ve got the wind but I was a bit surprised. When I had my break in Ti Tree, I met a woman, Amy, working for the ABC local channel. She is on her way to Darwin and looks for stories along the way. I’ve done a short interview with her for Alice Springs local radio haha. That’s strange. ‘Never done something like this before. Anyway, let’s start the day from the beginning :-)
Wow! Well… I don’t know… I’m not sure… At least this is different again from what I’ve seen previously but the road from Alice to Darwin is not amazing as Port Augusta to Alice. I know from the English cyclist who told me that the road would be different after Tenant Creek which is 500km from Alice. For now, there is very long strech with zero bend and mainly the same landscape. This morning I had a very good tail wind and done more than 60km in 2h30. That’s pretty quick! This afternoon I was a bit slower as the wind came from the side. But I’m on holiday so it doesn’t matter ;-)
Everyone followed his own path yesterday and I’ve spent the night on my own. This morning I’ve been to the library to upload as much picture as I could but it did not work very well. Anyway, I thought about leaving today or tomorrow but I could not wait anymore. So I’ve done a short trip from 4pm to 5:30pm, just enough to reach the first rest area out of Alice. I’m back on track!