On the long and hot stretch from Threeways to Mt. Isa, one of my panniers’ zipper ripped open mid-ride. Since I’m looking forward most of the ride (and the panniers are behind me) I hadn’t noticed the open one, for quite some time. When I did, it was too late – my rain jacket and one of my Shogai gloves had flown out of the pannier. At that time, it was around 38 degrees and the sun was shining, so I didn’t think too much about it. I was leading the ride at that point, so when all of us got to the next fuel stop, I asked them if they came across my glove or rain jacket on the way. No – none of them have seen it on the road. Oh, well.
Today, on the other hand, 3 days later, it was 12 degrees, and pissing down the entire day! 400km in the rain, from Blackall to Mitchell. Today, I thought it might have been useful to have the rain jacket and the other glove!
The only thing I could think of was the end of the day: I knew, that in Mitchell, they have a natural hot water spring, which I get to jump into to defrost myself. So – it was miserable! The entire day. and we got soaked. Not only me – all of us (except for Rob Gage with his BMW’s heated seat & hand grips, who only got his shoes SOAKED).
Fortunately, (for some strange reason!) James brought his heater with him, so we all took turns to dry our boots, gloves, socks and bags in front of the hot air blower. Whilst our stuff was being dried, Tony, Shane, Andrew and myself went to check out the special Mitchell Spa. With a sign out the front “Fun and Fitness”, it was a combination of the local cinema, community hall, gym AND to plunge pools, one with 38 degrees water, and a cold one. We were instructed not to spend more than 15 minutes in the hot pool, cool down at the other pool, and jump back in. Oh, and drink lots of water (they had a tray with water bottles and plastic cups on the side of the pool. Kinda like a wet bar )
All dry and lots happier, we headed back to our Courthouse hotel (2.5 minutes walk from the Fun & Fitness center.)
Feeling slightly peckish, we’ve opted to stay and have our dinner at the hotel. The dining area was prebooked, so we had our dinner at the bar!
T’was delicious! Thanks.
F*%cking Good Port
What followed our dinner was quite a funny sight – we sat around the fireplace, some with a glass of port, some with Magnum ice creams, but all with our HP mini 5102 netbooks, checking out videos, blogging and tweeting. To remind you of our whereabouts: we’re in rural Queensland, in a little country town with cowboy hats of the locals hung on the wall, and country music playing in the background – I’m not sure we’ve fitted in! Our laptop batteries gave us a signal it was time to go back to our rooms and get some rest… Tomorrow is another riding day – 450km. Hopefully in dryer conditions… Enjoy your weekend! 3 more sleeps, and we’ll be back home!
Oh, BTW, tomorrow we’re saying goodbye to Darrell Burkey from Canberra, who’s going to meet his friend in Lismore. You can see his ride log on http://dazza.id.au/rides/
Day 13 Pictures:
