It was a Gawd-Awful Day.
I guess these kinds of days are to be expected, and more of them will follow, I’m sure.
It was the third day of my five-day trek from Laverton to the next spot that had food and water, Tjukayirla Roadhouse. It was very windy and the road was heavily corrugated all day. All I could do is gut it out and make sure I reach the 40-mile mark each day.
Each day of my 200-mile trek was divided into 40 miles. I had to make 40 miles, no matter what, because of the water situation: I needed to reach the roadhouse in five days or I would run out of water. (It turned out not to be so dire, as there were maybe 20 vehicles passing me daily, and I did run into water spots, but it does sound dramatic. But I wasn’t confident of the water situation at the time.)
The first day, I did 49 miles. The second day, I did 43. So I had mileage to spare. Still, I always aim for 40 miles, which was the goal on the third day. With no cell phone service, I couldn’t use the app called Epic Weather Ride, which forecasts where the wind would come from and its speed. Not that it would have helped. The day turned out to have strong head winds all day. Dreadful. Even if I knew that there would be strong headwinds, it’s not that I could wait it out, like I did on some other rides. I had to make 40 miles!
And the Great Central Road was no piece of cake. I’m finding it’s quite a bad road to be riding in. And the road spans hundreds of miles! The entire surface that day was corrugated, meaning that it had ridges across the surface, like someone laid a huge sheet a leaden corduroy across the road. All one could do is ride yump-yumpa-yumpa acrosss the surface very slowly. No matter where I looked for a smooth even surface to ride, there was none. That was the situation all day, the corrugated ridges relentlessly scoffing me mile after mile. With the corrugation and the wind pressing against me, it meant that I traveled at 5 miles per hour ALL DAY!
As you can tell, my spirit was very low that day. There was no scenic viewing at all. Just put my head down and plow on, mile by mile. It was all I could do to eke out 40 miles toward evening. By the end of the day, I set up camp at 40.3 miles.
When I think of more days like this, my spirit is not too keen to continue. But I am writing this now from a rest day at the Tjukayirla Roadhouse, rested and refreshed. So maybe, I’ll go face another GAWD-AWFUL DAY. Or not.
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Gawd awful days are THE WORST!!! Soul destroying in fact…but somehow you get over them & find the mental strength to carry on….Thinking of you xxx
Oh my, what a hellish ride. Once rested I think you’ll be able to keep it up! You’re amazing. P. S. I shared your blog site with my bicycling siblings and a friend in Sydney.
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Yes, rest does a mind wonders. I am now resting in a home and feeling good, ready to tackle more miles. And thanks for sharing with others– not that there’s much to say. 🙂 Talking about Sydney, I met a guy on the road who offered to have me stay with him when I arrive there and pack up my bike for home. So I’m happy a have a place in Sydney now.
Hey Thuan, hard headwinds are definitely psychologically much tougher than steep mountain passes. I remember having to peddle hard downhill to fight a headwind in the rolling hills of North Dakota, and that same day facing an invasion of locusts bouncing off our helmets goggles, chests, and crunching hundreds of them under our tires.
Press on bro’! Kim
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As one who has biked across the U.S., you know well the hard headwinds. Thanks for sharing in my misery. 🙂
Thinking of you.
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On days like this, nice to know someone is keeping track of me.