It was a short but steep and picturesque day today. It needed to be short after last night.
Yesterday, I cleaned up, washed my gear and hung them out to dry while I walked into town for dinner. When I came back, I sat outside my tent, updated this blog and checked today’s ride, then it was time to sleep.
Overnight rain was predicted, so I grabbed my washing, threw it on the chair, covered my bike seat and the handlebars and crawled into bed, safe in the knowledge that everything was clean and dry and tomorrow would be a good day.
I heard the heavy rain start and felt pretty smug that I was so organised. About two hours later, I woke up and thought – where’s the washing ? It was still sitting on the chair which acted as a bucket and caught a lot of the rain – so everything was drenched.
Then my sleeping mat deflated. I’d fixed another leak a few days ago but now there was another.
So when having breakfast today, I decided o would stay in a motel and dry things and repair the mat. I later discovered that water had got into the top of my frame bag and there was a pool in the bottom section where my tools were. Welcome back John !
Not a great night, but in Cooran, second breakfast of smashed avo and feta totally made up for it. I’d stopped because the light drizzle had started to become a bit more persistent.
Good move. There was no more rain today.
Soon after Cooran, I turned onto the Old Noosa Rd which was exactly what I needed. I was starting to grow tired of the traffic, so this road was almost empty, well graded gravel and beautiful even though it was insanely undulating.
There was no rest at all. The road was either going up or going down and it all felt steep but I loved it. As I neared Gympie things became a little more built up and the traffic busier. The houses reminded me of Ipswich, as did the hills. Gympie is not a flat town by any stretch.
I stayed at the Shady Rest Motel which was just out of town and it felt like the Hilton. It wasn’t, but it felt luxurious.
I washed my gear, repaired my sleeping mat, cleaned up the bike and then took it to the nearest bike shop to see if they could reseat my rear tyre. It wasn’t sitting right and on perfect tarmac, it had a noticeable bump. All sorted successfully and I also got some route advice for tomorrow.
My plan is to avoid the Wide Bay Highway, but that means a big climb (and a walk) on a rough road – not recommended after rain.
Dinner was regrettably at a pub in town – pickings were definitely slim. Luckily there was a supermarket on the way home and that made all the difference.