DAY 33 - ROBINVALE VIC

ROBINVALE VIC

DAY 33

SWAN HILL - ROBINVALE

150 km

Total Time – 07.45 – 17.00 (9h 15m)

Time on Bike – 7h 25m 45s

Max. speed – 41.5 km/h

Av. Speed – 20.2 km/h


Second biggest day of the trip today and I’m feeling it.

Most of the terrain was undulating, which got my speed up for some extended stretches but the pay off was some extended stretches of climbing throughout.

It was a particularly dark and gloomy day in this part of the world – the first of its kind I’ve had during the trip.

The experience has basically been an entire month of wide open blue skies and aside from storm fronts on Sunday between Echuca and Kerang, today was something of an anomaly.

Best part of this though was the cool conditions. In fact I picked up some solid tailwind for the final run into Robinvale, late today.

Earlier in the morning, I was stopped along the highway by a fellow who claimed he could not see me very well as I was riding along.

It was the second time during the day he had driven past me and it was on the second occasion he felt compelled to stop.

He had a point.

I was dressed quite inappropriately for the conditions – I probably had underestimated how bad the light was today.

Add to the fact that this same fellow was standing in front of me downing a Jim Beam mixer and I felt 90% sure that he was stoned, then this is the sort of character that needs to paid attention to.

I took it as an appreciative gesture, because if I am to meet an untimely demise on the great highways of Australia, it is far more likely to be at the whim of a whacked out stoner than an impudent B-Double driver.

The B-Doubles just want to show you who’s boss – unless they genuinely don’t see you, they will give you a hard time rather than kill you – even though some of them try it on for a lark.

I have however, noticed a distinct increase of such impoliteness, probably since the town of Jerilderie about a week ago.

I’m not sure what is in the water – maybe it is the extremity of the drought in this area, but the attitude is certainly more hardcore the further I have gone along.

It may also be that the Murray Valley Highway is quite a narrow and well used runway, with little or no shoulder for miles at a time.

B-Doubles (and others) have limited stopping power and it is not necessarily easy for them to crank it down quickly from 110 km/h when I suddenly appear in front of them and there are 20 vehicles coming in the opposite direction.

I will give them at least the benefit of this doubt, even though some of them still need a kick in the face…..