DAY 38 - RENMARK SA

RENMARK SA

DAY 38

MILDURA - RENMARK

163.59 km

Total Time – 08.10 – 18.30 (10h 20m)

Time on Bike – 8h 45m 12s

Max. speed – 40.5 km/h

Av. Speed – 18.7 km/h


I finished in the dark today.

This is not something I plan to make a habit of even though I rode into the sunset for the last 40 minutes.

Very romantic.

First 160 day of the trip today and not really the best day to sleep in.

I got a late start because of this and was behind for most of the day.

It wasn’t easy riding either with long stretches of uphill and a gusting headwind for most of the day.

It is probably a good thing I’m not still on the road right now.

As I said, arriving in a strange place in the dark is not an ideal formula.

I’ve got myself a camp in an overpriced resort-style park, complete with all the bits and pieces and slap next to the highway so I can look forward to falling asleep to the sweet tune of B-Doubles grunting along in both directions throughout the night.

It does seem as though there is a spa pool on site so I’ll be sure to jump in before departure in the morning – first because I want to and secondly as I’d be best to milk it for the money I’ve parted with to be here.

Destination tomorrow will possibly be Waikerie.

There is an option to take a back road tomorrow, but perhaps this is best left to the day after.
If I can handle just one more day on the Sturt Highway, this will work.

It’s around 75 kilometres direct to Waikerie from Renmark, which is only half a days’ ride.

The traffic today was not so bad at all, despite the scenic drudgery.

I’ve never had so many people giving me the highway salute today – that’s not anything impolite either.

Drivers waving, sounding their horns, flashing their lights – I even had some attention from truckies today – this is almost unheard of.

Give me more of this, a booming tailwind, 70 km of downhill and life will be quite satisfactory this time tomorrow evening.