DAY 89 - PORT AUGUSTA SA

PORT AUGUSTA SA

DAY 89

REST DAY


A wicked northerly worked up overnight and by daybreak this morning, the small but nagging list of things I have really, really needed to get done, suddenly had greater priority.

So I’ve taken an extra day in Port Augusta.

Not such a difficult decision really, ‘cos I got everything done and there is no way I wanted to be cranking up Pichi Richi Pass into that wind.

Nothing exhilarating – just laundry, some overdue internet and a few bike repairs - I attended to a couple of punctures myself, but also decided to take advantage of staying in a town with 2 bike shops and address an ongoing 4000 kilometre problem by fixing it for good.

Since my opening day rear-derailleur suffering in Sydney, I have been riding along on a makeshift 7-speed derailleur that was fitted by those kind fellows at Insane Cycles in Lithgow NSW.

Problem being that my set up is 9-speed, which basically means I’ve travelled all that way on 21 gears instead of 27.

Poor little me, indeed.

So today, I went for the compatible 9-speed and $..... later, I’m back up to speed, as it were.

All there was for the rest of the day was to sit about and wait for that wind to swing around.

And the good forecasts are calling for just this - a late evening change to the southwest, which is just sweet music to my ears…..