Day: 209km
Ride time: 8hours 40minutes
I'm laying in my tent absolutely roasting. The air isn't extremely warm but the sand beneath my tent is. I keep moving my ground mattress around to let some of the heat escape underneath it. It's like an electric mattress on full blast. Big contrast to last night as I was actually shivering, because I slept with our my sleeping bag.
I must admit at least this heat is sidetracking my loneliness. Pulling in tonight was very hard mentally, knowing I am so distant from any human contact. I have been on my own for a lot on this trip but the feeling is only getting deeper. I feel that the great time I had with the Germans have also contributed to this great feeling of being alone.
Overall today has been a heavy mental challenge. Doing over 200km my body was pushed to the limits and at many times experiencing heavy pain. The sole thing that kept me going was my mental strength. So many times I could of stopped for the day but my determination to get as far as I could kept me going. I can assure you my bum is in serious pain now, sitting just under 9hours in the saddle.
There was a park bay area around 140km into the ride. I thought this would be a good place to see other travellers and also fill my water bottles. Thanks to the kindness of two French travellers last night I was able to fill all my bottles for this morning. I was confident this could get me to the next roadhouse, being roughly 240km away. The weather today was extremely hot and I consumed a little more water then expected. I must admit this must still be a lot less then other cyclists, as I only consumed 4litres of water over 150km of riding (roughly 6hours riding).
I bumped into the older Irish couple that are riding from Perth up to Darwin again. I have a lot of respect for these two, not only for the great effort they've done so far, but also their kindness and openness to other people. They had bought me a fish burger the other week and I am still in appreciation to this kind gesture. They told me about another traveller they met who rode around this part of Australia a few years ago and is now revisiting it in his car. They said they were going to meet him 20 odd km's further up the road.
I took off from the Irish couple as they were resting from the heat. They seemed to think I was crazy but physically and mentally I don't seem to be to phased by this heat. I can certainly understand why they are suffering, having only arrived from sub zero temperature in Ireland a month ago. They must be in torture!!
As the water in my bottles was getting low, and I didn't want to dig into my reserves (which also taste heavily to plastic from the bladder) I kept my eyes open for rest areas which might have other travellers (preferably grey nomads with 100litre+ water supplies). I saw a car parked in the bushes and pulled in. By chance it was the older fella the Irish couple were talking about. I suppose this isn't too much of a coincidence, for why would any random person be parked in the middle of the bushes 200km from any services.
This guy was a true journey man. He is from U.S.A and travelled for 24months around Australia, going to all sorts of remote places. He used one of those bikes that are like mini cars, where you sit in them and he had a trailer attached behind it. He reckons he could pull 80odd kg behind him, I did notice he exaggerates a bit though. He told me a few interesting stories and also some pointers if I ever run out of water. The biggest one was drinking your own urine, apparently actually being quite good for your body. Something I will be keeping in mind in case of emergency.
He offered me dinner as he was cooking some up for the Irish couple. I would of loved this but I still wanted to ride another 60odd km for the day. The more I rode today meant the easier it is tomorrow.
I just kept pushing until I hit 200km. There were a few open bush areas around the 190km mark but I wanted to hit 200km. I also wanted to get under the 30km sign posts to the next roadhouse, as this way in the morning my brain will be content knowing it is within 20km range to the next service for more water. It is little goals such as this that keep my morale going and make the trip more bearable.
Being alone now I sort of wish I had of camped with the others. Not only would it have been great food but also good company. What makes this loneliness even worse is that the moon isn't even showing. It is nowhere at all. Very strange, as a few days ago it was in the sky whilst the sun was still setting. I find when I'm alone in the bush and I look at the moon I feel like I have some type of company. Perhaps this is because I know that at some place where friends or family might be the moon would also be shining above them. This is another one of those physiological morale boosters that keep me going.
Time for rest - 156km planned tomorrow.
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