Day: 85km
Today was very hot, which made for a hard days riding. I am amazed by the natural shift in climate by cycling only a few hundred km's northward from the south west coast. The air feels a lot more humid and the heat is hard to escape.
I slept a lot better last night then I did the night before. I did however have a couple of young guys on a motorbike wake me up again. It was around 12:30 midnight and I woke to the voice of a male saying to his mate "go on steal it, we stole the mo-ped [in the past]". I thought, here we go... I quickly put some shorts on and was about to hop out. Luckily as he came closer he realised I was camping. He yelled back out to his mate "Shit!! Someone's camping!", his mate replied "That's awkward! Jump on". They rode off and I had no other troubles for the rest of the night.
I've had good fortune as I no longer have to pay accommodation in Fremantle, or Perth, as my friend has invited me for an indefinite time to his house. He is house sitting a 3 bedroom house for his cousin, who is currently working in the mines. After three weeks on he returns home for a week and then goes back out to the mines.
I had planned to ride along the coast so I could avoid the major freeways. After talking with a local this morning I had learnt that there is actually a bike lane adjacent to the freeway all the way into Perth city. This was a lot more direct so I decided to take this route. My friend lives in a southern suburb to the east of Perth in a town called Gosnells. I had to make a few turns off the Fwy and then go down the Tonkin Hwy to get to his house. I was surprised as the Hwy actually had signs saying no bikes. In general it is the Fwys that bikes are not allowed and Hwys are alright. As I was only 19 km off my mates and it was boiling hot I decided to ride on the Hwy to his house. The alternative was to ride around 40 odd km and backtrack the way I came. I had the luxury of riding on a well kept bike path and then had to shift to a major Hwy. I switched my hat for my bike helmet and then rode as hard as I could to get to the turn off to my mates. I was surprised that despite all the signs saying no bicycles allowed, motorist appeared not to be phased by me cycling on the side. I must admit the side was fairly wide so I was well away from any traffic.
I was very relieved when pulling into my mates house. He was home early from uni luckily and was very welcoming. I hadn't seen him for over a year, since we were on exchange in the Netherlands together. He mustn't of recognised me as I now have a wild beard and the amount of layered sunscreen combined with crystallised sweat on my face would have made the remainder of my face hard to recognise.
He has taken me to a beautiful spot where we can jump into the swan river, just near the mouth into the ocean. The afternoon has been amazing, it really feels surreal to be out here and to of made it on the bike. Later on today I tagged along with my friend (Luke) to his football training. I reckon I'll be sore tomorrow..
No comments:
Post a Comment