Day: 169km
Ride time: 8hours 29minutes
To sum up today in a word- Excruciating. On the back of a heavy day yesterday I knew today would be hard. I really had no idea it would be this hard though. Today was perhaps one of the most challenging days in my life. Today also made me realise a few important things..
It is very strange, as although today has been one of the hardest on my trip, and perhaps in my whole life, I have felt content all day and haven't felt at all scared or stressed.
Today I rode around 170km, 120 of which were in very heavy head wind. Although this was no where near the most km's done for a day on my trip, it has been the most challenging. One reason for this - I lost my morale. I lost motivation and I lost desire. It was even more demoralising as for the first time in my trip I tried to waive down a car and I couldn't even do that.
I rode 52km to the Fortescue roadhouse. It was hard, but this was expected. I was so pleased to make it there, as not only could I get out of the heat for a bit but I could also load up on water. I sat down and surprisingly after 30 odd minutes I felt perfectly fine. I was surprised to feel so good, as I was seriously fatigued before hand. Feeling fatigued I should of really rested longer, considering I only slept a few hours last night.
I thought about staying at the roadhouse, but as it was only midday and my energy had picked up I decided to keep moving. Admittedly the exorbitant price of tent space at the Fortestcue mining roadhouse also spurred me on to Karratha.
The ride after leaving the roadhouse was torture. It was perhaps one of the worst decisions I've made on the trip to keep going. At the road house I had to repair my tyre. The heat had decimated the outer layer of the front tyre more then I expected. So shortly after taking off the tyre was again low on air. All I wanted was to get to Karratha, 109km away, knowing it was cheaper and that I had the luxury of supermarkets and other needs. I persisted on as there was no shade and I didn't want to spend any longer in the heat. In addition to the flat an extremely heavy hind wind came out of no where. I rode for about 2 hours pretty much on the rim of the front wheel. I was riding half of my normal average speed, at double the strain. I almost contemplated turning around yet I thought being 28km in the ride at this point I'd be better camping for the night. One thing about this, it provided me one of the biggest realisations I've had in my life.
Once I realised I probably wouldn't make it to Karratha I started calculating how much water I had and if it would last until tomorrow. Due to the heat and head wind I had already drank twice as much as expected in half the time as normal. As I would normally complete 109km in roughly 5hours maximum I only loaded up for a days supply. I didn't want to carry excess weight if not necessary and I also didn't want to pay $20 for a few litres more at the roadhouse when I could get water free in Karatha. This certainly came to bite me in the bum. I realised if I were stopping for the day I would need to waive down a car for water, as I would need to have enough to ride the 78km tomorrow morning. I probably would of had just enough on me for another hour or two of riding. To put in perspective if I were going to ride the 78km in these conditions it would of taken me 7hours, rather then 3 or 4 in a standard headwind.
For the first time in my whole trip I stopped. The first time I stopped half way through riding and the first time I stopped to waive down a car. I started having thoughts "What abouts if they offer me a lift? Would I take it?" I can tell you I would've been very close to accepting. I stood on the side of the road next to a park area for cars to pull in, as I waived my water bottle in the air. A lot of mining workers were driving by and I know from observations during my trip that there cars are regularly equipped with large tanks of drinking water. If they didn't have a tank then I was sure there'd still have enough for 4litres, which would at least get me into Karratha.
After 45minutes in the heat not one car stopped. Many of the miners were pointing and laughing, while others mimicked me by waiving their hands at me or drinking water as they drove by. I had trouble comprehending this. I wasn't angry I was just really trying to comprehend the situation. I looked at the grass fields next to me and I just stared and stared. The grass fields were flattened by the wind. Everywhere I looked, it was flattened. I thought "Why am I always pushing into the wind?". This wasn't a question solely related to cycling, but to my life in general. I was dripping in sweat, my heart pounding a million miles an hour, the wind blowing my bike to the ground, my hat in the air and my sunglasses away - why am I always going against the current. I realised that I no longer want to make things harder then they need to be, but that I want to 'go with the flow'. I no longer want to be looking for the next challenge, but I want to perfect the challenge at hand. I realised that life shouldn't be this difficult and that I have an opportunity for a good life at home and I should be taking advantage of this. I shouldn't be looking for every opportunity to do the next thing I can see. My thoughts of plans back home came to mind and ideas for where I want to be in the next year or two.
I pumped up my tyre, again, and rode off towards Karratha. I didn't touch my water as I realised I'd probably have to use it during the night when camping. My vision started to go a little blurry but I persisted on. I started laughing, and was laughing for a solid 5minutes or more. I thought "What on earth am I doing?" "Where the hell am I". I was actually delirious and started seeing bright sparkles. I think I may have been close to having heat stroke. This gave good reason to drink a little of my remaining water, despite the water being hotter then that out of a kettle.
I managed to do another 22km, before a Greek guy did a u-turn in his van to ask if I needed water. I said "F*** oath brother!!" He pulled over with a smile. He opened up his esky and gave me a few bottles of cold water. I drank a few within minutes and put the others in my drink holders. He also gave me a fizzy drink which must of replenished some much needed sugars. I thought, how can this earth work when some bloke does a u-turn at 110km per hour to ask if I need water, yet when I wait next to a park bay for oncoming traffic and people point and laugh. The Greek fella informed me he was an ex world kickboxing champion and I had no doubt he was telling the truth. He said he felt for my pain when he saw me so he pulled over. It was the fourth guy overall on my trip to stop, and surprisingly the first Australian, yet he was identifying him self as Greek.
I had around 70km to go until Karratha. With extra morale and loading up on fluids, I put my head down and kept going. I was at a point of no return and my mind wouldn't let me stop. In addition the open fields made for no inviting camp spots. I realised I'd be riding well into the night. I ended up riding over two hours in pitch black. Once finally pulling into town I felt physically fatigued, but also mentally drained. I was desperately in need of some solid foods and just wanted to rest. I realised I could only rest after setting my tent up, cooker and everything else I needed to do.
I had been informed of a free camp area outside of town and was hoping I could still see it in the dark. I couldn't, so I asked some drivers in an information bay if they knew of any camping or caravan parks. After I asked I realised these particular people must've been in the middle of some type of drug deal, or some type of outlawed activity. I took off quickly towards a more well lit area.
I then asked a guy in a work ute if he knew where the caravan park was. He was a very nice English guy. There were plenty of signs around but we both couldn't see it. He then offered to chuck my bike in the back of he's ute and we took off looking for another caravan park. After around 30minutes we found one at the back of the town centre. I thought finally I'm safe!!!.
We took my bike off the back, I can assure you this was not easy. The thing weighed a ton and with all the gear it was hard to carry off. I said thank you and good bye to the English guy. As I was about to head over to the reception area a lady walked over, giving off one of the most crude impressions imaginable. The first thing she said "You've got 5 minutes to f*** off or I'll call the police". I thought, what on earth is she talking about. I explained that I was after a tent spot and we weren't causing any trouble. She laughed and said "We get f***head backpackers like you here all the time". I really couldn't believe what was happening. She must of been one of the most nasty piece of works I'd ever seen. I tried to rationalise the situation and explain again in a more basic approach that I wasn't a backpacker and that I wa extremely tired after a long days riding. She laughed and said "Well, on ya bike". I asked if she knew of any places I could stay and all she said was "F***off get on ya bike". The English fellow also failed miserably when trying to diffuse the situation. We put the bike back on the ute and took off looking for another caravan park.
We couldn't find one around, and especially anything open for that matter. I ended up setting my tent up in some bushes at the back of an industrial area, where I first met the English guy. Once again I'm in for a shocking nights sleep, with trucks and workers going past all night. I think the English guy was more shocked then I was as he was sort of blown away from what just happened and that I was about to sleep in some bushes. I stink of sweat, I look like a bum, my shirt filthy from the last few days riding and I still hadn't eaten a thing since a huge days riding. He kept repeating to me to not let my morale down. I appreciated his comfort, but morale had long been passed by the basic need of survival.
Finally I set up my cooker and finished the last of my 2minute noodles and lentils. A great meal, only dampened by the need to pack my things up quickly out of fear for bogans stealing my gear or a ranger to come and tell me to leave. My heart beating even more rapidly then the last few days.
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