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| Day | 19 | Date | 27th May 2015 |
| Distance Total Distance |
97.3km 1,134.8km |
Weather | Sunny |
| Rolling Time Total Rolling |
05:50:15 65:11:36 |
Terrain | Hilly |
| Climbing Total Climbing |
1,083m 9,668m |
Spend |
Coffee, Muffin, Beer $11.00
Fags and pizza slice $7.69
|
| Average Speed | 16.7k/h | Sleeping | Camping |
| Max Speed | 47.9k/h | Difficulty | Tough |
Today was a roaster, blue skies all day until close to sunset, I packed up this morning and my back wheel was down on pressure again, it’s got a slow puncture where I repaired it the last time so I decided to rip the tube out and stick in my spare before I left so I’m not having to top it up with air during the day. I need to repair this one properly or just buy a new one the next bike shop I pass.
I made my way to Port Orford a small town with population of 1,190, here I came across a colourful Cafe named Tasty Kates that I decided to park up outside and head in. The inside is small enough but the place is jam packed with everything, there are pastries and a selection of two homemade dishes to order from, on top of that there is whatever coffee takes your fancy and a whole bar of syrup flavours to add in, along with a selection of beers on tap to choose from. The seating area consisted of one large kitchen style table around which there were around eight chairs. I ordered a coffee and a muffin, pulled up a chair and took out the laptop, I was the only person there.
Over the course of two hours various people came and went from locals to foreign tourists, all coming in for coffee, food or a beer, sitting at ‘my’ table. The atmosphere was great as I drifted into and out of conversations with different people while they ate and chatted away. One older local guy came in and ordered a beer, what a great idea I thought and proceeded to consume 2 pints of their local IPA on draught while I sat there using the free WiFi. Before I left Kate gave me a tub of ‘miracle juice’ to rub into my road rash and help it heal quicker, I rubbed the goo juice everywhere before paying my tab and moving on for another bit.
Along the way the scenery was great and I met two groups of two cycle tourists one German couple and another two guys from America, we were all stopped at the same spot admiring the view so I managed to get me into a few photos of my own for a change!
The last part of the days cycle was definitely the toughest so far, the hills were short but sharp and I struggled up some of them, I though I was going to have to get off and walk at some points but I managed it and eventually got to the end of them at the expense of creeky knees and bike. My knees are a bit sore today after all the long cycles also the bike has started making a weird grindy noise when it’s under a lot of strain like being forced up those sharp hills. It feels and sounds like the crank bearings are coming to the end of their life as the grinding noise only happens when I’m peddling uphill. Gonna check this out with my rest day coming up in Crescent City at the Airbnb.
I found a place to camp near the top of the hill, I stopped at about 97km, I couldn’t bring myself to cycle another km to make the hundred as the weather had changed and my hands were cold again so I passed by this trail down to a beach that I scouted out and found loads of places to camp so went back to my bike at the edge of the road and brought it down to settle in for the night.
Flea The Race 