Steve's Cycling Blog

I slept well in stages last night – my decision to go far away from everyone else didn’t work out so well because it meant I was super-close to the group of policemen assigned to keep an eye on us chatting away to fill in their night!

I kind of feel bad for them – clearly they had plans for last night which didn’t involve sitting round in the desert because a bunch of crazy westerners decided to ride their bicycles through their patch!

The pre-dawn shower we’ve been getting the last couple of mornings came later, and was more intense than it’s been, which meant it was a pretty damp tent which was being packed away.

The breakfast porridge this morning was one of the best yet – nice and creamy with both sultanas and cinnamon in! With such a short day today nobody was in much of a hurry to get moving, and in the end we (Kevin, Kevin, Mateo and I) were towards the back when we set off.

The quality of the road fluctuated – for quite a while it was the older pavement we’d ended the day on yesterday, and then we started to get into the construction zone where they’re still working on things which made for some pretty rough detours.

At one stage as we came up a small climb we could see fog coming in from the sea.

After taking those two photos my phone had a very lucky escape. I’d not closed the zipper on the bag it lives in properly and it bounced out on the rough road. Australian Kevin was behind me and saw it hit the road, bounce and then land face down – almost in the path of an oncoming truck! Kevin waved the truck round and retrieved my phone – it has a few new dents but seems otherwise unharmed by having hit the road (again).

Not long after that we were descending into the fog and for around 10km it was seriously misty – from the looks of things at the side of the road this must be a pretty common occurrence because things are quite a bit greener here – not trees you understand, but at least a higher density of green plants and shrubs.

The rider notes had indicated that the good tarmac wasn’t starting till after lunch but at just over 40km we hit a long section of new pavement which was a dream to ride on – we eventually caught the laying machine at just over 65km so were back to the old road through till lunch.

Lunch was quite a way inland from the current coast, and Sophie was super excited by the fossilised shells which she was finding – creating a ‘shell garden’ at the front of the lunch van.

It was also super busy at lunch again today, with around 30 of us there at one stage.

After a very leisurely lunch we set off with Essen again with just under 20km to go. After a while Essen and Mateo dropped off the back and the Kevins and I continued on.

There was absolutely no urgency to get to camp – while it’s actually a pretty cool spot, there is nothing here at all – but the road was just so nice we couldn’t help ourselves and were cruising along at 33 – 35 km/h and consequently into camp just before 1230 – much more like a Silk Route day than those we’ve been having here.

I didn’t go so far from the truck for tonight’s camp so I’m hoping I’ve got the balance right between far enough away from others, but not so close to the police who will no-doubt be turning up. It looks like it’s a sandy spot, but that’s only about 5cm deep, so I’ve also been foraging for rocks to provide security in the growing breeze.

Later: After some sitting round and some writing I went off for a walk – I was intending to go down to the beach below the fish factory, but it proved to be somewhat further than anticipated and I met Kevin and Kevin at a point where you could see down to the beach.

If you look closely in the photo you can see the many boats on the beach and the track leading up. The Kevins had just seen two boats launched – essentially a tractor pulls them as far into the water as it can, then loops round behind the boat, and with its own ‘bowsprit’ of some 2m it then pushes the boat into the tide – a couple of waves and they’re off!

Wandering back we stopped at the service station we’re camped behind for a drink and snack, and to watch a different part of the world go by. Aside from a gaggle of police sitting outside drinking tea, and a couple of trucks pulling in for fuel, not a lot is happening here either.

The pumps amused us – they are rather old, and any glass which they may ever had have is now long gone – instead the tops of them have been wrapped in glad wrap (a.k.a. cling film) in a vain attempt to keep moisture out of the electronics – kind of good we’re in the desert!

We’ve now circled back to camp and are waiting for Professor Steve’s climate change presentation at 1730, rider meeting at 1745 and dinner at 1800.

The rest day destination has many redeeming features, like three meals a day (yahoo!), WiFi, a pool, beach, surf shop etc, but two significant flaws – no washing washing, and it’s a (really) long way from the town itself!

Later still: An interesting talk from Steve on climate change, a lengthy rider meeting discussing the upcoming rest day and looking ahead to next riding week when we cross our first border of the tour.

‘Because reasons’ we even got cake for dessert this evening which had been cooked in two dutch ovens under coals –  mighty fine it was too!

Sun’s now set, and because daylight saving ends tonight breakfast tomorrow is at 0645, which sounds kind of early, but on that timescale it’s only 1915 and we’re all happily tucked up in our tents ready to for sleep anyway! So – good night!

View from my tent

Selfie of the day

Riding data

Total distance:	91.76 km	Total Time:	04:11:43
Max elevation:	122 m	Min elevation:	32 m
Total climbing:	332 m	Total descent:	-410 m
Average speed:	21.87 km/h	Maximum speed:	55.08 km/h