Laura to Melrose 57km....
Yep... if we hadn't taken a wrong turn after morning tea.
After the saga of last night and the (deluxe) tents being set up just 5 meters from the toilet and shower truck and me loosing my cool with the event manager and the volunteer co-ord. I was so mad that the night ended in tears.... and yes there where all mine because I really don't think Bike SA really care about the people paying big money to do this ride and the fact we are very unhappy with the service that has been provided.
The tent (the original leaky one) was moved down to the other end of the camp ground, but next to a guy who snored all night. Now know that Bike SA cannot do anything about guys snoring... but a bit more room between the tents might have helped the noise. But it seems as a general rule that Bike SA don't really care. One of my other issues that I spoke to them about last night was the morning teas and having the same boring 'black and gold' fruit cake every day. He said, "well the logistics of organising things like that is hard".... I wish I'd thought of it sooner.... I have cooked for more people than this at RAAF and Army bases, it really is not hard to do something different for morning tea. FFS, its a matter of bad planning but of inconsiderate planning. You could have easily said morning 1 and 3 we have fruit cake and morning 2 and 4 we have bun loaf and then on the next set of day have some thing different again. A savoury slice of biscuit, a cup of soup and a bread roll at lunch... Something to replace the energy we have expelled in the mornings ride.
OK - moving onto the better part of the ride, the actually riding itself.
Today was positively warm.. well compared to the last few days, we did start the day in our rain coats but it was only about 45 minutes into the ride and we stopped to take them off, we also did not have to put them back on. The day was great, and I even thought at some stages... "boy that sun is actually warm".
Today was a lot of up and down... who am I kidding... that hole ride has been all up and down! But today there did not seem to much flat. Again spectacular riding, I still have only walked the one hill, mind you there was a few today I thought about getting off. But I made it through.
Today was back through the Wirrabara forest and the Peach Tree Hill Cutting, there was a nice little down hill run into Melrose. We rode today with a lady call Janie, she is also in the (deluxe) tents and her phone and watch got wet on the first night. But it as really nice to ride with her and the night before at Laura, dad came to collect our washing so it could be done and cleaned and DRY before we got to Melrose. Dad also picked up Janie's washing, so when we got here her's was done to. This made coming into Melrose very nice.
We also arrived into Melrose to a Beef Stew and Dumplings cooked lovingly by DAD. This was super nice not to have to line up and wait for an hour between soup and main meals and then again for sweets. Dad has also given me a new pair of warmer socks so my toes where nice and warm last night.
Day 10. Rest Day Melrose.
Had a bit of a sleep in this morning and work up dry and warm, (in the van) even tho there was a bit of rain last night. We have been told by a few different people today that the weather is about to turn bad again... Fingers crossed they are all wrong.
We went to Jamestown for a drive and I found a hairdresser and had a good wash and dry... I love a country town... she washed my hair 3 times and dried and ironed it... all for $35 bucks. If it wasn't so cold, I could live there and have my hair done twice a week. We went to the Stone Hut bakery for lunch and got a nice pie.
This afternoon we have cleaned the bikes and had a small walk up the hill at the back of the van park to the lookout. We are in the warmth of the van again tonight and Dad is again on cooking duties. Only 4 more riding days.
Please keep your fingers crossed that is dry and warm for the rest.
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