Day 6 - Kempsey to Taree

Distance: 124.9Km's
Pain Factor: 12 out of 10
Magpie attacks: Nil
Cow sightings: 118 (119 if you count the dead one)
Accommodation Highlight: Fairly benign, and while the shower was nothing fancy it was one of the best I have had (alone) in my life.

http://www.strava.com/activities/191512189

"Roads,  where we're going we don't need roads"

..spoke the great Doc Brown from Back To The Future. And indeed, for the first 20km's out of Kempsey we were on dirt roads and tracks that qualify more as mountain bike tracks. Though they were marked with road signs, and I am sure in these parts they are perfectly good roads. Though, the penny did drop at one stage for me, when I realised my strategy of choosing "bike" when mapping a route on Google maps does not necessarily mean it is for road bikes.

So we followed the GPS out of Kempsey, which took us towards a bridge that we were convinced was just a railway line. As we got closer, Mr GPS got the last laugh; there was indeed a walkway on it. Rattly and VERY dodgy, but a walkway nonetheless. The GPS then took us through some of the finer (not) backstreets of Kempsey, then off-road, then bush-bashing.

This was the motorway we took out of Kempsey, just after the tollway:

This was actually one of the better dirt roads we were on - one of the later ones was more like a mountain bike trail, which when you are on a road bike with 8Kg's worth of pannier luggage, it is not fun.

Unfortunately Santo got a pinch flat front tyre on a downhill dirt section. This was just past the dead cow. As he changed it, I took the opportunity to put the toilet roll I'd carried for the last 3 days to good use. I taught the bush who was boss.

In 2 hours we only covered about 20km's and it became painfully apparent that  most of the road to Comboyne, (our next scheduled stop) would be gravel. We consulted the GPS and phone maps and took evasive action to get back on the main road and make up for lost time. We decided to skip Comboyne and head for Taree. Those 2 hours on dirt, I would later find, drained me a whole lot more than I realised. More depressing is that once we found our way back to the highway, it was only 17km's back to Kempsey!

The headwind was still painfully present, but we found some respite being on the main road. Tree clusters and passing trucks provided most of the protection. Per my strategy, I set small goals; "Get to the Port Macquarie turn off", was a matra I repeated for this next leg of the journey. I made Port and indulged in a quick roadside break (Santo was already way down the road).

Here I am, with my favorite subject matter in the background, proving I really was on a bike, somewhere between Kempsey and Taree. I tend to look like a criminal when I grow facial hair.

I guess long distance cycling can be a lot like jail time. You have a lot of time to think. It was around this time a great revelation came to me. One that had been of great significance to my life over the last 5 or 6 days...

...the Magpie attacks were subsiding.

I deduced this could be attributed to our gradual movement south. Spring had sprung closer to QLD but not yet on the mid-NSW coast. Springtime is new baby bird time, and I could only deduce that the little demons of death had not yet broken forth from their shell cell.

As I was now well and truly aware of, my body needs more than just the "on the move" grazing and the 3 hour mark means I need something more substantial. I pulled off at Kew, approaching 4 hours with NOTHING in the tank. I downed a rather lackluster chicken salad and gulped about 1 litre of water - all while watching that sky and wondering if I was going to pay the price of taking this 20 minute break.

I eventually cocked my leg back over the bike and lumbered on. I wondered if I'd made the right decision to push on from Kew as I felt lousy, but Santo was a long way down the road and I'd committed to Taree. The diesel engine eventually warmed up. I found my cadence and pushed on. The turn off to Taree is a solid 10km out of town and that was the longest 10km of my life.

...The winds picked up.
...It started to spit with rain.
...I was completely spent. I had nothing. I was running on pure desire
...for that warm shower when I hit Taree.

I rolled into town, and the sixth sense kicked in as to which pub Santo chose. I pulled up. I almost fell off the bike in complete exhaustion. This was the single most painful moment of the ride for me. I wondered if I had gone too hard and left nothing for tomorrow.

Oh boy that shower was good. I got in, fully clothed, rested my head against the wall and just stood there for 5 minutes. I eventually undressed and cleaned the kit. Legs up on the bed after this ride was bliss and I was tired. So so tired.

Nonetheless, I dragged myself up and we went for a walk, knowing this was good for me. The Manning River at Taree is quite stunning, though on approach something didn't look right. And, we were right. The river was in slight flood, it had broken its banks and was lapping up over the grass. Don't know if this photo does it justice. Maybe I was just so shagged that anything that didn't involve a bicycle fascinated me. You know, I was SO tired, that in crossing the road I voluntarily chose not to jaywalk in front of oncoming traffic (that on any normal day would not be an issue for a strapping, young & virile beefcake like myself) for fear of not making it in time!

While walking along the river, Santo implanted the seed (in my mind). Pasta for dinner. Today was eat out night (based on our lets not be too predicable rotation of eating in or out).

The place I got my drink of life (aka Coffee) at right across from our lodgings was also an Italian restaurant (with Asian chefs just to keep you guessing). The prices shocked us on first glace - more like Sydney prices! But I didn't care. I could have eaten the ass out of a low flying duck. We ate like kings. I can honestly say this was THE best Italian I have ever eaten at a restaurant. Al dente pasta. Perfect portion size. Just the right level of spice, meat and flavour. Just what the doctor ordered.


Justin out....