Day 3 - Monday, 21st February 2005 - Dalgety to Bredbo

The rain didn't clear overnight. It pretty much rained the night through and was still going fairly well in the morning. At briefing we were told that the forecast was for showers today and clearing. Its about 1:30pm at my time of writing and we are getting another shower. Packing up the tent this morning was a bit of a challenge. I had set up in an ungrassed area so I woke up in the middle of a mud bowl. I packed up as best I could but some stuff did get a big wet and the tent was pretty much soaked through. Breakfast was an interesting affair as there wasn't much cover so people were pretty much standing in the serving area to eat it.

The weather is the one thing that these events are at the mercy off. Rain makes it really difficult to enjoy, despite that most riders still seem to be making the most of it. The atmosphere at the pub was pretty lively. Once I had packed up and loaded my bags this morning I joined the waiting cyclists. Luckily I got there just as they started rolling out. This was pretty lucky as I was already getting a bit cold. Today's route was about 90kms and I hoped to cover this with about 3 hours on the bike. I was feeling pretty good so I was setting a strong pace. It looked like the clouds were all around us and although it wasn't raining on top of me, I wasn't very optimistic of it staying that way. On one of the reflector posts I saw a sign "3km to Hell", I saw a hill ahead and guessed that was it. The signs continued along the route all the way to Cooma with different comments about the route. It was quite refreshing. The countryside here was really quite impressive, a lot of small hills and quite rocky in places. There were some real spectacular views, but as I had left the camera in the bag again, I was unable to capture them.

I rolled into Comma for lunch as the first cyclists again. I realised at this point that I had lost my Ride Passport, this is basically your meal ticket and while they weren't checking them at lunch it was still a hassle. Luckily the next cyclist in had found it on the route, so I owe him a beer or two for that. A few other cyclists had rolled in by the time I left lunch. I would have liked to have some company, but I was getting a bit cold, so I thought it was better to be moving and warm rather than stationary and cold. The last 40 odd kilometres was along the Monaro Highway, there was a bit of a shoulder but the bridges were a bit narrow. Although there were no major hills the road was pretty dead so it made the cycling harder. I did spy some blue sky on the horizon but it didn't look like it was going to be over us at Bredbo. I swung into Afternoon Tea which was run by the CWA, so there was a good selection of home made treats. After that it was about 15kms to camp. I again rolled into camp first, but I was well ahead of the luggage trucks, it did mean though that I again had the pick of the camp site. Once the luggage truck was unpacked I was able to dry out my tent from this morning before putting it up. Hopefully the weather will clear and we can get some good days in.

Distance 88.46 km
Average 31.62 km/hr
Time 2:47:51
Maximum 62.30 km/hr

Images

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The storm to the south, we rode mostly out of this today.
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From the campsite looking north.
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The Poplars at Bredbo
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This is one way to stay out of the mud when camping, just don't roll over in the night.
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Bredbo Inn, packed with cyclists this day.
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The locals put on some Sheep Dog Trials for out entertainment.
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Whoops... One of the dangers of too much rain.

Day 4

Day 2
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