Day Five: Jamestown
The plan had been to ride from Hawker non-stop back to Adelaide. (I have done a nonstop ride from Copley, and once rode nonstop up to Hawker.) But given the forecast headwinds and, now, rain, a close on 24 hour ride seemed a bit unwise as a follow-up to Day Four. I booked into the Railway Hotel at Jamestown again for the evening of Day Five.
This proved to be a wise decision. I enjoyed a quiet ride to Orroroo, a bit surprised at the lack of traffic given it was the second last day of school holidays. I've not ridden the road in this direction before, and it was intriguing to see how much "fresh" stuff there was to see.
But these clouds, about half way through the day, were a warning of what was to come. As I changed into night gear in the dusk at Orroroo, it began to spit. Things held off for a while, but then I was subject to 60km of lashing showers. I seemed to be in the sweet spot for heavy transports timing their arrival somewhere far off: Before the Peterborough turn-off I was drowned by a number of B-Doubles and Triples heading north. Once past that turn off, it was just me and the rain, and an ominous clicking noise, until I reached Mannanarie. That's where the Broken Hill road joins the Jamestown road, and I received another series of drenchings from passing trucks.
Most worrying was the clicking noise. It was plainly not drive train or wheels. It sounded very much like a frame crack opening and closing. I could see nothing, but that's hardly surprising in the dark with oil stained glasses. There was to be no close inspection of the bike because off the road was full mud, and I was planning to park on Shelley's carpet. And you can't really strip down a bike on the bitumen when there's heavy transports intermittently coming past! So I just had to put up with it. And grin and bear the fact that the head wind and late start meant I was too late for the servo at Jamestown. I had cold rehydrated tea again.
Just before Jamestown the heaviest rain of the night came in. So I was sopping by the time I reached the hotel. It’s a long process getting inside when this happens. You take off the booties, which are the most likely source of mud, and make sure your shoes are not muddy. Then you go in, crank up the air-con and grab the bath mat. That will protect the wall when you lean your bike against it.
Then you take the dry bags you use for your rain jacket etc and place them on the carpet. All this time, the bike is outside (out of the rain, hopefully) dripping oil and water over the veranda. You bump off as much excess liquid as possible, wipe off the chain with toilet tissue, then wheel the bike up and down the veranda to dry off the tyres a bit. I'm waiting for the night when some other visitor comes out of their room wondering what the hell is going on! Then you carry the whole thing inside and place it on the dry bags. You will also have laid out other bags, with tissue or toilet paper over the top, to catch any more drips from the drive train.
Now it's back out to the veranda to soap off and blot up any oil spills. Then iniside to change any oiled bits of paper so that nothing has a chance to seep through to the carpet. Finally, it is time to strip off. You will likely already be shaking with the cold, even if the air-con is now pushing above 20 degrees. I am pleased to say I left no trace of bike on the carpet. And because of the excellent placement of the air conditioner, all my stuff was dry in the morning.
Stats: 164km, 10:38 hours moving at 15.4kmh, Real Average Speed: 12.7kmh, Min Temp: 2C
Riding Safe
People are frequently horrified that I ride at night. I reckon it to be the safest time, because there is less traffic and it can see you, and you can see it, from kilometres away. Even when it's raining, twin high output tail lights, one on the bike and one on the helmet make it hard to miss me from behind. As my kid once said, having passed me on the way home, "If anyone ever runs you down, it'll have to be deliberate." My front light is bright enough that I "dip" it for oncoming traffic.
That said, there are limits to visibility. Don't ride in heavy traffic at night. "Semi night" on the main highways is a very bad idea. They daisy-chain each other, and it is very easy to get lost in all the lights.
