Day 78 - Inclement one day, absolutely pissing down the next

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Blackbutt to Yarraman 21km

I was full of gratitude this morning, waking up in a bed, snuggled under both doona and sleeping bag, while the cold and rain persisted.  A quick check of the forecast was not reassuring, showers had been upgraded to rain 15mm, and a headwind, joy!  In a bit of denial I downloaded a new book on my Kindle app and settled in as if the bike was not waiting, still filthy, damp and squeaking.

Kerstin, reading the room, gives me two options, much in the style of dealing with recalcitrant children.  Either we can stay in the dry, if not at all warm Blackbutt pub or we can ride the final twenty kilometres of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail and stay in a cabin at the Yarraman Caravan Park.  I'm sold when she mentions the cabins have a)heating and b)their own bathroom.  Twenty kilometres is not that far I tell myself, especially not if the reward is a warm and dry room that you don't have to leave to go pee.

With time to kill in Blackbutt, we visit the local bakery for brunch, and pick up a couple of their famous pies for dinner, then ensconce ourselves in the local library, hoping to at least start riding when it's not raining.  It backs off to a light misty rain and we bite the bullet and head out of town.  After more than 24hrs of rain the trail is muddy, puddly and the bikes feel like they weigh twice as much.  At the halfway point a sign says Trail Hazard Ahead.  They were not wrong.


It took 20 minutes to get enough mud off that the wheels would turn again.  And once they were a lot of reminding myself to keep my mouth closed as the wheels spun and mud splattered everywhere, dont even mention all the cow poop!

Of course the universe provides, and an opportunity to clean both our feet and the tyres showed up, what is a little more wet?  


Compared to yesterday I had actually managed to keep my core dry today, or at least I did until the final approach to the caravan park, 2kms up a steep hill.  Raining on the outside of the jacket and steaming up the inside, mud from the knees down.  I cannot describe adequately quite what a disgusting sensation that is.  Except perhaps to mention the fantastic addition of my many, many itchy midge bites.  That's it, I'm for a shower and diving back into my b ook.  Let it bloody rain!

Location: Yarraman QLD 4614, Australia

Comments

  1. FrancieApril 28, 2022 at 3:09 PM

    Yuk That is hard riding. That would have felt like a long 20 kilometres. Hope the cabin was good. Joe and I felt that the cabin we stayed at in Ballarat was THE SAME as the one over 35 years ago when the girls were tiny and we were looking to buy land around Ballarat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 29, 2022 at 10:29 AM

    Can you please send some of that rain down here, many thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJune 7, 2022 at 12:16 PM

    Ugh!

    ReplyDelete

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