Day 3 Ballina To Mclean

dannii

Well, here it is - three days down and eight to go.... I am now 1/4 of the way through.....already!!!

Well, I left sunny Ballina this morning, thinking that the weather man must have got things wrong. The sun was shining, the winds were low and it was brisk, but not uncomfortable.

I stopped at the Big Prawn to grab a mars bar for my trip ... you never can go without that quick sugar boost.

It was pretty much flat for most of the morning.

By about 9.45, the winds had started to pick up considerably, and with the terrain being so flat, it was hard to hide from.... I started to get a little frustrated today ..... everytime you though you had even the slightest downhill the wind would ruin any chance that I might have had of a bit of coast.

I was beginning to miss the hills as well, the scenery was beginning to get a little montonous ... sugar cane, sugar cane, cows, sugar cane, sugar cane, cows and so on.

At 11.04, I stopped for 15 mins in a truck rest area for a rest and a bite to eat... there were wome council workers at the other end of the rest area some 300 - 400m up, it didn't look like they were doing much, certainly wouldn't get a job with BMD ... hehehe. In fact when I rode past them the foreman, I presume, was sitting in a folding chair yelling out orders .... good to see his work morale is right up there!

For about the next 5kms, I kept seeing people wiping their windscreens ... their "wet" windscreens. As I progressed the sky got darker and darker, and then the heavens opened up. The weather man was right after all. It pelted down rain for about the next 20kms, which in bike travel is about 2 1/2 hours... well I finall got to test out the wet weather gear, and I must say it works a treat!

The wind got so strong that I was pedalling at 15 - 16kms per hour... and then the hail came!!!! I rode through the hail for about 4kms (about 20 mins). It stung my hands, legs and nose. I had most of my face tucked into my jacket, but the exposed areas still copped it. A rather large chunk gave my knee a fair wallopping. It was at this point that I saw a tourist drive sign that said McLean 5kms. All I could think now... "McLean sounds great - thats me!!!!!". I took the turn off and headed west to McLean. Stopped at the first hotel I came across and grabbed a room for the night. I got to my room, tipped the water out of my shoes, threw them under the heater and jumped in the shower. It was now about 1.30pm. When I got out of the shower the bloody rain had stopped and the sun was shining, but the sky was still quite dark.

I headed into town to grab supplies for tomorrow and a bite to eat.

I was in bed by 7.30 and asleep by 8.00.

Stats - Total kms = 96km
Total time - 5hrs 09 mins
Avg Speed = 18.3km/h

__________________
Dannii

You are where you are. Where you're going is up to you.