A hangover to Coonalpyn
Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 7
I woke up this morning with a bit of a hangover, but nothing too bad, and got my laundry done pretty early. I wandered around town for a while, checking out the Bordertown train station, a stop for the Overland Train I’ll be taking back to Melbourne this coming Friday, and was saddened at how run-down and in need of maintenance the neglected but beautiful heritage station was.
I popped by the IGA (called Foodland in SA) for some bananas and Powerade, then visited the house Bob Hawke was born in, which was just down the road from the Bordertown Hotel. With all that done, it was still only 0830, hehehe, Bordertown is a nice little town and I really liked it, but it’s not overly big.
0930 came and I got my bike out of the locked shed, said goodbye to the hotel, then hit the road. My worry about the time quickly disappeared as the terrain was fairly flat, and I made good time at about 21 kph average. The countryside here is beautiful, slightly barren and sparse but I like that kind of country, and I enjoyed the ride immensely. I stopped at Keith for some lunch, and Ki Ki for a rest stop.
Otherwise I pretty uneventfully made it to Coonalpyn by about 1630, where I took some photos of the painted silo mural, now a relatively-famous local landmark and tourist attraction. I was betting all the way here today that there’d be a café or roadhouse near the silo called the Coonalpyn Silo Café, and I wasn’t disappointed!
I was disappointed, however, at receiving my first really negative response to my school-dress-clad journey: I’d parked my bike in front of the silo, taken some photos, then sat down for a quick breather just as an elderly couple pulled up in between my bike and I, to take a photo themselves. I asked the male driver if he wanted me to move my bike so they could get a clean shot, to which he replied, “No, no, no! Fuck off you bloody f****t! What the fuck are you?!”. I just said “No thanks will do” and his wife admonished his rudeness and vulgarity, but it still left a bad taste as it’s the first negative response in nearly a week. I guarantee this bastard voted ‘no’ in the same-sex marriage plebiscite. Anyway…
Crossed the road to the Coonalpyn Hotel, where the lovely proprietors gave me a free room and I had a nice wood-fired pizza and a beer. Some great locals donated about $40 to the charity as well, which helped restore the faith a little.
Follow the journey
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Prologue — Media coverage in “The Courier”: Ballarat father of two preparing for ride of a lifetime...in a dress!
A bit of media coverage this morning went a long way to help drum up some awareness of my ride. Big thanks to The Courier for the article.
- Day 1
Up the hills!
I arrived at the Royal Exhibition Centre in Carlton this morning with no small amount of nervous trepidation, as well as some weary eyes, after catching the 0520 train with my partner, Danielle. We said goodbye with a big hug at Southern Cross Station, and I rode from there to Carlton, and parked at the big fountain to the south of the Exhibition Centre.
- Day 2
The second departure
Slept in slightly, then as I was leaving from home and not coming back, needed to double-check that everything was packed into the trailer and the gear was all ready to go.
- Day 3
Horsham
I awoke early this morning to the sound of kookaburras laughing, and then cockatoos having a screaming match, so much better than an alarm clock! I love the bush!! Enjoyed a beautiful sunrise through the gum trees as I packed up camp and had a muesli breakfast.
- Day 4
Dimboola
I started this morning in the worst possible way — disaster struck my rear axle. I snapped the ‘Burley Balls’ rear axle bolt, which was made out of cheap Chinesium, as I went to depart the Darlot Motor Inn! I was devastated — this could easily have been the end of the adventure right there.
- Day 5
The silent ‘h’ in Nhill
Today was a very hard day. It started off nice enough — awoke to kookaburras and cockatoos once again, and as I packed up my hammock I saw a little possum mother climbing the tree my hammock was on, with its baby on its back — unfortunately, the possums had also taken the liberty to piss and shit all over my tarps during the night.
- Day 6
Watching Toby get chewed up and spat out by a Tiger
After the hard day yesterday, today was brilliant! Awoke refreshed, with not a lot of distance to cover to finish off Leg 4 — about 40 km to Bordertown, SA. I left Kaniva early and headed out for the border between Victoria and South Australia at Serviceton.
- Day 7
A hangover to Coonalpyn
I woke up this morning with a bit of a hangover, but nothing too bad, and got my laundry done pretty early. I wandered around town for a while, checking out the Bordertown train station, a stop for the Overland Train I’ll be taking back to Melbourne this coming Friday.
- Day 8
The Mighty Murray!
I left Coonalpyn this morning feeling pretty awesome. I’ve gotten a large portion of my journey out of the way, I’ve stayed at some great places, met some lovely people, and seen some beautiful sights.
- Day 9
Resting in Murray Bridge
Today was scheduled as a rest and recovery day, to allow me to a) recover from the past eight day’s journey, and b) rest in preparation for tomorrow, which might turn out to be the hardest day’s ride yet.
- Day 10
Pushing beyond the limit, and arriving in Adelaide
Today’s ride was by far the toughest, most gruelling bicycle ride I’d ever undertaken, and pushed my body to limits I hadn’t exceeded for more than ten years.
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Epilogue — Media coverage in “The Courier”: Ryan Moore bikes in a dress to raise money for girls charity
A bit of media coverage this morning went a long way to help drum up some awareness of my ride. Big thanks to The Courier for the article.