The Cycling Adventurer

   Perth-Adelaide 1997

Day 27   

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Maintenance day for the bike... and me

I spent today on maintenance and threw in a little sightseeing for good measure. I took apart, cleaned and reassembled bits and pieces on the bike and in my camping equipment.

Then I spent some time in the local laundromat washing gear, all in preparation for what will effectively be the second half of my journey. I even washed my shoes to reduce the their odour, which was almost enough to make the eyes water. My panniers came up a treat after going through the washing machine. All my cooking utensils are clean and I even fixed the buckles on the straps that keep the panniers on the racks.

I took off the back wheel and stripped down the hub and axle to readjust the cones and reseat the bearings. As I suspected, the gear-side bearing had flopped around inside the hub, but that may have been because the cones were not sufficiently tight enough in the first place. The binding I experienced yesterday has virtually disappeared.

I found the derailleur protector stuffed down on the folds of my tent, so I was able to do a full reassembly of the rear end. Happy with the job, I went off to find an open supermarket at the other end of town in Thevenaud to stock up on some food. That supermarket run accounted for just about all the nine kilometres I covered today, and gave the rear axle a workout with the additional weight of the groceries. I stopped off at the laundromat on the way back to do my washing.

I am feeling a darned sight better than over the previous few days. I am back to being organised and hopefully, the bike will hold together. I am rested, and my backside is just about healed, and the boil on the inside of my groin has all but disappeared. I think that I now have time to travel down the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula to Port Lincoln and then move on to Adelaide. My children, Alexandra and Stuart, are not due in Adelaide until next Saturday. The plan will take me off the Eyre Highway and that will be good.

The weather today was sunny with a strong seabreeze that came in quite early. The girls from North America left about 8.20am, and Vaughn and his girlfriend from Adelaide left mid-morning to go to Streaky Bay, so I spent the rest of the day by myself here. As I plodded along, I listened to Ian McNamara on ABC Radio and the network's sports coverage in the afternoon. My hands are finally clean of grease, my shoes look reasonable.

A young Israeli man arrived on his motorcycle just before dinner. He is on the last leg of a round-Australia trip on a Kawasaki 500 enduro bike, and wants to be in Melbourne when his parents arrive from Israel. He has been very impressed by what he has seen of Australia. His original thoughts were that Australia was a desert and he sure was surprised when he landed in Melbourne to see the size of the city and to find the Dandenong Mountains so close by. He went up the East Coast, then across to Darwin before doing the loop south to Perth via Broome.

This little place is not bad. Looking through the visitors' book, others have been quite impressed, too, judging by their comments. The walls have been decorated with murals depicting marine themes such as fish, dolphins and surfing. Vaughn cooked dinner, flake with vegetables, a basic but very adequate meal. We even sipped on a glass of port each that he offered.

Yes, compared with the past three or four frustrating days, this one has been a beauty.

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