Day 103 – Tathra to Batemans Bay

Today started off fairly warm which made a nice change. Other than that, it was very similar to yesterday – lots of hills and very little flat. None of the climbs were overly long but they were steep and there were more than enough of them.

The sun eventually broke through the clouds and turned the middle section of today into a very nice ride. About the same time, I passed a sign for ‘Potato Point’. I didn’t actually go through it, but it made me wonder why on earth anyone would name a place after a vegetable. I mean it’s not like you can drive around England and spot signs for ‘Broccoli-upon-Avon’ or ‘Sutton and Eggplant’…. That’s what went through my head whilst riding anyway; I’m not entirely sure it’s relevant now but you get the idea.

A downside of today has been that my bike has started creaking whenever I ride out the saddle. I think it may be coming from the handlebar region but I haven’t been able to properly diagnose the problem as I wasn’t allowed to have my bike in my room tonight. (It is safe though.)

This evening also held a bit of frustration. I had a ten-minute walk to dinner tonight (in the rain) and about 50 metres from my destination my flip-flop snapped. This meant that I had to walk barefoot all the way back to get my other shoes; which annoyed me. I’m now minus some footwear and a fair bit of skin from the bottom of my feet. It’s stuff like this that’s really irritating – it has nothing to do with the ride but puts me in a bad mood and makes the whole evening harder. In case anyone was wondering why I was wearing flip-flops in the rain – it’s because they were at the top of my bag and reaching to the bottom for my other shoes was far too much effort.

Distance: 96.9 miles / 155.8 km
Riding Time: 7:07:16
Av. Speed: 13.6 mph / 21.9 kph