Day 88 was the morning i left Brendon at Cloncurry and headed to Mt Isa around 7.30. The terrain was different to what i had been riding the last few days as i found myself pushing over rolling hills and big iron ore type mountains either side. Felt like i was in some Cowboy and Indian American movie and i kept looking up to the mountain horizon to see if there was a row of Indians on there horses watching me.
The ride was going O.K till the rim of the back wheel where a spoke goes in tore away and was floating in the wind. This crack in the rim was noticed way back in Mackay by Jono but seemed not too bad at the time.. It was a 2 x 2 cm square around the spoke which came away from the rim and i had to wrap it around other spokes to keep it in place. Not panicking i tightened up the other spokes and crept into Isa and went to the only bike shop in town. Quite a big shop but they only had one 700 rim in stock so i had them fit it. Replace the brake pads and a general tune up. Geoff the guy who fitted it new his stuff and said he couldn't believe the drag on the back brakes with the buckled wheel under load. He said i might find it a bit better now that the brakes won't be rubbing,hope so.
I elected to stay in Isa for the night and an extra day as the wind forecast was not good for the next day and just as well, N.W's. I'm staying at a workers accommodation Motel place as the hotels are all full, and the boys who work at the mines are finding it hard to talk to me, as the guy who runs it reckons that there not used to transit people living with them.
There O.K.though,bless em.
Day 89 I am resting now and carbing up for the big stretchers coming up. The days ahead of me are going to turn me into a man and put hairs on my chest . Looking forward to it ,too really start making a impression into the trip.
Had a walk around town this morning and i will well and truly be ready to go early tomorrow.With three mines being worked next door to the town you would think the town would have a vibrant feel about it, quite the opposite by the look of it. Still i don't live here, maybe its exciting for them.
Don't know next time when i will have Internet connection again ,so lets just cross that bridge when we get to it.
P.S......can any one guess where the three quarter mark within 100kms ? Come on ,give it a go.
Ciao
Grant
The ride was going O.K till the rim of the back wheel where a spoke goes in tore away and was floating in the wind. This crack in the rim was noticed way back in Mackay by Jono but seemed not too bad at the time.. It was a 2 x 2 cm square around the spoke which came away from the rim and i had to wrap it around other spokes to keep it in place. Not panicking i tightened up the other spokes and crept into Isa and went to the only bike shop in town. Quite a big shop but they only had one 700 rim in stock so i had them fit it. Replace the brake pads and a general tune up. Geoff the guy who fitted it new his stuff and said he couldn't believe the drag on the back brakes with the buckled wheel under load. He said i might find it a bit better now that the brakes won't be rubbing,hope so.
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| Mine carting truck (4 trailers) |
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| Woops , i better get out of the way. |
There O.K.though,bless em.
Day 89 I am resting now and carbing up for the big stretchers coming up. The days ahead of me are going to turn me into a man and put hairs on my chest . Looking forward to it ,too really start making a impression into the trip.
Had a walk around town this morning and i will well and truly be ready to go early tomorrow.With three mines being worked next door to the town you would think the town would have a vibrant feel about it, quite the opposite by the look of it. Still i don't live here, maybe its exciting for them.
Don't know next time when i will have Internet connection again ,so lets just cross that bridge when we get to it.
P.S......can any one guess where the three quarter mark within 100kms ? Come on ,give it a go.
Ciao
Grant
OK
ReplyDeleteThe three quarter mark?
I will resist all aids and guess...past Darwin, somewhere just after you get into WA.
There is a big empty area in far North WA...you'll be on the homeward run there.
What do you mean past Darwin, i'm not going there silly billy.
DeleteSimon Jackson is going for Marble Bar/Kunanurra
ReplyDeleteCongratulations ,but your no where near it.lol
DeleteMy money's on Gregory, still in the Northern Territory but just a hop, skip and a jump from the border of your home state.
ReplyDeleteNo,sorry lyou ost your money.
DeleteTim, Monica & Conor Dickson are all going for Kununurra. BTW the boys have a set of horns just like yours hanging over their bedroom doorway. They look great on Hearse.
ReplyDeleteno, and by the way no cheating using string or anything other than just looking and estimating,ok
DeleteActually, Tim & Conor have changed their minds after spending 10 minutes with a piece of string and measuring your map photo. They are now going for Katherine.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is correct but didn't i tell you not to use string. The prize was a free trip to America for nine people only if you didn't break any rules,sorry.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDerby.... Sorry I made a mistake and they beat me for it!!!
DeleteDurak....not Derby..
ReplyDeleteI KNOW!!! Its Doon Doon roadhouse !!! or is it dumb dumb roadhouse ??? Just past Kunnura .
ReplyDeleteAnyway whats the prize for getting the closest !
Just keep peddaling !!1
Hey Cock;
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if your aware of it but Cadel Evans was born in Catherine and the locals are planning a ticket tape parade through the main street just for you.
They are busy as we blog preparing empty VB and Export cartons (and there is no shortage of them in this town) by tearing them up into little pieces ready to throw at you and show their interest in other
sporting events happening outside their country.
They have put in a request that you arrive in Catherine on a week day, so as they can have the day off work to recognise the effort that you and Cadel are doing
for Australia on two wheels
As a great man said once,any boss who sacks his worker for taking the day off is a mug,ha ha ha. B.H. Kathrines a while off yet and i did say that these big distances was going to put hairs on my chest. Well after todays effort punching into the wind for 190kms hair is now forming on my back and if this keeps up your ticket tape parade will be greeting Cousin It.
DeleteHi Grant, how are you traveling? Just a quick word to let you know that I am now in Luz Saint Sauveur having a day rest. So far this has been very challenging indeed as I am climbing on average 1300 metres on a day to day basis. Tomorrow I will be heading for Bareges which is my halfway mark in this trek.I got lost a couple of time in thick fog near a mountain top and I assure you that it is quite an eery feeling specially on your own. This is where one has to face one's fear and keep cool.
ReplyDeleteI must go for now as one of those French cafe is calling.....
G'day John,i'm going just fine. Looks like your right in the thick of things up there in the clouds. Hope you had a look at the blog about the fella i met walking from the gulf to Melbourne. I wonder if he is ducking into any cafe's for a hot chocolate?. Doubt it.
ReplyDeleteHey lovie! Andrea, Tony & I followed in your bike trek today, we went Young & Jacksons & had a pint each of Kelly Bros Sparkling cider in aid of Around The Paddock trip :) many grant blog moments were shared:)) thinking of what place might've been like when Jim was there last. Anyhu, fantastic cycling Superman, take extra care. & make sure you have heaps of water xox
ReplyDeleteCaught up with Pearl last night at grandmas - all appears well - she is having her treats and sleeps most of the day (not grandma - Pearl).
ReplyDeleteFor those who are having trouble putting a comment an easy way is to go into the drop down box - next to "google account" (see below) and pick Name/URL. Select this and put your name in (no need to put the URL in) press continue - the press publish - work out the code and Bobs your uncle.
Jackiexx
Hi Grant, I have to say that I have been loving the updates on your site since you left Cairns, they have been excellent. Really liked the methane chamber...I was half expecting to see a red tent shaped hot air ballon flying across the top end on the late night news...but alas it never eventuated.
ReplyDeleteThe kids & I reckon half way will be around the WA & NT border give or take a few klm's.
Talking of Methane...we've got Jens mum at our place at the moment & she has a flatulance problem that puts Capitan Methane to shame...you could power up must of the country with whats blowing out her but most days...gotta keep the dog on a tight lead or bloody thing will get its head knocked off.
Keep up the great work
brilliant to date & getting better
Frz
hello big guy, still pumping lots of iron good to se... the road ahead is getting smaller and smaller.. Trucks are bigger and bigger. hitch a ride on the end.. roll with the trucks. elaborate more about the terrain..
ReplyDeleteimpressed still
Well just when you and I thought had every peice of fitness equipment devised by man,I have been inspired.
ReplyDeleteYes I have bought a pushie,not as flash as as your sturdy steed but more than up to the task of a decent ride down to Shoal Pt and back.
What amazed me was the weight of these new bikes,I think if my fellow bloggers could have felt the weight of your bike plus packs the day you set off from Mackay they would be in EXTRA awe.PS did you find those dumbells I put in Ha Ha.Hope the roads being kind to you,better stay outa the water when you get back too,those Gwhites use you as a Scarborough entree.
Keep it up Jooono
Hi Grant, I just got on the blog to check the GPS & there is no signal...I'm assuming that is because the batteries have died right? I hope you have got some way of getting a bit of charge into those babies as it looks a long way between power points up there.
ReplyDeleteJack, the bloody smart arse, just pointed out I stuffed up on the last blog...Its supposed to be the 3/4 mark not half way...sorry about that slip up.
Anyway, all good here mate...we've got Pork Belly & Eye Fillet on the weber later this arvo if you want to swing by for a feed.
Cheers
Frz
Ok guys im in Barkley Road House checking out the comment section and i know your enjoying watching the Track Spoter by the amount of hits. .......Now pull your bloody fingers out and stop hiding like perverts behind the computer . If your into vouyerism just go back to the porn channel and get off my site.lol
ReplyDeleteWhat's a "Porn Channel"??
ReplyDeleteStill watching..... keep those batteries charged, your fan base need their daily fix!
hmmmm....the fan base has been told!!
ReplyDeleteJackie
Linds here on Jude's computer. Let me get this straight....again. If you don't blog, then bad things will happen!
ReplyDeleteGrant will change the WILL and you will get written out. Grant will make voodoo dolls of you and stick pins into you each night. Pearl will no longer run up to you and sniff you. Joy will ignore you at BBQs. Grant will never let you stay at his place ever again, for weeks on end..etc etc.
B/c I can't handle the etceteras I will continue to blog.
Jude....the most serious punishment is that there will be no cups of tea made for people who do not put comments on regularly....I say no more!!
ReplyDeleteJackiexx
Hi! Grant some pretty long distances ahead mate....take care on those roadtrains...glad threequarters of the job done....love all your entries..cheers
ReplyDeleteNot at three qtr mark yet. I knew i shouldn't of held that little competition,confused everybody.lol
DeleteHello! Wow you're already in Crazyville! Pearl & I are back now, Pat says she has behaved :) anyway Nannup reckons he'll be definitely in Hedland if you decide to stop over :) talk soon Mr.Kelly x
ReplyDeleteMaaaaayte, looks like very sparse country up where you are now, as usual all the great pics and stories we've all come to expect.
ReplyDeleteHey guys ,looks like you have all read me wrong again. I do appreciate every comment you put on and find it entertaining to read them after a long ride so keep them coming. But what i really was trying to do was to activate the free loaders of the world who don't contribute. The people who have cotributed so far have done more than enough and they need only to type there names in the comment section to propell me further........If the same people don't comment ,cups of tea will still be provided and your welcome to stay at my house anytime and no voodoo dolls will be made to put pins in though. etc etc . but if idon't get some of those people who i know have the blog address and are just watching the......get ready for it.......the tracker is goin OFF.....He he he he
ReplyDeleteDon't you have to have blogged at least 4 times to be invited to the welcome home party?
ReplyDeleteNo ,once is enough so they can't say pathetically,i didn't know how to .
DeleteThere's a welcome home PARTY?
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I haven't been invited to that!
Maybe us Eastern State bloggers will just have to organize our own! Once Grant's journey is completed there will be a huge hole left in our lives with no tracker or blog to watch. We could get together and support one another in our quest to find something to fill the gap.
DeleteLinds ,i have enough frequent flyer points to bring you over for a, say five day stint ,to stay at Pats and welcome me home if you like sometime early Sept.
DeleteHello Grant. No we haven't forgotten about you. Checking the blog almost everyday and we are just speechless. Amazing what you are doing and thumbs up for your courage to continue and complete the journey soon. Well done!! mm
ReplyDeleteWhat Mary speechless,never, thanks for the encouragement and i'm going as fast as i can, and i know you haven't forgotten about me:-)
DeleteLooks like you're now on the very last northern leg of the trip before you turn south and west - all downhill on the way home, on the map at least, so Katherine will be worth celebrating for more than just being the 3/4 point. But watch out for those triple-trailer trucks because that back trailer can get a real wobble up and whip all over the road. Watched the Tour last night - the leaders were clocked going down the mountain at over 90Km/h. I'm convinced all you cyclists are either very brave or very crazy (or both). Speaking of crazy, I was crossing the Nularbor in January once (yeah, in a car) and went past a Japanese guy on foot pushing a wheelbarrow. Push on McDuff.
ReplyDeleteYes Doc ,i think i will have a rest day in Katherine and carb up for the downhill ride ,but i don't know about the 90km/s speed,i think the fastest i've been down a hill is about 60kms/h. The trucks your talking about are everywhere up here but are driven by true gentlemen on the road and they give me plenty of room or a beep to warn me there behind me,even though i can hear there 600hp motors roaring down on me long before they get to me.
DeleteMcDuff was pushing a wheelbarrow?
ReplyDeleteI thought he was Hamlet's mate, you know, the guy who spoke to skulls?
Close....he is the virtuous Thane of Fife who kills Macbeth. The point is, they're all mad - Hamlet, Macbeth, the aristocracy, Japanese barrow pushers and cyclists.
DeleteHI GRANT , im booked to go to the phillipines for 8 months .. leaving 3 rd of september , and coming back on 29 th april . . SO HURRY UP so we can catch up before i go , ok stay safe and il talk to you again soon .
ReplyDeleteCongratulations,did you win lotto or are you stepping into a job when you get there? Don't know when exzacatacly when i will be home though.
DeleteHello Tilak ,this is my second full day in Bali, the weather here is fantastic , max about 29 min about 24 !! The place is over run with scooters , but yesterday I saw a rare sight someone on a bike ( the only one I've seen) and I automatically thought of you , I'm sure yor cycling is a lot safer then here .
ReplyDeleteAnyway as always keep peddling , otherwise you won't get back to Pearl and Joy !!!
Joe :)
Thought it was about time I touched base. well done on your efforts to date. Awesome, keep up the good work. Lou
ReplyDeleteThank God, now i can tick you off the list of people who im going to shoot when i get back. Meg's gunna be the first.
DeleteHey Cock
ReplyDeleteThe Cuzzy Bros are waiting and ready in Katherine
Grant , i know your a big Fan, so this news might hurt... One Direction have a new song out, I know.. hang in there mate, i'm sure you find a way to down load it, say at the next itunes booth you come across ! So anyway hows the Music situation going ? Kid Rock still doing it for you ? Have you an ipod on the Trip ? ps the 3/4 way around mark.. Mmmm i think is pretty close to the 1/4 way up mark - I Luv Geograffy. Keep those Platsy Calves Pumping chat again soon
ReplyDeleteNay, music is out the window mate,if the radio can't pick anything up i just sing to myself and the wild life. Sent my ipod and a bunch of other stuff back to Perth as the external speaker and itself weighed too much. Hey i think im gunna have to go to thailand to get a calve reduction the way i'm going.
DeleteHey Grant, have been away conferencing with no computer....boy are you gunning it across those desert lands. Heading north for the last time I see, hope the winds are fair. You better find time to stop and have a swim in the Mataranka pool,it will wash the last of the Queensland dust off, and prepare you for heading west again. Can't remember how far off the highway it was, maybe you can get an overnighter there?
ReplyDeleteYou have really seen some flat land out there, it will be interesting to see the changes as you get further north and those anthills keep getting bigger and bigger.
I guess your most northerly point is ahead of you, I think Katherine is further north than Cairns. Watch out for sunburn!!
Yes I've taken your advise about the sunburn and applied some today, for the first time on the trip. Today would have to be one of the hottest so far but hardly unbearable .It has been flat for a long time now, i hope the leg muscles adapt to any hills that might arise.
DeleteThe boys would like to know if you could see any water in Lake Woods - according to the map you rode past it today? Tim says to make sure you have a good soak in the springs at Mataranka. He reckons they're bloody beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWhat water.......i didnt even see Lake Woods.... Yes i have been in the Mataranka springs before but would be honoured to know which rock Tim sat on as i could sit on the same rock and ponder
Deleteomg grant is starting to loose it watch out here comes mr grumpy nuts!!!!!!!!!lol!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteDon't fight it Shane ,just work with it son.
DeleteOk , I spoke too soon about the beautiful Bali weather , it's now bucketting down and I mean BUCKETTING down !! And as for that cyclist I saw yesterday he rode in to a pot hole this morning never to be seen again .!!
ReplyDeleteLucky Bastard,wish i had a pot hole to ride into and disappear.
DeleteHello supporters,i am now in a place called Dunmarra,like stepping back in time.Perfect weather,blue sky and loving life. The bodies on fire and can't wait to get this leg out of the way to Katherine. Trouble is then i can't wait to get the next leg out of the way,then the next and so on. Look out if i get a sniff of Joys scent a couple of hundred kms out, i'll be going through barbed wire fences like a bull on heat.
ReplyDeleteJesus, I'd like to see that. I bet Joy's looking forward to seeing you covered in Barbed wire???
ReplyDeleteLove your Work
Hmmm it would be a rather "prickly" situation :)
DeleteJeez Joy sounds like Spartacus coming to get you!!!!Locals in Dunmarra betta lock the doors!
ReplyDeleteMate ,your gotta keep up with it, im now in Daly Waters.:-)
DeleteGood, hope your getting your Daly bread-ha ha so funny!
DeleteHi Grant, I'm so sorry, please don't shoot me, I've stayed off the "BLOG" so as not to make Joy jealous as you reckon I'm sooo hoooot.
ReplyDeleteYour going really fast looking at the map it's all down hill from Katherine.
Missing you lots and lots and Pearl
Little Meg
O.K Your off the hook but i'll need one more before the finish line to bring me home.lol
ReplyDeleteno fighting son just loving it tiger... in your own words how are you feeling so far...mentaly,physically,emotionally etc...dr symster.
ReplyDeleteWell i'm sitting here in my room with the door open looking out of this road house motel and am amazed at how bloody marvellous the stillness and the ideal temperture is. But there is this subconscious denial that i cannot enjoy this as i cannot get too comfortable because i know i'm miles from home and don't want to think about it,i need to keep going in a forward direction. At the moment i have no issues at all with anything as i can't afford too. This is not a hard thing im doing at the moment, as i have conditioned myself as i've gone along but at the same time i don't want to stray in any way and make it harder than it is. Jesus i need to lie down now.
ReplyDelete