After a leisurely breakfast and pack up I was on the road and ready to ride. 100m down the road on a sweeping downhill my back tyres gave way and I pulled up with a flat tyre. After swearing and cursing, changed said flat tyre and was soon on my way again.
The rainforest vistas soon gave way to sugar cane farms and inhaling the sweet perfume of the cane as we rode along. The ride today was so scenic with rolling mountains in the distance, ocean vistas, two rest stops at the beach (Wonga and Cooya) and a final port of call in Port Douglas.
Thankfully the beaches had been reopened in the last couple of days after a croc sighting, so after a delayed set up, I took myself off to the beach for a dip in the clear, blue ocean. So refreshing after a hot sweaty ride and I even managed to share a shower and conversation with a random gentleman cyclist at the surf club - it was all well above board though - the showers are outside and side by side.
A lovely leisurely afternoon spent exploring the Main Street, sampling ice cream and the. Back to the beach with my bucket of fresh prawns where I enjoyed my late afternoon snack staring out at the ocean and imagining life after retirement living the high life up here.
Back to camp to charge my phone and a great catch up with Matt from WA who I met 4 years ago on the Agnes Waters ride. Made a few new friends (I know, hard to believe, right) with the neighbours and caught up with a nice man who invited me to sit at his table when I was eating my dinner at my tent last night (in all fairness my tent was right next to the dining tent so it’s not like I’d snuck a mile away to eat). Ian very kindly told me I could eat with them, but after explaining I hadn’t showered and didn’t feel fit for company, he stayed to chat about my infinity saddle and has caught up with me a couple of times since to say hi and ask how my ride went.
Also caught up with Sue and Troy, who have done all of the CQ rides, and who have also just trekked the Camino de Santiago - morning tea was spent listening to their tales and I’m hoping to catch up with them a little more before the end of the week.
Met Tilly, a very cute and friendly pup of my friend Sarah, who is on the Wicen team for the event - the team responsible for Comms and keeping track of us all as we trundle from one town to the next.
It will be a quiet and early night for me tonight - big climb tomorrow as we make our way from the coast up to Mt Molloy. Not the toughest day by any means, but will need the mental fortitude to get into climbing mode and repeat the mantra of shut up legs over and over.
And so, onwards and upwards...
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