Wilsons Promontory to Cape York by bike - Aberfeldy Bridge to Woods Point

Day: 004
Date: Monday, 31 July 2006
Summary: Riding from the Aberfeldy Bridge Campground to Woods Point.
Start: Aberfeldy Bridge Campground
Finish: Woods Point
Daily Kilometres: 65
Total Kilometres: 296
Weather: Overcast with almost incessant rain or snow and a very cold wind.
Accommodation: Room at the Woods Point Hotel.
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Muesli
  Lunch:  A few snacks during the day (too cold to stop for long!)
  Dinner:  A good three-course pub meal for dinner.
Encounters: A wallaby nearly ran into me from the side and a lyrebird crossed the road just in front of me.  Saw only two cars all day.
Highlights: Getting to Woods Point and finding the hotel had accommodation.
Lowlights: Persistent trouble with the cleat on my right shoe which kept getting stuck in the pedal and unscrewing itself from the shoe.  Fixing it in the rain/snow with frozen fingers was no fun.  The steep 7km descent on a rough rocky road into Woods Point in teeming freezing rain with the frozen and numb fingers barely able to keep the brakes on and my whole body shivering, and fearful there would be no accommodation there.

Journal:
It had rained all night, but luckily stopped while I packed up and had breakfast.  I hadn’t gone 100 metres before the cleat in my right shoe came loose.  Despite repeatedly tightening it at various points during the day, it kept coming loose and I’m wondering whether there is something wrong with the pedal (I loosened the pedal tension as far as possible to no avail).  The day started with a 6km long and reasonably steep climb away from the campground.  It began raining and I spent a lot of time walking and pushing the bike.  On the steeper bits I could barely ride at 6kph whilst I could walk at 4.5kph with much less effort.  It also kept my feet warmer.  The road was barely a narrow rocky track but I still (occasionally) enjoyed the quintessential Australian bush in the rain.

After a while I reached a ridge, although the road kept going up, and the Thompson River Dam was visible in the steep valley to my left.  A bit further on, there was snow on the road verge and as I continued to ascend, still walking lots, it continued to either rain or snow.  In the more exposed sections it was windy and very cold.

I finally reached the small community of Aberfeldy on top of a snow-covered hill at 1100 metres.  There were about ten houses, but no signs of life.  I had covered 25km in 4 hours and knew that if I reached Woods Point by nightfall I would be fortunate.

The pattern of the afternoon was alternating riding and walking in the drizzle and snow.  Some of the walking was to warm the hands and feet which were frequently numb.  However, the road gradient and surface was better than in the morning and I did make better time.  There was snow on the ground in many places, but never deep enough on the road to cause problems, just slush, and I was mud-spattered from head to toe.  I must have looked ridiculous.  I kept on thinking to myself that any significant equipment failure, even a puncture, would be a real test in these conditions.

I finally reached Woods Point a little after 4:00pm in pretty bad shape, shivering uncontrollably and aware that I needed to warm up somewhere, even if I was going to camp out.  Fortunately the Woods Point Hotel had rooms to let and I got one for $40 bed and breakfast.  It was old and pretty basic, but very welcome.  There was no heating in the room so I used the electric blanket on the bed to dry out some of my stuff, although the electric blanket only warmed up when the bedcovers were laid over my wet gear.  Lovely!  The publican was very friendly and interested, and was stressed out because tomorrow morning was the first time he had had to cook breakfast (the usual cook was not available).  I spent some time in the very warm bar with a log fire watching the ABC and chatting with some of the locals, who thought I was insane.

Thanks to good gear and the liberal use of plastic bags, everything is dry apart from what I was wearing and even that is not too bad since my fluoro rain-jacket seems to be very effective.  My shoes, however, are soaking wet and caked in mud.  I’m hoping I’m past the worst of the mountains now and should get to Mansfield tomorrow on schedule.