Sydney to Melbourne BNT by MTB - Day 005 - Canberra to Adaminaby

Day:  005
Date:  Friday, 12 November 2004
Start:  Canberra
Finish:  Adaminaby
Daily Kilometres:  115
Total Kilometres:  695
Accommodation:  Motel room
Nutrition:
  Breakfast:  Rice bubbles and crumpets
  Lunch:  Bread and peanut butter
  Dinner:  Quiche
Animals Seen:  Tortoise, kangaroos, swooping magpies

Journal:
I got up at 6:45am, packed and organised my own breakfast and ate with Chris and Jocey.  Chris left for work at about 7:45am and I left about 8:20am.  Initially I made good time on good roads heading south out of Canberra against the peak hour traffic.  I reached Tharwa soon after 9:00am but didn't see a store there so didn't have the snack and Coke I had planned (a fatal error?).

From Tharwa the road climbed in fits and starts through rural grazing land surrounded by high rocky mountains.  I stopped for a break at the top of one of the long hills and relaxed in the sun and cool wind surveying the view.  I was sweating a lot going up the hills and the flies were bad.  I swallowed a few!  I kept on and laboured or walked up many hills, often followed by downhills, losing most of the altitude gained, which was abit frustrating.

I stopped for lunch at a trailhead after walking up a very long hill.  It was a pleasant spot and I was tempted to lie down for a sleep.  On resuming, the road changed to gravel and continued relentlessly upwards.  I walked some and rode some and went through my water very quickly.  I reached Shannons Flat/Hut, an abandoned summer cattlemans hut set in a beautiful alpine meadow and stopped for a break.  I seemed to be near the pass and the road was undulating and scenic before crossing the ACT/NSW border from where the gravel road immediately deteriorated into corrugations and minor washouts.  This meant I couldn't go downhill fast and got shaken a lot but the bike held together.  The gears are sticking a bit, probably because of the dust.  I had used all of my water and was getting dehydrated.

The bad road combined with a strong headwind made the last 20km hard going and I was very pleased when I reached Adaminaby.  I stopped at the motel on the outskirts of town and got a $50 room from a very nice guy.  He told me to get dinner at the Bowling Club, which I did later.  It was the social hub on Friday night.  I went to bed thinking about the 3,000 bikers supposed to be on the road tomorrow, the forecast snow showers, and the tough trip to Khancoban.  I booked a motel there and also my train back to Sydney from Melbourne.