Nigel says...... An interesting day!
Set off from Calliope at 0730hrs and pedalled happily along the Bruce Highway towards Rockhampton. We made really good time and reached the BP service station at Marmor about 40kms short of Rockhampton for lunch.
For the previous couple of kilometers my gears had suddenly started slipping, so I checked them over - couldn't see anything wrong and so just tightened the gear cable a touch to see if that would improve things. About 400 meters north of the service station, one of the jockey wheels came off my derailleur and I was stranded unable to pedal anywhere. Completely knackered!
I called Gordon who had set of a few minutes earlier and told him to keep pedalling to the motel as there was nothing useful he could do. Next, I made use of the list of bike shops I had prepared in UK - I knew they might come in handy! I called a bike shop in Rockhampton from the roadside and booked Winona in for repair. All I had to do was find someone to give me and Winona a lift to Rocky.
I could have got several lifts to Bundaberg! No Utes seemed to be going north. I tried hitching on the road - no luck. I tried begging in the service station - no luck. I must have tried for about an hour. I decided to give it a bit longer before calling a taxi and incurring a massive fare and loosing the chance to get back and finish the day's ride today. Finally a bloke pulled up in a Ute. I explained the situation and asked if he was headed towards Rockhampton - he was and said I could put the bike in the back and he would be right back.
I could not have been luckier with my lift. When Andrew returned from the service station, he had a bottle of iced coffee, a pie and a chocolate bar for me - what a good bloke! It turned out that he is a cattle farmer whose family have farmed the same station since 1881. He was good company and was kind enough to take me right to the door of the bike shop. It was also great to drive past Gordon who was still pedalling and give him several encouraging hand signals. Thanks for your help Andrew.
Different Cycles were ready to receive Winona. They tried to fix the jockey wheel, but it needed a complete new unit. By the time the new derailleur was fitted, Gordon had arrived at the shop having booked into the Sundowner Motel. Davros King of the Daleks had dropped his helmet mirror and cracked it, so he needed a new one.
I then had to decide whether to go back to Marmor to complete the ride today, or go back tomorrow and do it, which would make tomorrow a monster day. Everything hinged on how quickly I could get a lift back to Marmor. I went into the reception of The Sundowner Motel and asked the gorgeous Kylie if she knew of any taxi firm or service that might be able to get me back down the road. Kylie very generously said we could take the motel's Ute - with Gordon driving me back. This meant that I was back at Marmor at 1555 hours with 39 kilometers to cover before it got dark. Achievable - although lights would be needed for the last section. In the event I really pushed it and was back in the motel in 1 hour 40 mins - not bad going on a vicar's bike hey Gordon! Thanks Kylie for your help and support - really appreciated.
Thoughts and comments:
Set off from Calliope at 0730hrs and pedalled happily along the Bruce Highway towards Rockhampton. We made really good time and reached the BP service station at Marmor about 40kms short of Rockhampton for lunch.
For the previous couple of kilometers my gears had suddenly started slipping, so I checked them over - couldn't see anything wrong and so just tightened the gear cable a touch to see if that would improve things. About 400 meters north of the service station, one of the jockey wheels came off my derailleur and I was stranded unable to pedal anywhere. Completely knackered!
I called Gordon who had set of a few minutes earlier and told him to keep pedalling to the motel as there was nothing useful he could do. Next, I made use of the list of bike shops I had prepared in UK - I knew they might come in handy! I called a bike shop in Rockhampton from the roadside and booked Winona in for repair. All I had to do was find someone to give me and Winona a lift to Rocky.
I could have got several lifts to Bundaberg! No Utes seemed to be going north. I tried hitching on the road - no luck. I tried begging in the service station - no luck. I must have tried for about an hour. I decided to give it a bit longer before calling a taxi and incurring a massive fare and loosing the chance to get back and finish the day's ride today. Finally a bloke pulled up in a Ute. I explained the situation and asked if he was headed towards Rockhampton - he was and said I could put the bike in the back and he would be right back.
I could not have been luckier with my lift. When Andrew returned from the service station, he had a bottle of iced coffee, a pie and a chocolate bar for me - what a good bloke! It turned out that he is a cattle farmer whose family have farmed the same station since 1881. He was good company and was kind enough to take me right to the door of the bike shop. It was also great to drive past Gordon who was still pedalling and give him several encouraging hand signals. Thanks for your help Andrew.
Different Cycles were ready to receive Winona. They tried to fix the jockey wheel, but it needed a complete new unit. By the time the new derailleur was fitted, Gordon had arrived at the shop having booked into the Sundowner Motel. Davros King of the Daleks had dropped his helmet mirror and cracked it, so he needed a new one.
I then had to decide whether to go back to Marmor to complete the ride today, or go back tomorrow and do it, which would make tomorrow a monster day. Everything hinged on how quickly I could get a lift back to Marmor. I went into the reception of The Sundowner Motel and asked the gorgeous Kylie if she knew of any taxi firm or service that might be able to get me back down the road. Kylie very generously said we could take the motel's Ute - with Gordon driving me back. This meant that I was back at Marmor at 1555 hours with 39 kilometers to cover before it got dark. Achievable - although lights would be needed for the last section. In the event I really pushed it and was back in the motel in 1 hour 40 mins - not bad going on a vicar's bike hey Gordon! Thanks Kylie for your help and support - really appreciated.
Thoughts and comments:
- Lots of really helpful and generous people in the Rockhampton area.
- Has the naming of Winona caused these mechanical problems?
- I saw a Big Bull on the roundabout at Rockhampton.
- Snack of the day: curried steak pie - Big Mamas Mount Larcombe
- Tune of the day: Caesars - Jerk it Out
Not much going on in Rocky on a Monday... tomorrow Marlborough.
Sounds as if you have had a difficult day but better now than further down the road !! I think you should rename Winona and you know what my suggestion is ! You may not get this - blog keeps asking me to re register and wants passwords etc etc - think this is stopping a lot of people from writing on your blog. Keep on trucking Lots of love Luley/Stan xx
ReplyDeleteps Don't know what is going on with the tracker - it has had you in Gladstone for sometime now - have you dropped it ?? xx
ReplyDeleteOh, poor Winona! Glad to hear all is well again. You are certainly meeting some lovely people... clearly, your cause is touching them, too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pity about Davros's rear-vision mirror! How are his i-pod headphones going? Trodden on them yet?
Continue safely. Have you seen any little cane-trains yet?
Hugs to you both,
Nikki xxxx
Greatly enjoying reading about your progress. I am amazed Nigel, that while it was you that had the difficult day ... Gordo nevertheless still left it to you to write up the blog!
ReplyDeleteI am appreciating Nigel, that you do you seem to have Gordo's measure in dishing out the dirt. Hope you are getting over the flu Gordo ... yes, seems that someone may have walked on your tracker in Gladstone ...
Regards
Alan