June 3rd: Tennant Creek to 41 Mile Bore – 92.46 km
Day 233
The triumph of trikes toured from Tennant Creek to Threeways, and then we stopped and had a coffee at the road house. On our way with 5 of us on the road, we were highly visible and felt safe enough to have a chat riding side by side.
Brian remarked that it felt like one of the fastest 25 kilometers that he had done. Cher broke away to have a chat with Veronique, I chatted with Brian and Pierre amused himself with his seemingly endless supply of energy by taking the lead, dropping way back, before double timing to the lead. We were treated yet again to coffee and a drink, we said our heartfelt goodbyes and went our separate ways.
Although the wind was in our face, we made good time to 41 Bore, which as it states has water.
When we arrived we noticed that a caravan had parked right in front of the public picnic table. We were not deterred, since we don’t have a table and chairs built into our tent. Even though they had set up a radio, and their other belongings we moved right in and set up our small stove and groceries on the other half of the table. Then we set up our tent in their “front yard,” and like a couple of hobos Cher went over to the water tank in her undies to have a rinse and I strung our bag shower from a tree.
Most caravaners have been wonderful, but every now and again you meet a couple of downers. They make sure to tell you everything that they can’t or won’t do, even though you haven’t asked them.
– It must be hot out there.
– Yep.
– I could never pedal all day.
– Um hm
– Headwinds are really strong, our fuel consumption doubled. There are some wide open fields out there with nothing to stop the wind.
– Yes, we’ve heard.
– Aren’t you afraid the road trains? (as her and her husband chain smoke cigarettes.)
– Yes, we’re careful.
– We’re way too old.
– Most cyclists we’ve met are in their 50’s or older.
– They must have been cyclist before they started.
– …
My theory is that they would like to do something challenging, and they imagine that we’re challenging them to do it. The monologue is a way to let themselves off the hook. We know it’s not for everybody and some days, even though we chose it, we dream of being in a caravan or fantasizing about going out for dinner and drinks. Cher and I laugh at the thought of approaching random caravaners and looking longingly into their homes, it must be cold in there, you sleep on soft beds right? you have a shower every day? Creepy, isn’t it.
In the end they lightened up and did their best to give us some information about what lies ahead. Even if their assessment inferred that we would be emotionally and physically scarred from the effort.