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September 22, 2001
Overland Australia - Update 49
September 22, 2001
Day 61
From April:
The alarm began its annoying beeping. “Damn,” I thought. “4:30 a.m. is much too early to rise, let alone shine.” Camp was beginning to stir, the breakfast fire was burning brightly as figures huddled around it silently drinking billy tea and eating porridge. The team had made the decision the evening before to rise half an hour earlier, thus we’d be biking by 6 a.m. The afternoons for the past couple of days have been quite warm. The thought of rising earlier would have us biking in the cooler part of the day, then quitting earlier in the afternoon as the temperature grows warmer.
Here in the Tanami Desert, it’s hard to imagine that it’s springtime when I base my knowledge of spring weather according to Colorado. (Imagine spring-like conditions where you live. What are the daily highs and lows of temperature?)
As it is the beginning of spring here in the Red Centre, the sun was slow to rise. We rolled out of camp onto the road as the stars began to fade and roadside images began to take shape. Today would be a day to crunch miles up the Tanami Track toward Rabbit Flat.
The cloud cover of the day before was nonexistent today. It had been a wise plan to leave earlier and by 9 a.m. we’d been travelling for over three hours and had 45 kilometres behind us. The sun and the temperature were rising in proportion to one another.
By 1p.m., we’d completed 75 kilometres over the Track’s corrugated surface. The temperature hovered around 35°C (95°F) and I was taking a hard look at ending my bike riding for the day. I knew the team would complete another 20kms before hanging it up. But, some small voice said,“Cowboy up, A, you can do this next bit. Push on so they don’t have to wait on you!”
The team had stopped to film from a higher vantage point, so I hollered at Crister that I would go on ahead so they wouldn’t have to wait on me to struggle along in the heat of the day. Not a wise decision on my part! I know that you don’t leave your team members to set off on your own, but I thought it would be fine as I had the support vehicle up ahead and the rest of the team behind me. Away I ran…
I hit smooth track and made great time. But, I had foolishly not checked my water supply and I was out…I sat down on the road to wait for the rest to catch up… About twenty minutes later, the team arrived. They had to forego their filming opportunity in order to catch up to me to stay together. Conditions in the desert warrant common sense and mine had flown off in the distance. Fortunately, there were no mishaps this time, but I learned an important lesson. And, with six kilometres to go to reach camp, I was not the tail end Charlie!
April
Posted on September 22, 2001 1:51 PM