Anticipation can build and build sometimes, until the thing you are anticipating is almost anti-climactic once it happens. Sometimes you have too much time to set expectations, too much time to form ideas in your head that might not match reality.
Read moreCategory: New Day Rising
New Day Rising – Day 28
Eskdale to Albury
Jaimathang, Dhuduroa, Wiradjuri Country
22 March 2025
The difference between the air temperature and the dew point is quite close. The heat of yesterday has seeped away; the humidity remains. The water vapour has condensed into tiny water droplets suspended in the air. It’s supersaturation down here at ground level, as if the earth has exhaled all that moisture from the rain and it’s now just hanging in the air. Maybe it’s a sign we’re finally moving from summer into fog season.
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New Day Rising – Day 27
Lightning Creek to Eskdale
Jaimathang Country
21 March 2025
The waves of hard rain finished in the early hours of the morning when today was just getting its groove, long before any humans were stirring… well, any humans, except the people who can’t make it through the night and must get up to pee at 2.30am.
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New Day Rising – Day 26
Big River to Lightning Creek
Jaimathang Country
20 March 2025
The moon is there. So is the wind. So are the clouds. Wind at night always feels ominous, even in windy places like Wyoming. The moon is probably somewhere around last quarter, not enough to really light my path as I pedal up the road in the dark.
That 5am alarm came too soon. I’ve probably only managed three hours of sleep last night. My head just kept needing reassurance that a big mass of clouds had not yet arrived.
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New Day Rising – Day 25
Livingstone Creek to Big River
Jaimathang Country
19 March 2025
You can see the cows’ breath as they exhale. You can see individual droplets of water on leaves formed from the heavy dew. You can feel the cold air creating goosebumps on your skin. It’s another 4C start to the day. There is no wind. There is just the cold, crisp air that has settled in the valley.
We round a corner with a hill rising sharply to our right. To our left, the open woodland with its short, angular trees feels a bit like something from one of the hobbit movies. In the shade of morning, it feels a little bit wild and a little bit creepy, as if the strands of moss and lichen on the tree branches might just reach out to grab you.
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New Day Rising – Day 24
Wentworth River to Livingstone Creek
Gunaikurnai and Jaimathang Country
18 March 2025
My nose and cheeks are cold. I’m curled up in the sleeping bag. Only my face pokes out. Sometime in the night I even had to zip the sleeping bag up to my shoulders. It is delightful after such a long and hot summer.
Poor Verne tumbled out of the sleeping bag at some point in the night, and when I rolled over and reached to move him and Kermit, he was not there. Poor little ectotherm was very cold to the touch when my hand finally found him there on the tent floor in the dark.
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New Day Rising – Day 23
Jimmy Iversons CG to Wentworth River
Gunaikurnai Country
17 March 2025
The dust has settled. The air is cool. The wind has died down. The clouds give way to intermittent rays of sun. The day feels fresh and clean. The strong cold front has brought the first indications that summer may eventually, someday, end.
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New Day Rising – Days 21-22
Castleburn Creek CG to Jimmy Iversons CG
Gunaikurnai Country
15-16 March 2025
There’s no reason to be up early. I’m not going too far and the weather should be fine. But once I’m awake, I’m awake, so why not get up? The dew is not going to dry on the tent before I’m ready to leave.
So it’s another early morning ride in the moisture-laden air. The sun is up, the fog is lifting and the wind has not yet woken. We cruise right on down the valley with its steep walls.
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New Day Rising – Day 20
Echo Bend Camping Area to Castleburn Creek Campground
Gunaikurnai Country
14 March 2025
The cadence is different. The sound of the tyres is different. The difficulty eases. Give me the same grade on chipseal versus gravel or dirt and I virtually fly right along.
And so we’re flying up the hill today, relatively speaking. After a chugging, rhythmic climb up a medium gravel grade to get out of the campground, we’re slogging along at a decent clip on a long climb on the main road to Dargo.
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New Day Rising – Day 19
Bairnsdale to Mitchell River National Park
Gunaikurnai Country
13 March 2025
There is a certain thrill riding through traffic in an unknown town at peak hour. You’ve got to read the traffic and the road and navigate all at once. It is even more fun without a GPS, because you’ve got to be looking for street signs or businesses as you go, or glancing down at a map, or referring to the mental map in your head (this is what I’m doing after looking at google maps before setting out).
Sometimes you’ve got to jump up a kerb, ride the edge of a roundabout and dart across exiting traffic, or figure out your own exit strategy when a bike path suddenly ends. I enjoy thinking quickly and riding at the same time.
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