Woke up humming this song. (I guess this partly answers Priscilla's question.)
Blue line with yellow dots = Munda Biddi Trail.
Green line with yellow dots = Touring route.
Image for illustration only. Important information has been erased from this map. Do not use.
Sterilizing water for the day's ride.
90 seconds of stirring with the SteriPEN™ Classic.
SteriPEN utilizes C Wavelength UV (ultraviolet light). UV-C light is short wave light, between x-rays and visible light wavelengths, which destroy the DNA of microbes in seconds. Its like a singer that can break glass with their voice. Without functional DNA, microbes can't reproduce or make you sick.
Done.
Journal
Woke up at 6:15 AM but didn't manage to get started until 11:25 AM. I really need to speed things up in the morning. Then again, there were several issues that needed to be fixed/adjusted with Cloe:
Re-adjusting saddle tilt — the bumping loosened the twin (!) saddle clamp bolts; re-adjusting stem to front wheel alignment — courtesy of insecure Mr. Landcruiser jackass; oiling Bob Ibex bobbins — the squeaking gets annoying after a while.
The Topeak M1 Defender front fender mount interfered with the Fox RLC's fork brace.
Better.
15° C (59° F).
11:25 AM.
Descended a good 180 ft (54.9 m) and 1.6 km (1 mile) before passing this gate...
...and realizing I left my Oakleys back at Carinyah Campsite. I braked too hard, the trailer — predictably — jacknifed, slamming me into the ground. My bony right hip took the brunt of the impact and I
Good news: hip not fractured. Bad news: that means I'm good to climb the 180 ft and 1.6 km back to the campsite to retrieve my shades.
11:59 AM.
Back at Carinyah Campsite.
The entire fiasco cost 34 minutes, 3.2 km (2 miles), and a significant amount of calories.
Note to self: pick up yoga so that you can give yourself a good kick in the ass.
Cute.
Wildflowers bloom in abundance.
*Ignores point #6*
Lunch on the go.
More flowers.
The clouds remind me of the opening scenes of "The Simpsons."
1:20 PM.
Whilst descending to Brookton Highway, 2 pieces of pea gravel jammed the front derailleur. Such incidents continually plagued me for the rest of the tour.
Blue line with yellow dots = Munda Biddi Trail.
Green line with yellow dots = Touring route.
Image for illustration only. Important information has been erased from this map. Do not use.
Poison Gully was gorgeous with explosions of wildflowers set in rifts of ancient, weathered slabs of scarred granite.
Blooming yellow Featherflowers (Verticordia) light up the trailside like many so splashes of sunshine.
#%@&!!!
*sigh*
Laugh for me, Happy Orange Guy.
3:31 PM.
31° C (87.8° F).
20.06 km (including the 3.2 km Oakley glasses retrieval) from Carinyah Campsite.
Current elevation 900 ft (274.4 m)
Elevation climbed 710 ft (216.5 m)
Back on the trail.
More wildflowers.
25.3 km (15.8 miles) from Carinyah Campsite (including 3.2 km of backtracking)
Elevation 895 ft (272.9 m)
Temperature 23° C (73.4° F)
4:25 PM
The descent into Canning River was steep but manageable, even with a loaded trailer (albeit a little dicey). I started to get the hang of lugging a trailer off-road; oftentimes I didn't even feel its presence and had to check back to see if it hasn't detached and fallen by the trail side.
No snacks for you!
More about sodium fluoroacetate here.
Getting onto Kinsella Road.
Round the bend, a driver behind the wheel of a Volvo XC90, speeding down the road, noticed me at the last moment, hit the brakes and skidded out of the way. For a heartbeat or two, I thought I was going to join that kangaroo on Mundaring Weir Road up in the sky.
'Amazing how a little sprig of flowers basking in the light can lift one's spirits.
I like this shot.
More flowers.
Pine plantation.
6:45 PM.
Albany Highway.
Southeast: to Williams.
Gleneagle Picnic Area.
Northwest: to Perth.
2.98 km (1.86 miles) of gentle downhill to the next campsite.
'Can't really make it out from the picture, but the shrubs on either side are filled with flowers.
A plus point of starting late is that I get to watch the last rays of the sun turn shrubs, trees — the landscape — golden.
More flowers. I should have used the other, image-stabilizer equipped, camera instead.
7:06 PM... and a nice, quiet cruise to the campsite.
7:40 PM.
Junction to Wungong Campsite.
38.3 km (23.9 miles) from Carinyah Campsite (including 3.2 km of backtracking).
1500 ft (457 m) of climbing.
Check out the skid marks behind the sign.
A short climb up, set amidst towering Jarrah trees (Eucalyptus marginata)...
Wungong Campsite.
7:50 PM.
Self-composting restroom.
Water.
Scouting the area before whipping up a hot drink and dinner.
'Spent a good hour after dinner reading the Wungong Campsite Logbook. The entries had me rolling in fits of laughter.
Interesting advice for the day after tomorrow.
Since I left YHA, Perth Hills, and subsequently entered the trail at 12:20 PM, save for the rare passing vehicle upon crossing rural highways and unsealed roads, I've not seen another person. Tonight, I'm the only camper at Wungong as well. All day I've seen flowers, thousands of flies, many, many kangaroos, and a few nasty march flies. All day long, the birds, the wind, the rustling trees serenade my quiet, meditative passage through hills, meadows, forests, and valleys.
It's 26 km (16.25 miles) to Jarrahdale tomorrow: as there is a map realignment due to (tree) harvesting operations, it will be a slightly different trail. Due to its sheer length, the Munda Biddi Trail has almost everything for every mountain biker: from technical singletrack to bituminized road; from long, fast — fast as you dare take them (no rangers with radar guns here) — descents into river valleys, to hellish rocky climbs whose thirst are only quenched by your tears; this place has it all. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, perhaps the only thing that's missing is snow biking.
Time to turn in. The load is getting lighter — as I eat my way through 12 days of rations — or I'm getting stronger. Maybe both (hopefully). The LORD has been kind. I overextended myself the last 2 days, and each time I scraped through by the skin of my teeth. I should be more disciplined. Tempting Providence is a fool's game.
-12:09 AM
DATA
Start 11:25 AM
End 7:50 PM
Total 8 hours 25 minutes
Cateye AT-100
Altimeter reading at Wungong Campsite 840 ft (256 m)
Elevation climbed 1520 ft (463.4 m)
Distance 23.7 miles (37.92 km)
4 hours 38 minutes 59 seconds
Average speed 5.1 mph
Maximum speed 17.7 mph
Temperature 15° C - 31° C (59° F - 87.8° F)
Cateye Enduro 8
4 hours 23 minutes 55 seconds*
Average speed 8.7 km/h
Maximum speed 28.6 km/h
Distance 38.57 km
Cumulative distance 99.43 km (62.14 miles)
* = The Enduro 8 doesn't appear to keep time or give a speed reading below speeds of 3.6 km/h (2.25 mph). E.g. when I'm pushing Cloe and Bob up steep hills. Distance, however, continues to be tracked.
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