On the road again
The day started out miserable and overcast - but cleared up as I left the city - as did my mood.
The first little stretch up the Old Road is just enough to warm up the tyres. It's basically my back yard - I ride it most weekends and I know the road well. Stopped at the Corrugated Cafe for a bite and a coffee then headed off thru Wollombi. After nearly two weeks of rain, the road was full of potholes and had rubbish all along the sides. But today the surface was dry and as long as I took it carefully, I was in no danger from loose gravel.
Quick stop at Wollombi Pub then north thru Singleton to Dungog. I love these backroads - virtually void of traffic and no trucks. Lots of single lane bridges and long sweeping curves.
The road surface varies along here - some parts are so patched that you can't tell what bit it original road - it looks and feels like cobblestones.
And just as I was getting into the groove of things, I got stung by a bee at 120km/h.
I instantly pulled over and dug out the sting - waited 5 minutes to make sure I wasn't going to keel over from anaphylactic shock - and rode on the find a chemist in Dungog.
It itched like crazy but all was well otherwise. Had a very sad coffee in a local cafe and then cruised through the afternoon to Gloucester. It was still quite early and I was undecided whether to continue on and tackle Thunderbolt's Way or stay the night in Gloucester.
In the end it was decided for me when a lone rider waved me down from the side of the road - he'd run out of petrol. I backtracked a few kilometres and filled up a plastic bottle (highly illegal apparently) and took it back to my new friend.
By the time I got into Gloucester it was close to 5pm and I booked into the Roundabout Inn. Very comfy basic rooms attached to the pub. My new friend pulled in about an hour later and we had a lovely dinner together.
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