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May 8, 2021

Surat Developmental road to Surat.

Remember all the utes with dirt bikes from yesterday? Turns out they were going to a big trail bike bash in - you guessed it- Glenmorgan! They all camped at the rodeo grounds 200m up the road. There was a bar and food stall on site, hence the very quiet Friday night at the Glenmorgan pub - they were all up at the rodeo grounds getting on the beers.

We didn't figure all this out until the dirt bikes started up as we were packing, and we went for a sticky beak before we left town.

Roger's knee was sore this morning, so he started early and I dawdled as I only had 25km to ride. I talked to cows and took photos and generally wasted time and went slowly.

There wasn't a lot to do other than pedal, take selfies, tweak my bandana-sun-protection system, and dodge the odd truck of which there were few because it was Saturday.

5km out of Surat I found a swing beside the road. Alongside it was a metal stockman, fabricated with immense care right down to the buttons on his metal shirt. I had the time to stop and swing, and so I did.

The swing. Well-constructed, solid, and large: perfect for comfortably built persons such as myself.

The metal man with spanner in one hand and whip in the other, alongside a sandstone block that suggests an informative plaque, but doesn't deliver.

The question of why the metal man and the swing are there was not answered. I swung anyway, and when I got tired of talking to myself I talked to the metal man.

All good things must come to an end, and eventually I had to stop swinging, get back on my bike, and trundle in to Surat. Which I did.

First a metal stockman, now a fibreglass fisherman. It's the day for meeting men on the road.

I made use of the free showers at the tennis courts, thereby discovering that one bandana can function as a towel but two would be doubly better. Then I sat down by the river and had my lunch, and kudos to Surat because nary a mosquito came to join me.

Eventually Roger arrived after walking more of his ride than he liked, because ignoring his knee had not made it get better. We changed our plan accordingly: we went home instead of camping at Surat. He will have a week to address whatever bike fit issues are causing his knee pain, and we'll go back next weekend so he can tidy up the messy missing bits between home and Surat.

I might even have a swing while he's doing that.

Today's ride: 26 km (16 miles)
Total: 439 km (273 miles)

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