March 18, 2024
Best tabouli ever!
Pickering Brook to Jarrahdale
Taking advantage of Pete’s fatigued state last night I convinced him that I was worthy of another shot at navigating the route. We had 5 kilometres of a way too busy road to get us back to the trail. I ticked that one off comfortably and then proceeded immediately to go down the wrong path. Pete is one of the most tolerant people I know but this was definitely testing his mettle. As I sheepishly backtracked up the hill we needlessly went down I knew I’d blown my last chance. My Karoo Hammerhead bike computer is now only for statistical purposes.
| Heart | 5 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We got away much earlier today which was fortuitous as it turned out to be a long hard day in the saddle. It was another epic day of cycling with a lot of technical single track and plenty of climbing. We were in the forest all day with plenty of shade and slightly cooler temperatures than yesterday.
We had brought sandwiches for lunch and had that at the Carinya hut which was where we had intended to stay the first night. These huts are scattered along the trail and used by bikers and walkers. The walking trail, the Bibulman Track follows a similar route to ours but is a seperate entity. They all have water tanks, drop toilets and covered sleeping bunks.
Every kilometre is hard earned and on single track progress is painfully slow. No complaints though. The forest is still and quiet. There’s not much birdlife unlike early this morning when we were woken by the birdsong of Cockatoos, galahs and Qantas A380’s. The curfew in Perth must be 5am and we were bang smack under the flight path.
By early afternoon we had our sights set on the next hut so we could refill our water bottles and have a snack. As we approached a Ute pulled up with mountain bikes in tow and out jumped Nimrod and Kathleen. Nimrod is from Israel ( He calls himself Ausraeli), Kathleen from Belgium and they were living in Perth. Nimrod took one look at us and suggested we have something to eat and immediately produced a bowl of tabouli and Turkish bread. Turns out Nimrod is a chef and that was the best tabouli I’ve ever had! I was a tad hungry!
The last 19 kilometres was a long slog into Jarrahdale, but nothing an icy cold coke and a couple of beers couldn’t fix. We were in the saddle for 81/2 hours averaging less than 10 kilometres an hour.
Dinner at the pub was a big juicy steak washed down with a local beer. Perfect! We ended up dining with Rod and Ian 2 brothers originally from Zimbabwe but now living in Australia. Ian offered us a place to stay at his place but we ended up camping behind the community centre on the only green patch of grass in the town. As I lay in my tent I was desperately hoping that the sprinkler system wouldn’t come on at 5am.
It was another great days cycling on a blue bird day made all the better by the wonderful people we met.
| Heart | 5 | Comment | 2 | Link |
1 month ago
Today's ride: 76 km (47 miles)
Total: 116 km (72 miles)
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