Day 78 to Day 81: Rest days - A happy ride around Australia (third attempt) - CycleBlaze

August 13, 2022

Day 78 to Day 81: Rest days

Serena and I did a few things but it was mostly just hanging out and eating food.

It was a bit of a culture shock being amongst so many people and high rise buildings etc.

A really big mural.
Heart 4 Comment 0
A ginormous dinosaur shark.
Heart 5 Comment 0
A baby dinosaur bike.
Heart 2 Comment 0
Some delicious Japanese prawns.
Heart 4 Comment 0
Changing the rear hub oil while drinking wine.
Heart 7 Comment 0
Old tyre and new tyre.
Heart 5 Comment 2
Mike AylingVince, do you know how many kms you got from that tyre?
Reply to this comment
1 year ago
Rita McCarthyCertainly overdue for new tyres.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

The blue part is the internal puncture proof material. This means I have worn away the normal tyre tread. 

They are Schwalbe marathon plus touring tyres 28 x 1.75.

They are excellent tyres although they have one fault which I'll get to later.

This is the Rohloff rear mech.
Heart 3 Comment 2
Lednar De NallohGlad to be thanked but I have to confess I know nothing about Rohloff Hubs, so it wasn't me. Shame we couldn't catch up but I figured you'd much rather spend some time with your wife whilst in Perth. All the best on the Munda Biddi
Reply to this comment
1 year ago
Vince McCarthyThank you for your understanding Lednar.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Previously I thought I had stripped the thread on the securing screw. Lednar messaged me and said to check the other side of the bolt. I haven't explained this well. 

Anyway Lednar was correct and this bolt had come loose. I used my pliers to tighten it and now the opposite screw is able to be fixed to it. Thank you Lednar!

The electronic plugs from my hub to my lights and phone charger is too loose so I use a cable tie to hold it in place.
Heart 2 Comment 0

Vegetarians don't scroll down.

We went to a Korean BBQ restaurant for dinner. 

The BBQ is on the left.
Heart 3 Comment 0

We cooked the food ourselves. It was awesome. It was very smoky and I would hate to work there. It was fine for dinner and our clothes still stank the next day.

I woke up the next morning and both of my new tyres were flat!

The tyres are extremely tight to fit to the wheel rims. I have to use two metal tyre levers and a lot of force to get them on. This resulted in me pinching both of the tubes slightly causing them to deflate overnight. I was annoyed. 

Perhaps I shouldn't do bike repairs after drinking wine?

We visited the Western Australian Botanic Garden.
Heart 2 Comment 0
We saw a kangaroo paw.
Heart 8 Comment 0

Kangaroo paw.

And a magpie.
Heart 3 Comment 0
A brewery by the Swan River.
Heart 3 Comment 0
Strange looking gumnuts.
Heart 4 Comment 0
And qualup bells.
Heart 5 Comment 0

Qualup bells.

We caught a train to Freo and had fish and chips with Bon Scott.
Heart 4 Comment 0
I would love to ride a bike while drinking a cup of tea.
Heart 3 Comment 2
Rita McCarthyDon’t think you’d get to drink such while riding that bike.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago
Vince McCarthyI'm an accomplished cyclist!
Reply to this comment
1 year ago
We had fancy Japanese for dinner.
Heart 4 Comment 0
The next day we had coffee next to a cycling kangaroo.
Heart 4 Comment 0

I bought replacement tubes to fix my flat tyres.

I plugged my SpotX device in to charge yesterday and when I woke today I couldn't turn it on. This has never happened in the 2 years I've had it. It was broken.

I called several places in Perth. No one could fix it or had a new one in stock that they could sell me. It has to come from the east coast of Australia. I don't have time to wait several days for delivery.

I bought a new device.
Heart 4 Comment 0

It does similar things to the SpotX. It's probably better. I think it cost $550 to buy the device. $100 to register it and for insurance. Plus $75/month subscription to use it. Not cheap.

It gives peace of mind and its a safety device with a SOS emergency function. I'm happy to use it for this ride and then will probably sell it.

The next morning Serena flew back home to Yoshi.
Heart 8 Comment 0

It was very hard to watch Serena go.

It's a bit hard to see, these are salmon and crab seaweed tacos for lunch.
Heart 6 Comment 0
The Australian Coat of Arms on the post office. I like it.
Heart 5 Comment 0

I went to a camping shop and bought a new tent. I have high expectations of this new tent. 

While pumping up my replacement tubes in the new tyres, my pump broke. An inner seal broke and can't be replaced. 

This was annoying as well. So I returned to the bike shop again and bought a replacement pump.

My inflatable pillow broke too.

So in the last few days I've replaced:

Oil in the hub
2 tyres
2 tubes
Pump
Satellite tracking device
Gloves
Tent and pillow
Power bank and charger.

This got me a bit down but at least I could do this in Perth and I wasnt stuck in a remote area.

Rate this entry's writing Heart 10
Comment on this entry Comment 3
Rita McCarthyHopefully that’s the end of the bad luck and nothing but good luck is ahead.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago
Kerrie McCarthyAt least it happened in the city 👌
Reply to this comment
1 year ago
Vince McCarthyThank you Aunty.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago