Day 83: Mundaring to Carinyah - A happy ride around Australia (third attempt) - CycleBlaze

August 18, 2022

Day 83: Mundaring to Carinyah

Start:  9:45am
Distance: 49 km
Ride time: 3:59 hours
Average:  12km/hr 
Max:  42km/hr
Finish: 4pm

It was cold this morning. I was comfortable in a real bed. I left and headed to cafe Mojo for breaky.

I had a vegan breakfast. The yellow stuff is tofu.
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This cafe is close to the start of the trail. I'd recommend it. 

A kind lady took this pic.
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I was a little scared of starting the trail. It's designed for mountain bikes, not touring bikes.

Some wide track.
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The first single track.
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My first obstacle.
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These pipes take fresh water from Mundaring dam to Perth.
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Mike AylingI think they may run to Kalgoorlie.
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1 year ago
Vince McCarthyThat's insane!
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1 year ago
Single track with grass trees. Happiness.
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A vibrant orange amongst the green.
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Lednar De NallohAlas Watsonia is a weed from South Africa infesting the hills
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1 year ago
Annie O'SheaIt's also declared a noxious weed in Victoria but forgot It's name, birds loved the seeds and spread it around the country side
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1 year ago
Vince McCarthyThanks Lednar and mum.
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1 year ago

Lednar later identified this as Alas Watsonia, a weed from Africa. Thanks Lednar.

My first water crossing. I rode across. It was a little deep. One shoe got waterlogged.
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A tiny tiny mushroom on an old tree stump.
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An interesting plant.
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Annie O'SheaNever seen one one .ike that, I'd be interested to know what it is
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1 year ago
Vince McCarthyHi mum. I think it might be a zycad?
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1 year ago
An apple orchard.
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I took a 1.5km detour to Core Cider. A lovely place.
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I had a late lunch/early dinner. Both the food and the drink was delicious. 

I saw this sign at the venue. ...and dairy farmers make great coffee!
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These are the little blue signs I am following.
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They are pretty good at being placed in the right spots. I had to check the Munda Biddi App many times today. I have all of the paper copy maps. 

The App is excellent and easily worth the $21 cost. It will locate me on the trail even when I don't have phone reception.  And it has an elevation profile too.

A red-bellied black cockatoo high in the trees. They are beautiful!
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Riding through the bush after drinking cider is bliss. I had to do another 10kms of trail and somehow I made it to the campsite.

It has a few facilities:

Under cover picnic tables. Note there is no door to the sleeping quarters.
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Sheltered seating areas.
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Bottom and top sleeping platforms.
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Undercover bike racks. Some servicing tools would be a bonus.
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2 full water tanks. They aren't very big. I guess they would run dry in summer.
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One drop toilet with toilet paper.
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A large steel box to put food in to stop rodents.
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I think it's great that this was constructed with a prison crew.
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If I was in prison, I'd love the opportunity to come out here and do some good work amongst the forest. 

I bought a new sponge to clean my trangia in Perth. The mouldy old one is one the left. It was overdue for replacement.
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Today's trail was mostly single track and then forest trails. It was fantastic. There were rocks, slippery tree roots, sand, gravel, and smooth dirt. It was narrow at times.

I hit a few rocks with my front panniers. This one caused a decent hole.
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I fixed it with gaffa tape on both sides. Cable ties and gaffa tape are a cycling tourist's best friend.

It's been a perfect first day on the trail. A lot slower than I anticipated but all is well.

I saw a few other cyclists on the day trails. Noone spoke to me. Noone was at the campsite.

Belatedly after leaving Perth, I realised that I never caught up with my Perth friends. I would have liked to talk bike touring with Lednar. 

I would have liked to check out Steven's new electric dualy mountain bike that he bought especially for the Munda Biddi Trail and tasted his amazing South African sausages. 

And I would have loved to have a drink with my dear mate Ron. We have done some good work together in neighbouring countries over the years.

I am sorry my friends. I will be back soon.

Free!
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The other day I mistakenly thanked Lednar for helping me with a loose screw on the Rohloff rear mech. I'm sorry, it was Carl that gave me the tip on 22 July. Thank you Carl!

Today's ride: 49 km (30 miles)
Total: 4,712 km (2,926 miles)

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Comment on this entry Comment 2
Ron MACKENZIEI am really pissed that I haven't checked your log for nearly 2 weeks! Never thought you'd get to Perth that quickly ... :(
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1 year ago
Vince McCarthyNever mind mate. We'll catch up another time👍🏻
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1 year ago