Day 99: Mount Surprise to Georgetown

May 20, 2021

Start: 7:05am
Distance: 98kms
Ride time: 5:14hrs
Average: 19km/hr
Max: 56km/hr
Finish: 1:50pm

There were lots of red tailed black cockatoos and parrots in the trees by the road this morning.

After about 20kms, I saw a dingo 50 metres from the road. He was watching me and as I got closer he sprinted into the scrub.

I'm still yet to get a pic of a wedged-tailed eagle.

The road kept changing between 2 lanes and 1 lane.

I would always get off the road when a car or truck was coming. I didn't see any road trains today.

Crossing the Einasleigh River. Both this pic and the next one are taken looking upstream.

I didn't see any freshies or salties.

These Brahman bulls were on the roadside, not fenced in.

Other than the small range there were a few small undulations. Mostly it was flat.

There was no wind until 11am and then I had a small tailwind. Nothing like the big tailwind I had the other day.

The view from the top of the Newcastle Range.

I went to the roadhouse for some sustenance.

Then I checked in to the Goldfields Van Park. $20.

There was not much traffic today. Most of the traffic waved to me. I think that will continue now that I'm in a country area.

Today the elastic strap for one of my water bottles broke.

Also my gear shifter became very stiff. I'm not sure what caused it. Could be the cable housing needs to be replaced? I adjusted the cable tension and that freed it up a bit.

I wanted to take the mech apart near the hub but I don't have the correct size torx tool. I thought I had all the correct tools. A rookie mistake. I'll buy a tool when I get to a decent town.

Some apostles and a blue faced honeyeater having a drink.

I feel tired after today's ride. Anything over 5 hours in the saddle is a little taxing for me. I'll have to toughen up because I'm sure there will be many big days to come in the future.

The next town west is Croydon. It's 150kms away. Unless I have a massive tailwind tomorrow, I will only go halfway and camp by a river.

There is no phone reception in between towns so I'll update the journal when I can.

Today's ride: 98 km (61 miles)
Total: 4,374 km (2,716 miles)

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Mike AylingHi Vince
If you unscrew the thumb screw and remove the EX box from the hub the shifter should move freely. If not you need to check the cables. AFAICR you need the T20 torx to get into the EX box.
Good luck!
Mike
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2 years ago

Mike AylingVince, the EX box should have grease in it.

Mike
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2 years ago

Vince McCarthyHi Mike,

Thank you for your help. I did as you said and it still didn't move as freely as I hoped so it must be the cables. There was grease and it looked fine.
Thanks
Vince
Reply to this comment
2 years ago

Lyle McLeodVince,
Mike beat me to the punch on this one! On our tandem we’ve had ‘stiff shifting” a few times and it’s been the EX box being infiltrated by very fine mud/silt. A good clean out and re-grease and it’s been back to normal. This has only happened during prolonged riding in very wet weather … something it looks like you really haven’t had. Hopefully it’s not your cables as it’s a bit tricky to replace these if a shop is not familiar with Rohloff’s. Exact cable length is very important.
Lyle
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2 years ago

Vince McCarthyHi Lyle,

Thank you for all of the information.

The ex box is greased and free of dirt.

The cables had a small bend, so I straightened that too. It works okay but not normal.

Thanks
Vince
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2 years ago