Day 40. Tour 4 Legacy

....I feel a gentle breeze as I crawl out to meet the world this morning, a sign there's not a lot of dew settled on the ground or tent... a dry pack up today..

A very comfortable night's sleep again. 

The freshness of the morning is something I never get sick of, the crispness of the air is delightful. The morning sounds of the magpies and kookaburras...the bushman's alarm clock.... 

1st breakfast, 400m up the street at Holbrook Bakery...then it's off to Gundagai 

Getting a clear run in the breakdown lane...not too much debris...

Some long runs "out in the lanes" due to the ripple strip taking up MY bike lane 🙄 or the new chip seal crap being too rough to ride on...

Then the steepest climb so far....the locals call it "aeroplane hill".... one hell of a long,  steep climb to Kyeamba Rest area....and 2nd breakfast. 

I'm just about to jump in and roll on, when the ever present "Dot Watcher" turns up with a top up for my ration pack 👍🏻👍🏻

I'm always happy to have a chat with them and tell stories of the road...

Thanks Jonathan 👍🏻 

This part of my ride is now climbing through the Great Dividing Range....plenty of UPS....and some DOWNS, where I can let the Jaffa have its head and blast downhill at 65+kph....

The wind today is variable and the occasional burst of crosswind at 60+kph makes for "interesting" antics in the Jaffa. 😎

I think I remember more about the climbing than the descents because of the amount of effort required to conquer them... 🤣...and the amount of detail I experience travelling so slowly. The animals in the scrub, the smell of the roadside trees, the smell of passing cattle trucks! Stopping to talk to the cattle and sheep in the paddocks....stuff you never stop your car for! Unique experiences! 

Shady spots and the view at the top of climbs have been very good today. 

Today was also rather warm at 26°C, and those times I was climbing with a tailwind added extra heat to the cockpit...nice and juicy in my own sweat 😓 😓 

Finally,  hitting the last downhill run for the day, and cranking out along the flats into Gundagai at a nice 35kph  for those last few kilometres, was a pleasant way to reach the day's destination. 

Welcome to Camp Gundagai  🏕