Yep, after clocking up close to 300 km in the first 2 days, backing it off to under 80 felt like a walk in the park, the milder conditions helped.
We woke up to a small invasion of locusts at the motel, there was a report from one room that they got sick of them knocking all night so in the end they gave up and let them in! There were also a few puddles around in the car park from an overnight shower of rain, that served to take the sting out of yesterdays heat!
The day really got underway with the first Barista coffee since Dubbo, and there was a collective sigh of relief from a bunch of riders who were suffering the indignity of 2 days on instant! Big thanks to Blend and Co Walgett for bringing our world back into balance!
We departed with the Mayor of Walgett on a bike, at 5:4 odds of making it all the way to Lightning Ridge, however despite his lack of preparation, footy shorts and 20 kg bike, he made the bookies pay out! Well done Jasen Ramien.
There was the obligatory photo stop at Stanly the emu and our travelling historian and general keeper of all knowledge Ash Weilinga was able to fill us in on how Lightning Ridge got its name and why Stanly was facing west, fascinating, and no spoiler alerts as its worth the trip to the Ridge to discover this stuff.
Chicks who ride are way cool, and we have been exceptionally lucky this year to have 8 ladies riding and complimented by another 2 in the support crew, go girl power! They have lifted both the tone and mood of our pelotons, thanks ladies!
Some more photos from Flemmo!
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