16/04/23: CWCT Day 3 Gulgong to Mudgee

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We woke to find that the birds had done a number on our car overnight.  And we thought the splatters that we heard were rain...
 

Roger's broken phone stayed broken.  In our digital age, this rendered him bereft of navigation and, even more important for his engineering brain, access to the numbers that would allow him so spend his rides calculating water consumption/km; traveling speed, arrival times, and whether he had passed the highest point of the ride yet.  The broken phone also meant he couldn't call for help if he needed it, and I couldn't invite him to lunch with me under a bridge if the occasion arose.

We decided that I would ride from Gulgong to Mudgee.  He would meet me there and ride back.  Should he never arrive, I would at least know where to look for his body (probably not in a fridge).

Off I went, starting off by riding up Gulgong's main street which, apart from a lick of paint, hadn't changed much in the last 100 years.  I half expected to have to wait for a bullock wagon to pass.

Mayne St, Gulgon.


 

A fierce tail wind sped me along the first 10 km or so.  The few trees scattered around did little to break the wind which slowly turned from a tail wind to a strong cross wind with moments of head wind.  I was not impressed, but the ride was enjoyable nonetheless. I puttered up and down over rolling hills of cultivation: winter oats, grapes, and unidentified herbage. 


 

I followed the old railway line and contemplated NSW Rail's stubborn refusal to turn it into a rail trail for me.  

If I could ride on that railway, I wouldn't have to go up so many hills.

I paused at the top of the final hill.  Mudgee was visible 10km away in the valley, at the bottom of a long downhill.

The view from the top.

The last 5km took forever as Mudgee crept incrementally closer, my awesome cycling skills deserting me in the face of a headwind and the final slog along beside the creek on a tedious little road shared with too many overexcited drivers.

Finally!

Roger, being a sensible man, decided that riding the 30km back to Gulgong with a big uphill and a headwind was not for him.  We called it a day and came home to spend the afternoon on the big deck outside the comfortable camp kitchen, doing all the pesky admin stuff that has to be done even when you're traveling.

Campsite, packed up tidily to avoid heavy morning dew.

And we washed the car.  As much as we could without a hose, anyway.


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