Day  11:                                Hillston to Mount Hope (248m)

Distance:                             93.8km

Av speed:                            16.5kmh

Total Elevation:                 184m (only 76m in the first 75km!)

Calories:                               3020 per person

Weather:                             Cloudy but rain free (7*C up to 15*C)

After a long night’s sleep, we rose around 730am for the short ride (yes 94km is short) to Mount Hope. Unfortunately, as we opened the door we were greeted by dense fog, rain and cold temperatures. After saying goodbye to our amazing hosts at the Kidman Way Motor Inn,  we headed to the IGA, purchasing some sandwich bags to try and keep our feet dry!

Of course, when you take excessive precautions against rain, you can be sure it won’t eventuate and we were fortunate to have our first dry day since leaving Shepparton. With a light southerly wind we averaged 20kmh and made it to Mount Hope about 2.30pm.

The highlights of today’s ride were a number of emus, a pack of feral dogs, a petrified roadkill cat and some small rolling hills. After 3 days of long straight roads, it was a welcome change to have some twists, turns and dips in the road to keep the ride interesting.

We’ll be up early in the morning for a radio interview with SEN at 4.45am!! The likelihood is we’ll then pack up and hit the road, with 161km to Cobar tomorrow (possibly back in the rain and into a headwind!).

With another two broken spokes today (we’re blaming the goat track to Aberfeldy), Verge has been a godsend today by ringing around Cobar and Dubbo to organise replacements for us to pick at Cobar tomorrow (hence the early start)! Big thanks also to Cobar Toyworld and Cobar Town and Country Motor Inn for arranging pick up and delivery!