Day  14:                                Bourke to Cunnamulla (189m)

Distance:                             251.41km

Av speed:                            16.5kmh

Total Elevation:                 239m

Calories:                               8679 per person

Weather:                             Warm (26*C) and cloudless, full moon

We’re back in black... well the black of night!

After the disaster which was Day 10, today we got our rest day back (though Chris is going to go for a 50km ride on Sunday now the legs are feeling so good!)

Rising at 5:30am and departing at 6:45am, we had set ourselves the ambitious target of Cunnamulla... a mere 250km away. Unlike previous mornings, the temperature was much warmer and after only 20kms we started shedding clothes... turns out the warm morning led to a very hot day and sunburn for Jon.

Everything was going swimmingly and we were cruising along at 25kmh for the first 4 hours, when Jon soon caught the broken spoke bug. Timing the repair work with a lunch break at Enngonia, it took an hour to replace three broken spokes. Meanwhile the Oasis Roadhouse looked after us with drinks and sangas.

We were soon back on the road for much of the same scenery, red dirt and shrubbery. We stopped briefly at the town of Barringun (3 people and a dog live there) where Mary, the very lovely 83 year old owner of the Telegraph Hotel helped us out with some Cokes and a donation. Chris grabbed a photo and we’ll put it up on facebook in the coming days... thanks Mary, you’re a gem!

A couple of km’s later we were at the border between NSW and QLD, hoping that our bad luck would stay behind. After two very uninspiring border crossings, its become clear us that the Aussies need to turn them into more exciting tourist attractions like in the USA. This one had a dodgy little Queensland sign and there wasn’t even a farewell or thanks for visiting from NSW... poor form!

On the bright side, the scenery changed to endless flat lands of dry grass and pampas.... with brown dirt! Whilst it sounds boring to you, it was a very welcome change for us!

We continued on for another 50km before disaster struck again (must have jumped the border!!)... Chris’ rear wheel sounded like a plane crash, as another four spokes bit the dust.  With 67km to go and the sun beginning to set, it was a demoralising moment but we soon sprung in action to whip it off and fix it. It was however slightly concerning the number of cars that continued  zooming past with two cyclists tending to a mechanical in the middle of nowhere and rapidly diminishing light!

Only  40 minutes later we were back on the road and the sun had set. Fortunately the beautiful cloudless day continued and we were able to see our way via the full moon. Notwithstanding all the dramas and fatigue, it was actually a pleasant time to ride! Our only fear was being taken out by one of the hundreds of roos running alongside the road. Apparently a guy on a recumbent was wiped out a few years ago! At the 45km to go mark we had another scare as two more spokes decided to die on Chris’ back wheel... fortunately with gaffa tape and no more big ring riding we were able to nurse it home.

After much thought and analysis (we've had 20+ broken spokes now!), we’ve ruled out the crossing of the Great Dividing Range and think the inherent problem is the force and torque we’re putting through the rim and hub. With rider and trailer you’re looking at 110kg of weight and crunching the pedals to get to speeds of 27kmh on the big ring must be sending huge amounts of force through the wheel... so looks as though we’ll now be travelling at lesser speeds and in a smaller gear!

We finally completed our odyssey at 9:40pm and were greeted by the amazing owners of the Cunnamulla Caravan Park. With Verge notifying them of our troubles and late arrival, they’d prepared a huge pot of spag bog for us. Chris even washed his down with the Weet-Bix they gave us for breakfast. Its moments like this that remind you how generous people in these rural communities are... it's an amazing and heartwarming thing to experience.

Tomorrow we’re off to Charleville (only 199km) and looking forward to Sunday’s rest day. Before we depart Cunnamulla we have to go and visit John the bikeologist who was tracked down by Verge as the answer to our spoke problem... we hope!