Day  6:                                   Bonnie Doon to Shepparton (111m)

Distance:                             100km  

Av speed:                            13.88km/h (including rest breaks)

Total Elevation:                 431m

Calories:                               3046 calories (per person)

Weather:                             Sunny and warm (26*C) with a strong northerly

Only 97km stood between us and a rest day and boy did we need it, with the legs burning from the moment they fell out of bed.

As we opened the door to depart, we were greeted by a flock? of cockatoos grazing outside our cabin. This was to be the theme of the day... there are thousands of them up here... they must drive the farmers crazy.

The only major climb for the day was in the Strathbogie Ranges.  A ‘smallish’ 4km roller with an elevation gain of a mere 300m. It was clear that the efforts of the last few days had started to take a toll, as this should have been mincemeat after what we’d been used to... but it seemed to sting and go on for ages.

We took a quick stopover in Euroa for some bacon and eggs, before belting out a tough 50kms to Shepparton... directly into a strongly northerly wind and with my wheel deciding to unhinge itself whilst stationary during a roadside break. Again, the legs were heavy and hurt with every pedal stroke and we’re crossing our fingers our legs can recover with tomorrow’s rest day.

We were glad to drop the bikes off at the Shepparton Bike Hub for some tender love and care... an added benefit being we don’t have to ride or even look at them for the next 24 hours!

Tomorrow will be spent conducting an interview with the Shepparton News and repacking our gear for the long and windy roads that await us in the next ten days!

Interestingly, people keep telling us they’ve heard about us.... apparently we’ve been on 3AW (we thought we were exclusive to SEN 1116AM), in the Euroa ‘local’ newspaper and in a Wagga newspaper (we don’t even go anywhere near Wagga)... we can’t work out if we’re really that big a deal or whether were confused for some other crazies on bikes (surely there can’t be that many of us?!)