Day 8 – Riding to the Clarence

Started off cold, but not too bad, with a few navigation challenges to get on the A1, thankfully for a brief section. Back roads and some nice views up the hill of Coffs Harbour and the sea.

All bitumen today. I started to get a few small pains and bothers, especially on the saddle contact points. I think I was still tired and not quite recovered as yesterday got a bit busy and did not fuel and drink enough. I was rocking around the saddle trying to find some comfort, and with 20km to go, I had to stop and do a mini reset. Shame because the route was great and for a long section before the end, there was almost zero traffic as I was coasting the south arm of the Clarence River. We are camped in the Showgrounds with a zillion other people – a bit cosy, but the good thing is that every day is a new day, so we’ll get outta here tomorrow and head into Byron Bay. It feels a bit relentless at the moment, but that is and will remain the nature of the trip.

While riding and going across small towns, I am starting to notice smells more and more – from the obvious ones of plants, fields, dirt, “organic lifters” and unfortunately road kill, to the more sophisticated of specific trees and flowers (even if I do not know what they may be), and more interestingly smells coming from houses and passing cars (cologne, cigarette smoke mixed with deodorant, shower wash and soapy smells). Sometimes I can smell laundry drying on the line.

The magpies had a bit of a flyover today, but no attacks. I wonder if they will get more feral as I push north. Bastarde.