Day 11 of Munda Biddi - Bike breakage

Distance: 80 km
Elevation gain: 883 metres
From the town of Manjimup to the town of Pemberton
About 6hrs travel time, from 7:30am to 1:30pm 

At Pemberton, my distance from Mundaring: 626 km
Distance to Albany: 414 km

I spent yesterday afternoon in the Manjimup motel carpark playing with the rear derailleur and adjusting limit screws and tension in the cable to improve gear selection.  It seemed to help because during today's ride I was finally able to select the smallest gear (fastest speed).

A bonus at Manjimup motel was that breakfast was included.  I have missed fresh hot toast with butter and vegemite - heaven!

I dragged myself away from the breakfast buffet and got on the bike at a reasonable 7:30am. Today was going to be either a 40 km day (to Quinninup) or an 80km day (to Pemberton).  It all depended on the track condition and my fitness.

As it turned out, the track and my fitness were both tip-top and I made good progress to reach Quinninup by 10am.  I pushed on to Pemberton. 

About 2km out of Quinninup, and still 38km from Pemberton the bike had a minor incident.  I heard something pinging in the rear wheel which is normally a small stick caught in the spokes. I stopped and found that I had broken a spoke and that it was rattling around.  Bugger.   I was lucky and had mobile phone signal, so I phoned the bike shop back home for advice.  After a bit of chatting the solution was to wrap the broken spoke around another spoke to keep it out of the way.  The rear wheel now has a slight buckle which causes a bit of swerving when travelling at speed.  I hoped for a bike shop in Pemberton to help with repairs.

Aside from the bike, today was one of the better days on the Munda Biddi.  A big kangaroo jumped across the track in front of me, and then an emu raced me along the track for a bit (it was way faster). I nearly ran over a snake that was slithering across the track (hang on - that black stick is moving!!).  There were also many magpies checking me out and flying up into the trees ready to dive me, but none of them did.   The track itself was smooth and flowing and I almost had fun and enjoyed the scenery - the trees are massive.

I arrived in Pemberton, nursing the bike hoping for a bike service shop but no luck.  I need to keep riding for another 200 km until Walpole.  I hope it holds 🤞

A good track for most of the day and the cloudy sky kept me cool.

There was not much pea gravel today and instead you have to deal with the large gum nuts on the track.  In some places they carpet the track completely. 

Taking this corner at speed was not fun - like riding across big ball bearings on a concrete path.  

A steep 10% descent just means another hill to climb when I get to the bottom.  Oh well, enjoy the 2 minutes of speed.

Broken spoke wrapped around another spoke to keep it out of the way.