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| I should be napping right now. All this being cute is making me sleepy. (Also known as "the Lily problem") |
Day 29. 8/10/11: Warren Gorge to Simmonston
Lily's bit:
My ankle seems ok when I've warmed it up a bit, so we decided to take the 5k walk around the gorge before Tim went running today. The Nationals Parks people have signposted it using tin can lids sprayed white and nailed to trees. Got to love the commitment to recycling! We saw heaps of cool stuff: kangaroos, parrots, lots of black boys dotting the hills (stumpy little trees with tall spikes), a cairn with a guest book to sign, a big cairn on a cliff edge, some amazing views and big rocks to perch on. Well it was nice. My ankle held up a treat, we got back for a yummy lunch and Tim headed off. I enjoyed my afternoon in the gorge on my own. I had a nice chat with a fellow camper, who was very impressed by the green machines. Polished off a whole heap of study and before I knew it, Tim was back!
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| Lily a the top, wearing a top. Totally tops. |
Tim's bit:
During the morning walk, I decided that I felt okay enough to do an afternoon ride and run. Felt like a nice idea to stay in such a beautiful place (Warren Gorge is lovely) and still knock off a part of the trail. I also hoped to do it without too much fuss so that Lily got to have a nice afternoon in the gorge - hanging out, doing yoga or schoolwork etc - and didn't feel too much like there was this big journey thing that she was missing out on. It was just an afternoon where we did slightly different things...
The ride was fun: swooped out of the gorge to the main road, then flowed along fast flat well-graded dirt roads, past Proby's Grave, Buckaringa Gorge, accross Willochra Creek and up to Simmonston. Stopped at one point to let a very dark Brown Snake decide if it wanted to cross the road or not, and watched it glide into the scrub beside the road. They are beautiful creatures, and it's not seeing them that's scary: it's seeing them and realising just how many are around that I don't see. That and the fact that they could kill me combine to make seeing them and, even more, coming back past the same spot on the return run, knowing he or she is around and not seeing them, a little nervy.
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| This photo makes Lily laugh every time. |
Crossing Willochra Creek turned out to be far easier than I'd expected. It was lower than the day before, but looking at the creekbed I'd expected slippery rocks and sinking mud. i went at it with just enough speed to have some momentum, but not so much that when I went over the handlebars I wouldn't hurt myself too much. I picked my line and road through, solid as you like, and didn't even get my feet wet! 23kms done: time to run.
Started running at 2 in the afternoon. Warm day. Crossed Willochra Creek by skipping across on some stones so didn't even have to take my shoes off, which was nice, but from then on it was basically an uphill run for the remaining 21kms. I ran reasonably well for the first hour, covering about 9.5kms including starting off with a long walk and a munch on a lovely orange and some fantastic scroggin. After that it went slowly down hill. I'd plugged my iPod in and track after track seemed to be people like Tom Waites or Jeff Buckley or Radiohead or someone who sounded like Nick Cave, all moaning and groaning in slow motion about how hard things are now that nobody loves them. In between, I had random Spanish lessons. While not rhythmic or energizing, at least I got to say, "Yes, with a bathroom" aloud without any chance of anyone grimacing at my accent!
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| Tim pre-23km run and ride. Looking fine. Idiot. |
My achilles started to hurt. My posture dropped so I was sagging and plodding, making things harder still on my calves and feet. After 19kms I was just thinking about nursing myself home and wondering if I needed a rest day, or a rest week, or new feet or a new brain (to come up with better holiday ideas), but it was still a beautiful walk in, with the occasional little trot. It's funny how vain I am: hardly a car passed me for the first 19km, but about five passed me in the last few kms, and every time I was walking, and got that look of: "What are you doing you idiot?" rather than the "Go ultra-runner!" wave or smile or cheer that we've had sometimes when we've been running. That "You idiot" look can be a bit disspiriting, so I did what every disspirited person does: I ate all the food I had in my possession. Not having a fridge full of chocolate bavarian cheesecake, this amounted to a zip-locked bag of scroggin and lots of water, but it helped me wander along and admire the amazing red bluffs and the huge puffs of white cloud in a bright blue sky for a while.
I made it home in about 2hrs 36 minutes, lay on the yoga mats for a while and was grateful to Lily for making dinner and feeding me yummy food. It was the first time on the trip I've felt really physically drained. Went to bed early wondering about how tomorrow would go.
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| Not quite full, but still a bit of alright. |
Ride
Time (hr:min:sec): 59:03
Speed (kph):
Distance (km): 23
Run
Time (hr:min:sec): 2:36:11
Speed (kph):
Distance (km): 23
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