Croydon, Normanton

Sitting at the table in Croydon, having lunch, I spied another cycle rider in the distance. In the wavering heat it looked like he was hunch backed. I waited, but he stopped at the shop. Impatient I rode down to see who it was.

And so I met, who I'll call the Mad German. He looked a bit like Santa Claus, the thinner version, but after he'd been pulled on the sled through the bush, on a typically Aussie Christmas day. Bits of leaf, dust and salt matted his face, hair and clothes. He couldn't stop still; like a flea on a hot plate. He was also very busy with the camera. We talked for a few minutes. I got from him that he was doing about 150km a day, had ridden across the Barkley Tablelands, and wanted to get on to Canberra and Melbourne.  He had his holiday and was in a rush.  He'd also travelled a lot overseas. Then with a wave, he was off. I'd not even gotten his name.

German Cyclists Bike

The hunch back appearance in the distance was the backpack he had on. Not sure what was in it though. He carried 10 litres of water to my 24.

After he left, I had a look at myself in the bike mirror. Hmmm. We probably didn't look that different. To fix that I had a quick splash of water over my face in the toilet block, raked out my hair and washed out my shirt. It dried in less than 5 minutes. I felt better.

Now its a rest day in Normanton. When I planned to come out here it was a nice 25C max. Now as I look at the weather forecast, I think I've run out of cool weather.