Day 13. Sunday 12 March, 2023. Renmark - Rest Day

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Nb2: Click on photos to enlarge.

A day off the bikes in the lovely town of Renmark.  Everyone took the opportunity to catch up on their laundry. 

Chalkie's pink nightie can be seen billowing in the breeze.  Hopefully it will be dry by bedtime.

Our accommodation is at the historic Renmark Hotel.

Built around 1891, it initially didn't sell alcohol as a result of a community decision, but after a number of sly grog shops sprung up to meet demand, this policy was quickly reversed.

The paddle steamer which runs about 20 days a year

Grand views of the Murray River from up and down the waterfront

Amid growing concerns over yesterday’s ‘accident’, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) ordered an investigation into the incident.  Although it appointed its officer, OneOfThem, recently married to suspect Nudge, it declared it had every faith in her integrity and ability to carry out an unbiased investigation.  OneOfThem has subsequently reported that after reviewing non-existent video of the fall and interviewing the two riders involved, one of whose evidence was delivered entirely in Italian and as she could not understand a single word of what he was saying it was not taken into account, and although hearsay evidence abounded that Nudge was heard badgering Antonio at lunchtime about how far did he think he could ride, wasn’t he very tired, how susceptible were his tubeless tyres to frenzied knife attacks etc., she could find no evidence of any foul play and declared Nudge entirely innocent and advised others to cast no further nasturtiums on his reputation.  Case Closed.

Incensed by the alleged accident yesterday, Antonio's Mamma and her sister

have let it be known they are on the plane to Goolwa in South Australia and are planning to conduct their own investigations with the two riders involved once we arrive there on Thursday.  

They will be accompanied by their lawyer,Antonio,

who will ensure all questions are answered honestly and in such a way as to attribute prior intention to Nudge and have him disqualified from the award.

A reader of this blog (a relative of Kaybie?) has emailed to ask how fair is the handicap being applied to the number of kms SASMan and Kaybie drive?  In response, we reply that firstly, they were part of the democratic discussion and vote on the formula; and secondly, the formula being applied is the standard one used by the Professional Rally Car and Randonneurs Association of Lithuania, accepted pretty much as the gold standard for this type of event.  It involves taking the sine of the cube root of the average age of the riders/drivers and multiplying this by the greatest distance between the first and last rider on that particular day.  This figure (which will always be <1) is then multiplied by the number of kms driven by SASMan and/or Kaybie on that day.  Any further discussion on this formula could, perhaps, be taken up with the relatives of the estate of the developer, Hermann Minkowski ( Hermann Minkowski (1864 - 1909) - Biography - MacTutor History of Mathematics (st-andrews.ac.uk)

SASMan is suffering from debilitating back pain following his solo efforts every day at the front of the group.  After we pictured him taking a stroll in Renmark on the rest day,

he admitted he may not be sufficiently recovered by tomorrow to ride and has generously offered his bike to Antonio to continue his pursuit of his dream to win the unwanted 'Selfish Rider's (Mouldy Raspberry) Award'.

Pity!

One week too late for the Twinkletoes to strut their stuff.

Sick and tired of having to repeat everything six times for PubServ, members of the group shout and point to where they think he should go.

                                                                                        His reply to this was "What?"

Gauge on the waterfront showing previous flood levels. 

The recent 2022 floods reached the 1956 level.

We came across Lotsa Pots just crammed full of interesting and unusual pieces with which to ornament a garden.

We knew Ganners was famous for his designs but didn't realise his work had reached this far.

'She who would be Queen' tries on a crown for size.

Ganners demonstrating how well he has recovered from his balance issues

and is now able to stand perfectly straight.

Cocky contemplating Chalkie's offer of $1,000 

to take out his two main rivals in the Selfish Rider's Award.

OneOfThem, despite looking benign in this posed shot with Antonio and Ganners,

and despite supposedly being independent, has been covertly offering them inducements to help eliminate Chalkie's two main rivals in the 'Selfish Rider's Award'.

Ans so a pleasant rest day ended in Renmark with a most enjoyable meal 

at the local Indian restaurant. 

 And we were most encouraged on the way back to our hotel when we saw this sign

and knew exactly who we'd be ringing next time we turned a corner and ran straight into a bloody headwind.