Day 6. Sunday 5 March 2023. Barooga to Echuca

     Nb1:  This blog is being created by an AI chatbot (ChatGPT)

Nb2: Click on photos to enlarge.

108 kms of riding through very flat farmland

with lots of long, straight stretches of road.  The day was fine and reached 36 degrees by 5.00 p.m. but for most of the ride conditions were pleasant.

Antonio was up early,

checking his watch to see if was too early to ring up mamma in Italia.

Faybie and Kaybie

were all ready to go

and soon rounded up the rest of the bunch.

Then Chalkie took over, barking orders left, right and centre,

creating confusion and havoc, but once that was sorted we were off.  

Almost immediately, we crossed the old Cobram River Bridge

and were back in Victoria.  What a relief!  Straight away the roads were smoother, the people were friendlier.and the air was cleaner.

After 10 kms we turned and headed west along a straight, straight road

that barely deviated for almost 60kms.  Antonio set a hot pace out in front,

hoping that by riding west he would end up in Fremantle where he could jump onto a ship and sail for home.

The others were awake to his tactics and kept a close watch on him. The Twinkletoes stayed on his tail

as did Cockie and PubServe.

Chalkie was there, too with his jersey

showing all the towns we are planning to visit,

while Kaybie found time to greet

some of the excited throng

lining the roads to cheer us on.

At the rear, the SASMobile trailed us

and kept an even closer eye on proceedings

We are now in the heart of the Murray Valley Irrigation Scheme farmlands and along the side and sometimes crossing the road we saw lots of these

irrigation channels.

Morning tea after 32km was in the little village of Katunga.  Being a Sunday in regional Victoria we were a little worried at the chances of finding a coffee shop open; but in the event, we didn't have to worry. 

There was NOTHING open.  In fact, there was nothing there apart from one old building sadly in need of repair.  So it was a help-yourself affair again, and then off for another 30kms down the road before a rest stop at Picola. The approach to the town had some very impressive art silo

work on display.  We admired this, but admired this sight even more

as we were hot and thirsty by this stage.  Common sense prevailed, however, as we knew if we went in we would be in no condition to ride when we came out.

Faybie came up with an alternative plan and tried to negotiate a ride to Echuca on Roxy.

Jill, the owner, was all for it but Roxy was having none of it.

Ganners and PubServ then booked first-class tickets on the train,

only to discover it wasn't running until Tuesday, "Sorry, no refunds given."

There was nothing for it but to get back on our bikes and head off once more,

this time to Barmah, where we stopped for a picnic in a park on the banks of the Murray.

After lunch it was over the Barmah Bridge
and back into NSW.  And straight away, disaster struck.  The road surface

deteriorated sharply, Antonio's tool kit jumped out of the bottle holder and was then run over by a car, and SASMan detected a problem with his bike.  He thought it was something serious

butt, in the end, it just turned out to be

a puncture.

Chalkie, ever helpful, raced to his saddle bag to get tyre levers but the first thing he dragged out was a whopping big rock.

Why anyone would choose to travel over 400kms with a bloody great rock lodged in their saddle bag is more than any of those present could work out.  Some thought it could have been connected with images supplied to us

by an anonymous source from day 1, but we're disinclined to believe such baseless innuendo.

After all this excitement we eventually arrived at

where our accommodation

awaited us.

 Time again, then, to unload the SASMobile

and settle in for a rest day in Echuca.

What a surprise.  

At a pre-dinner drink at the nearby hotel, we were surprised and delighted by the appearance of Sketchy, our old cycling buddy from Tasmania, and a great mate of SASMan.

In his usual generous fashion, Sketchy had organised a party and asked the hotel to get in an adequate supply of wine

and beer.

Before starting on this, though it was off for a bit of Thai.

Things looked respectable, at first

but soon descended into organised chaos.

SASMan looks bemused, thinking

"I could swear I ordered chicken parmagiana, ... hmmm, perhaps not".  All meals were very enjoyable from reports and it was then back to the motel and Sketchy's party.

Selfish Rider (Mouldy Raspberry) Award

This award is for the rider who contributes least to the driving of the support vehicles and selfishly  thinks only of how many kms he/she can ride every day.  What is amazing is that people who are no doubt total losers and have never won anything in their miserable lives are striving to win this award which does nothing but discredit them.

Helpful Driver Award

This award recognises the rider who has sacrificed the most riding in order to help out with the driving of the support vehicles.  Those individuals with zero in the totals column should be looked upon with utter contempt.