^{Date Published: 22 Nov 2010 1:55pm
Author:Steve Moore}

Some of us had a bit of a sleep in at the hotel/motel in Ceduna while other members of the team were woken by the sound of a hammer drill in the adjoining unit. A few of the crew walked across to the water for a dip and others headed down the street for a coffee and a look at the morning paper. Pity it was 4 days old eh Mark!?

Into the cars for transport to the start of the evenings ride from Kimba and we are taken through some of South Australia’s wheat growing area. A storm hits and we have a downpour but the temperature is still sitting around the 40C mark. Fuel up the vehicles and the crew at the Kimba Roadhouse and off we go with a special guest rider - Lisa Blake. Lisa has chosen a particularly challenging section to ride on today as first of all we are hit with gusty northerly winds and today the stage is broken into 40 km long sections. Lisa looks like she has an enjoyable ride and returns an average above that calculated for the section. And all this in a pair of runners rather than clip-ins.

The wheat country gives way to the harsher red scenery of the mining land around Iron Knob and Pt. Augusta. The early wind died off but has returned as a strong blustery tail/side wind which assisted the riders in some places while blowing them around when a change of direction saw it as a cross wind.

Soon we were riding in darkness and with the lack of towns or roadhouses out came the ration packs for tea. Many photos were taken as the full moon made an appearance in the eastern sky; it was a huge yellow ball which greeted the riders. A couple of crew stopped on the side of the road for photo-op's and were joined by a guy on a Harley who shouted encouragement to the riders as he passed. The night rolled along with good average speeds due to the wind, but the peacefulness of the evening/early morning was shattered at one rider change when a naked “specialised spirit” appeared out of the darkness and flew passed the riders convoy disappearing into the darkness.

Soon we were at our destination of Port Wakefield and a tired crew made their way to our accom at Hahndorf. A few headed off to explore this picturesque village on bike while others walked the streets in search of a breakfast café. After a while all were tucked away for a few hours kip before the road trip to Meningie and the start of our last overnight stage of the ride to Mt Gambier.

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