Day 24 – Southern Cross to Cunderdin (214km)
This morning we set our alarms for 2:30am WA time. Luckily, our body clocks are still on SA time so it felt more like 5:00am. Our experience with the riding conditions has been that, as the day progresses, the temperature rises and the wind gets stronger. We wanted to get as many kilometers in as we could before the conditions peaked.
We rode out at 3:30am and rode the first hour in the dark with our headlights and rearlights on. We were only passed by 3 vehicles during that time which was an added bonus of leaving early.
We had a nice tail wind for the first 70km and made good progress through to morning tea. As we were keen to make the best of the good conditions we kept the break very short and pressed on to Merridan where we picked up some cappuccinos and cake (which was particularly special as we hadn’t been treated to this since before the Nullarbor).
Up to this point we had experienced pretty good conditions but we could feel the temperature rising and were still worried about a predicted change to strong head winds later in the day. However, Alyce was very happy that the road had a good shoulder after riding on narrow roads for the last 2 days.
With continuing good conditions our spirits were up and the kilometers flew by as we sang songs together through to Lunch at Kellerberrin. 165km into the ride. We found a nice shady park to sit at (which also seemed like a luxury after numerous roadside stops).
Dan showing some man love at lunch
With just under 50km remaining after lunch and the conditions still quite favourable, if a little hot, we arranged one final water stop with our support crew. After Alyce had experienced some anxiety before the ride about doing such a long ride in the heat, she was quite upbeat as we made good progress towards our destination, Cunderdin.
5km after filling our bottles, we came to a railway crossing on the road. Alyce was up the front travelling at some speed and unfortunately hit the crossing at the wrong angle and before she knew it she crashed heavily into the bitumen. Mark had to swerve to avoid hitting her (and to avoid also coming to grief with the offending railway track) and immediately stopped to try to help her. Alyce was knocked temporarily unconscious from the fall and it was difficult to tell immediately if she had sustained any serious injuries.
Accident scene
A number of motorists stopped to offer assistance but Mark was able to contact Anita on the mobile in the support van and she arrived shortly after the incident. We were pleased when Alyce was eventually able to stand and walk with assistance to a spot a little a way from the road. But we were concerned that she had no recollection about the accident and was unable to identify where we were riding to today. So we put Alyce in the van and Anita drove her the final 15km into Cunderdin and straight to the local hospital where they treated and monitored her for the afternoon.
Alyce at Cunderdin Hospital
Thankfully, she was cleared of any serious injuries and was discharged at around 7:00pm.
Fingers crossed that she will be able to make it through our last ride through to Perth tomorrow.
