Day Five - Cooma to Thredbo

Distance: 104.21 km
Riding time: 5:48:55
Average speed: 17.9 km/h
Maximum speed: 60.1 km/h
Bum soreness: 8/10



Brrr - it's chilly in Thredbo! 2 degrees and -2 if you count the wind chill factor. Thank heavens for the boffins behind GoreTex technology - it kept me nice and dry. It rained and even hailed leaving Cooma and coming into Thredbo. Otherwise the weather was gorgeous. The cold is actually great for riding up these mammoth hills - I'm not sweating like crazy all the time.

I wish I was in this car, climbing up the mountains. 

It was a stunning ride into Thredbo. The climb started as soon as I left Cooma. I stopped in Berridale (TwoMoo Cafe is great) for a snack and then in Jindabyne for lunch. I also bought myself a rear-vision mirror from the local bike shop. The guy was helpful but took about 1.5 hours to help as he was very busy with a bus-load of tourists ahead of me.

My mirror is so wide-angled, it's not much good for anything 

besides putting my lipstick on in the morning ;)

Whilst I waited at the bike shop I watched these two cute-as dogs. 
Not much funnier in this world than the trepidation 
dogs display upon meeting other dogs. Hilarious!

After a longer-than-expected stop in Jindabyne I hit the road and that's when things got as hilly as they were pretty. Everytime I thought the worst was over I'd turn another corner and see another gargantuan hill that would be met with swear words and sullen shakes-of-the-head.

A winding road, flanked by snow gums.

Thankfully I had some of the most pretty scenery to make up for the quadriceps torture. Grand, sweeping vistas of deep valleys and snow-capped peaks. Truly stunning. I highly recommend riding through Thredbo.

I was pretty freakin' exhausted by the time I got here and I'd run all out of food and was down to my emergency 1 litre of water. I was ecstatic with the thought of a hot shower and a warm bed. I just had dinner and watched an episode of The Wire. I'm amazed at my appetite. I felt like the biggest pig at the pizza resturant. I'm sure the lady thought I was waiting for a friend to arrive as I ordered a large pizza (they didn't have a family size), main-sized ravioli, main-sized Greek salad and a garlic bread. I reckon I could still ho into some noodles.

Some of my huge meal tonight.

Time for bed as I've a big day ahead of me. I'm a little worried about it actually. There is no place to get food or water so I'll have to rely on my provisions and the forecast is for snow! I'd love to see some snow but it would really mess with my cycling. Tomorrow is probably going to be the hardest day of the whole trip.

This is my route tomorrow:


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