Day 30 Saturday 7th August 2010

Bike with half the handlebar missing


Fractured hold down hook

Hi Folks,
A subdued evening here tonight. Not one of our better days on the road. We set off from Broken Hill about 1130. About 20-30 km out on the Wilcannia Road heard some strange noises. Glancing back in the mirror could see a bike wheel close to the road. Hurriedly pulled over and the state of damage was apparent. The hold down hook on the bike rack had fractured and Susan's 2 month old bike had jumped out of the holder. It was secured to the other bike with an anti theft cable and was dragged along the road at 100km/h getting severely damaged. Very upsetting. If it hadn't been tied to the holder it may have been better or worse but in the end it just was. We took some pictures and i emailed the manufacturer. We will see what transpires. We are now camped in the trailer in a parking bay about 50 km from Cobar. Tomorrow we should hit the road reasonably early and pass through Bourke and beyond. They have some pretty decent parking bays in NSW and there would be around 10 caravans in this one. The toilets are pretty fundamental and smelly and the water in the tanks not for drinking but they are free.
Anyway that's all for today. As Tom Hanks said in Castaway "The sun will come up tomorrow and you never know what the tide will bring in" In his case it was a portable toilet that was the basis for his escape boat.

Cheers all