19.09.2002
to Port Macquarie
the relativity of 'big'
ride out of Hat Head to Crescent Head nice and flat and easy. Notice ominous clicking in pedal crank thingy. Ask about it at garage in Cr Hd but decide to leave it 'til Port. Bread+cheese+fruit for lunch overlooking the river/beach.
Whip off a quick response to the postcard Les+Gra sent, post restante, to Crescent Head post office which was very nice of them and hugely appreciated.
Magpies! The most vicious, persistent birds encountered on the road to/from Hat Head. Just near a primary school. Stay away from it. For about 500m this bird swooped making contact 8 times or more! Plenty of time for me to develop a 'head-butting' strategy to discourage the attacker. Didn't work. I had developed a theory about the the squawking ones being harmless, but this bugger did the lot; the squawking, the swooshy noise with his wings and the physical contact. I swear he almost got through my helmet. Honest.
I was incensed by the afternoon's ride. (I don't think that word means what you think it means.) Well. Kind of bemused anyway. It was a rough dirt/sand track through the dunes behind the 'north beach' down to Port Macquarie. Lots of walking and otherwise slow riding avoiding the worst of the rocky bits. I spent a lot of time composing delicately worded letters to Lonely Planet advising them of revisions to be made to the description of the day's ride. But I feel better now.