The Rode Rage team has landed in Wycliffe Well, the UFO centre of Australia, after a supernaturally successful day on the road. The walls at Wycliffe Well Big 4 are plastered with news stories and posters about the UFO sightings that the area has been famous for since before World War II. So far our stay at the camp has been out of this world, but that’s enough puns for one blog.

Brian was in first this morning, kicking off the ride at 5:45 with a 70km stint averaging 54.4km/hr. After tired batteries forced a rider change, Aleece got in and rode to Tennant Creek, at an average of 60.35km/hr, becoming the first rider to break the 100km mark this trip. The record was destined to fall very quickly; Justin rose to the challenge and got into the bike determined to ride the 137km that remained for today’s leg. This he did, with a 52.82km/hr average speed, in increasingly hot conditions. Rider changeovers were particularly smooth today, thanks to skilled work from our technical monkeys, notably Jacob Baxter, Brad Decker and Jay Matherson. With a well-functioning bike, and the efforts of today’s riders, we made it into camp before lunch. With our hearts light we made our way to the swimming pool for a long-awaited dip, only to find that it had no water in it. Apparently, it had been emptied yesterday by a travelling fibreglass expert who had been “passing through with his herd of camels.”

Accepting this incongruous explanation, we instead settled in with a quick EBT trivia session. For those of you playing along at home, the answers to questions 12, 13 and 14 were true, true and false respectively: in previous years EBT has had its workshop based in a bus shed and in a toilet, but never on the school roof. The answer to question 27 was also true; EBT has been part of a sustainable transport exhibition of the London Museum.

We’re off to the Devil’s Marbles after dinner, for some sunset sightseeing, so stay tuned for the photos.

View photos here.

GG