Feeling refreshed after a long sleep, I was packed and on the road by 8am, enjoying the warm morning sun on my face and blissfully unaware that this day was going to test my roadside mechanical skills.

A firm tailwind helped me along most of the morning, but as I settled into a steady rhythm, an occasional rubbing sound and vibration could be heard coming from the back wheel.

This was not going to be good.

Pushing the bike off the road and under the shade of a nearby tree, the cause was quickly evident.

The offside mounting bolt for the rear rack had snapped causing the rack frame to swing enough to rub on the tyre. In doing so, the rack mounting arm was also in danger of becoming entangled in the spokes and causing catastrophic damage in the process. But thankfully, this had not yet happened.

Half an hour later, a 50mm (2”) hose clamp from the repair kit had me back on the road and with only a few minor adjustments, I was able to make it the last 15 kilometres into Cooma.

Again the cycling Gods were shining on me.

One of the first businesses I came across was M&T Auto Spares who were able to tap out the broken bolt in half an hour and give me a couple of spares, all without charge which I thought was fantastic.

This sort of on the spot generosity was to be seen more than once over the coming weeks.

People really are very decent when it comes down to the important stuff, like a bloke out riding alone.

By this time though it was late afternoon and so I made the decision to make an early stop, rest, have a good meal (lamb shank) and build up my stamina for the final push into Jindabyne the next day.

After these first days with mediocre daily kilometres, I am hoping to start improving, eventually getting back on schedule.

Today was also where I reached my maximum speed, 65.37 km/hr (40.55 m/hr) down one particularly long hill. I could have gone faster but having 30-40kg of gear on the bike waiting to take control concerned me! The need for speed was not that great!