Yesterday I finally put the Snowy Mountains behind me. It was in the most part, an exhilarating downhill rush, punctuated with a couple of uphill sections and the occasional shower of rain. This was the good news, the bad news was that Victoria does not apparently have the budget for providing shoulders to their arterial roads.

Cyclists following this route beware!

Today holds the promise of life, at least mine that revolves around two bike axels at the moment, being a whole lot easier.

Today is when my bike goes on a forced diet. In one slice of the “do I really need it” knife, I have packed up a front pannier and a rear top pannier bag with (so I found out at the Post Office) 11kg of what I thought was essential gear when I left Adelaide a week ago.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its off home you lot will go!

But I haven’t looked at it in the past eight days, so I won’t need it in the next 14 or so.

Will I?

Goodbye laptop, I will miss you, but we will not be parted forever and I still have my social media connected iPhone.

It is now my second best friend.

The bike being 1st BF.

And so when the Tallangatta Post Office opens its doors, I burst in with my parcels that will be (not so) easy to fit into padded postage bags and with some staff help and my handing over $32.00 Aussie dollars, I soon ride away a happy bloke.

Now to find a bakery for a celebratory iced coffee and freshly baked bun.

his is the food of Aussie real men!

By lunchtime, I had reached the twin cities of Wodonga and Albury that straddle the Victorian/New South Wales border. Most of this morning was spent on the High Country Rail Trail, described so eloquently in the day’s ride notes as “beautiful”.

Time to eat again, this time a 12” Subway sandwich and another cycling mystery is discovered.

So far I have been perplexed by 40/100 and FM and PS painted on the road, now I am wondering why Subway haven’t caught up with decimal.

Shouldn’t the 12” actually be a 30cm?

It even sounds bigger.

Lunch over, and life’s mysteries increased, I set the location of an Albury bike shop into my Garmin Edge 1000 and ride off, studiously following the instructions on the screen for the 20 minute ride and a replacement valve adaptor.

An hour and some 25 kilometres later I pass a sign nominating the distance to Melbourne and my single brain cell has an epiphany!

For the last hour the (insert curse here) bike computer has been taking me in the wrong direction totally.

Thanks Garmin.

That’s it!  Dummy spit time and I decided to call it a day.

Retracing my route to Wodonga (not using the “that word again” bike computer) I find a hotel and retreat into a hot shower.

It is then down to a local café for some well-deserved Thai food and a couple of ales.

Distance covered today …. 90km but only forty of that in the right direction!