Long Ride 2016 - Day 10

April 17, 2016

Margaret River, WA to Perth, WA - 280km (4,480km)

Waking with a killer hangover is never good, but a night of beer, wine and bourbon will do that to you.  The knowledge that day 10 of the Long Ride 2016, and the new challenges it will bring, was only a short one of 280 kilometres was some comfort.

 

The Quality Inn Margaret River put on a great breakfast for us and the day dawned with spectacular sunshine.  It looked like it would be a great day, and the hangover was just a small inconvenience.

 

There has to be a point when I'l return to Margaret River and spend more time with Justin and his team at the Quality Inn, the place is brilliant and offers some of the best service I've ever seen.

 

After saying our goodbyes to many of the friends made over a number of Long Rides, we set off for the capital city of Western Australia, Perth.

 

The support from the Quality Inn Margaret River was just amazing

The first destination was to be the town of Busselton.  The first town we came to threw up a surprise.  There were statues of cows all over the town, some just grazing on grass in parks, others waiting to cross the streets, and some even walking into shops.  It was street art at it's best, and it didn't occur to me until we had passed through the town that the place was called 'Cowaramup', yep another 'up' name, and this one with a very clever play on the name.

 

As we came into Busselton it was clear that the weather was turning, dark clouds were forming quite rapidly, there was no doubt it was going to rain at some point.

 

We passed through Busselton and then on to Bunbury when the heavens did open.  The rain started as a fine drizzle but soon became heavy rain that persisted on and off for the next few hours.  By the time we stopped to put on wet weather gear I was already soaked to the bone so there was little point, the temperature was actually still quite warm so at least it wasn't too unpleasant riding in the rain.

 

Reaching Perth it was great to get out of the wet clothing and just relax as the next day would be a rest day before taking on stage two of the Long Ride ....