Day 436 | 4 Mile Creek: out on the Burke Development Road
95 km | zzOz total: 13,016 km
Ping!
The bolt at the top of my seat post snapped leaving my Brooks Flyer unattached to the rest of the bike fortunately with a few stray pieces used to adjust the level of the seat all accounted for.
Am I just unlucky, this could have happened earlier today, before I hit that large hardware store in Dimbulah, or yesterday on Mareeba, or before in Cairns.
This was a major problem and on cue a sun shower, with huge drops, and not letting up for 5 long minutes came through, no shelter at all, just after I had laid out my repair paraphernalia.
To tell the truth I never expected bolts like that to break but I suppose it had been rattling away for 12 years and done over 30,000 km in the last 3.5 years. And the seat has been brutally treated with all that pushing on my Cape York little adventure.
When the rain stopped I went through my full spares kit and failed to find anything suitable, all the bolts for my rear rack and mudguard attachment, etc, nothing long enough, ie, 50mm, or of the correct calibre, looks like 8mm.
Not even close.
Am I going to ride the full Burke Development Road, just under 600 km, standing up?
Then I spotted the seat nose tensioning bolt, I could take that out and pack up the Brooks with some plastic bags. It would be like old times around SW WA when the original tensioning bolt snapped.
Then I remembered: I had a spare after that episode, when I replaced the snapped one old belts and braces ordered 2.
Lucky.
Even luckier it fitted and I was on my way, which in this case proved to be a slow afternoon climb up a series of hills culminating in getting over the Bismarck Range, a sign announcing I was back up to 495 m.
So just when is this “all downhill” of my imagination going to start.
Not much evidence out here to date.