Day four summary

Elapsed Time: 13:30:00

Distance: 161.12 miles

Average Speed: 15.3 MPH

Riding Time 10:28:08

Maximum Speed: 33.6 MPH

Odometer: 81397.13 miles

Traveled from Bombala to Bairnsdale

Variable winds 0-15

55-102F

Today was overall a good day, however I ended up taking a wrong turn and ended up on more gravel roads.  I meant to take a road which basically went down to a town called "Cann River".  I ended up going off on a road that went through a small town called "Delegate".  I was rather worried at this point since I looked at the map and found a road which looked to have more gravel.  However, it looked as though this road was partly gravel and partly paved.  It was kind of odd.  For the first gravel stretch there was a yellow sign which stated, "Gravel next 7 km".  This was kind of nice to at least know how far I had to go.  After this though the road would switch from gravel to pavement to gravel back and forth for a while.  I would say that the majority of the road was paved though.  I was really glad to make it to Orbost since I knew my gravel riding would be done for the day.  At this point, I was pretty thirty and tired.  Orbost was a really neat little town.  I stopped in a local cafe and had some fish and chips (fries) and two 600ml Cokes.  After this I went down the road another 40 miles or so to the town of Lakes Entrance.  At this point, I found a bicycle shop and had them install a rack on the back of my bicycle.  My backpack is really starting to weigh me down and is hard on my back and adds to the heat.  Today was a hot one...over 100 degrees.  I also had them install a softer seat at the shop.  It would still take me a while to recover though since I am already so sore.  I don't know why this trip has been so hard on me like this.  Normally it is not much of an issue.  It was nice to be able to think about emptying some of my backpack, although it will be a little awkward to get control over the new feel.  It's amazing how much extra weight can slow you down.  After another hour or so I made it to the town of Bairnsdale.  I stayed at a Comfort Inn there.  It was another really nice town, however on foot or bike, it was quite a distance to travel to a gas station to get some supplies.  I had a "late" night and got to sleep around 9 PM.

The route

My motel room

View out of the window of my motel room