October 10, 2016

We have ridden home from this direction a couple of times now and on both occasions we have ridden a longer than necessary route to avoid climbing a steep mountain pass.  However, doing that adds an extra day to the tour and all the weather forecasts, both on the internet and the television, are forecasting storms for tomorrow.  So we have a choice today – head straight home and get there today, but climb the hard climb or take the easier route and risk riding through storms tomorrow.

We decide to go for it today and as with many things that you avoid, the reality is nowhere near as bad as you think.  The climb is long but not too difficult and we feel quite pleased to have done it.  The worse part turns out to be the track after the climb which runs alongside the motorway. It is very rocky and several bits have to be walked rather than ridden.

As we are on home territory we have planned exactly where we’re going to stop for lunch, but very strangely, when we get there Ken is not hungry. Big alarm bells start to ring, Ken is always hungry.  We’re on the last 15 kilometres before home when he is struck down with a gastric bug.  We walk most of the rest of the way home, which takes a considerable amount of time and is not a nice end to the tour.   Still, it could have been worse if it had happened during the tour.

Postscript:. Ken recovered after 24 hours and the predicted storms came, so we are very glad we headed for home when we did.