A difficult decision.

Purple and Pink Ride

Day 2 – 18th September, 2016

It was a very early start. I wanted to get on the road as early as possible. I left the hostel at 06:30. By now, my cold had taken full hold of me. I kept pedalling on, nonetheless. Not long after leaving Katoomba, I passed the ‘Explorers Marked Tree’ – colloquially called Explorers Tree. Three 19th century Australian explorers, Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth, who achieved the first known successful crossing (by European settlers) of the Blue Mountains, carved their initials into this tree. The tree itself died back in the 1950s, but the stump remains.

The going just got tougher, as the minutes passed. I made it to Medlow Bath, and stopped outside the Hydro Majestic.

The decision, that I made next, was a very difficult one. It was time to call quits on my ride to Melbourne, for the sake of my health. It was cold and wet, which would not have made a very good combination when dealing with what was now a very full-blown cold. Had I not had this cold, I would have pressed on. So, I proceeded to the station, which was just across the road.

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This is the post that I didn’t want to make. Mission failure. After a cold turning for the worse, plus a late night gastro bug, any energy for the next few days has been absolutely nullified. Now on the train back to Sydney. Even though I barely made it out of the starting blocks, I would still appreciate donations for the charities I was cycling for: Epilepsy Australia and the McGrath Foundation. As always, information can be found at www.rtw.bike/purpleandpinkride – thank you so very much for all the donations that have been made up until now. I really am thankful. I already have other plans in the works. ☺? #purpleandpinkride #mcgrathfoundation #epilepsyaustralia

A post shared by Stephen Jones (@atmrtwbike) on Sep 17, 2016 at 5:02pm PDT

This trip, or what I did of it, wasn’t a total waste, though. I did manage to raise a bit of money for both Epilepsy Australia and the McGrath Foundation. And, you can still make a donation to these very worthy charities. The appropriate links are:

• The McGrath Foundation
• Epilepsy Australia

Another thing I did learn, though, was that a mountain bike, for this kind of trip, is not exactly the most appropriate kind of bicycle to use. Next time, and there will definitely be a next time, I will use a different kind of bike – probably a road bike (as my current rides will generally be no longer than a duration of a couple of weeks).

Thanks for coming along!