Today we finally managed to get up early and set off in reasonable time before the sun was in its full strength so I was hoping to do substantially more kilometers. We only managed to do 295 again… :-(
 
The biggest delay was in Charleville since Tanja’s bike has blown its main fuse again so she wanted to have it checked in a bike shop. The guy there was unbelievably helpful and among other he gave us tons of great, mostly bike and road condition tips. He couldn’t help Tanja completely since they were booked out for the day. He however predetermined the source of the problem.

This guy didn’t give me very optimistic predictions for my rear shock absorber for riding the desert on corrugated roads for a few hundred kilometers with this weight and in such hot weather. That’s just great – just another blow to my budget. I’m starting to get used to it… :-|

My bike fell over its stand again on the road when I was picking up our washed clothes from the road after Tanja dropped them from her bike. I couldn’t stand it up! Since it was on a slope it was lying almost top down. This time I got help from a very nice guy driving past. Tanja thought I was doing my slow and fast ride so I was further behind her. Before she was able to realize that something may be wrong I was already struggling there to hold the bike at least in a half sanding position for a good few minutes. It must have been over 40 degress on the road so I needed lots of water afterwards. Actually, I still drink like mad.

The landscape is flattening and getting more and more desert like. There is still lots of trees around and we actually camp next to a little pond now, but that is only thanks to the big recent rains.

(295km)