This is not my happy face. Here I am, hopelessly broken down just 10 km outside of Baffle Creek. I need a special tool to remove the cassette and unstick my chain. I'll be loading onto the ute in the background for a ride into Bundaberg.

Journal and photos by Nancy Olson

Well, I am writing today from Baffle Creek, still. I tried to leave, but a mechanical failure caused me to be delayed another day. Here's how it all went down:

I got up late, and it was raining. Early in the morning, I'd had to jump out of my tent and cover it with tarps to keep from getting soaked. Fitful sleep made me want to sleep late into the morning. I got up and did a little work on the Internet, and then we had some breakfast.

I prepared to leave, and we said our goodbyes. Gabbi gave me some cool felt juggling balls that she made, and I gave Ajay a USMC sticker, because he's a big military enthusiast.

I finally got on the road at about 1240. Just as I left the driveway, I saw a huge spider camped out on my handlebars! YIKES! I quickly pulled over and flicked the uninvited hitchhiker off with a stick. Yech. I HATE spiders! (Speaking of spiders, Gabbi and Ajay have a HUGE huntress spider living behind a cabinet in their home. She comes out at night to catch flies near the light, but she never comes down to where somebody might accidentally get too close to her. She is big and beautiful and terrifying.)

I finally got back on the road and realized that my shifting was a bit hesitant. I figured I'd fix it at my first rest stop.

Well...ten kilometers down the road is a small town called Rosedale, the intersection for which is at the top of a small hill. I climbed the hill and attempted to shift to an easier gear near the top. Just then, my sluggish shifting turned into disastrous shifting, and my chain went beyond what should have been its stop limit and ended up getting stuck between my spokes and the rear cassette. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but the cassette wrench is the ONLY tool I didn't bring with me on this cycling trip. Who'd have thought I'd need to remove my cassette? (The cassette is the pyramid of chainrings attached to the rear wheel of a multi-speed bicycle.) I removed a couple of spokes in hopes of making enough space to free the chain, but it was stuck. I also tried to take the chain apart, but the link I needed to access was inaccessible.

SO...I had to walk to the nearby school and call Ajay and Gabbi's place. Ajay said he'd ceme and get me. While I waited, several nice people pulled over to ask if I needed help, including a pair of Swiss tourists in a big camper van. In a few minutes, though, Ajay appeared in his "Ute" to rescue me. His utility vehicle, a flat-bed rear with a car front, had recently been in an accident and needed brake and transmission work, so we went back to the farm. I called around to bike shops in Bundaberg, the town I had been heading for when I broke down, and found one that could do the work immediately. It was about 70 km away. Ajay worked on the car, and we decided to wait until morning to head to Bundaberg. I was disappointed, but one more day with my new friends was a nice prospect, and we got to eat leftover Thai pumpkin soup for dinner! YUM!

After dinner, we watched Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and had a delicious desert. I even got to do some Internet work. Tomorrow, I will try to leave again.

Mileage: 10
Weather: Rainy morning/beautiful rest of the day
Final Location: Baffle Creek

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