{"id":748,"date":"2015-09-03T23:47:22","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T13:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyclingwild.com.au\/?p=748"},"modified":"2016-05-22T22:11:58","modified_gmt":"2016-05-22T12:11:58","slug":"oodnadatta-by-bike-rolling-on-the-shores-of-lake-eyre-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cyclingwild.com.au\/blog\/oodnadatta-by-bike-rolling-on-the-shores-of-lake-eyre-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Oodnadatta by bike, part 2: Rolling on the shores of Lake Eyre."},"content":{"rendered":"

I sat on the lake bed gazing into the sky somewhat over whelmed by my surroundings. I had\u00a0been on the road since six AM,\u00a0some 16 hours ago. This fatigue was no doubt contributing to my experience.\"2015-06-26<\/a><\/p>\n

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The opportunity to ride the edge of the worlds largest salt lake was too irresistible an opportunity to pass up. It was in the back of my mind all the way to Oodnadatta. Could I do it? How would I feel as I reached the turn off to the lake?<\/p>\n

There was always the possibility that I would reach the crux of this great adventure and realize I was too spent and too low on supplies to realize the dream. To be honest this is exactly how I felt as I struggled the last 7 km into William Creek, the closest town to Lake Eyre. I sat in the Pub for a few long hours consuming all I could, including their fantastic William creek Burger.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The William Creek Burger didn’t stand a chance!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I had told myself during the planning process that Lake Eyre would be a bonus if everything was going to plan. As it turned out things were kinda going to plan. Other than the fact I was a day behind schedule and feeling somewhat shattered the lake seemed an achievable mission as I sank two Coopers Sparkling beers and psyched myself up for what would be 24 hours of unknown consequence!<\/p>\n

The road out to Lake Eyre turns off 5 kilometers south east of William Creek and extends some 50km to the lakes edge. The rolling mounds of ancient bedrock and dune continued for hours with no sign of the lake, every small crest I eagerly anticipated seeing the lake. Twelve kilometers out I still had not seen the lake and was feeling deflated that I might not see it before sunset.<\/p>\n

\"2015-06-26<\/a>\"2015-06-26<\/a>The washboard stretched out for miles but there was still no sign of the lake.<\/p>\n

\"2015-06-26<\/a>Here upon this hill I finally glimpsed the lake from a far. The subtle contours of the hillocks around the lake can only be interpreted from the colorations in the earth. The small road sign in the right of the photo was the only indication that I was in fact on planet earth. I stood atop this small mound and soaked in the grand scale of the landscape before me.
\nAs the Sun set and the stars began to shine I made may way out onto the lake. I dropped a pin on the GPS and started tracking towards it. The terrain that surrounds the lake is made up of ancient gibber pebbles washed into small valleys by millenia of floods, it was hard going but the big tyres yet again were in their element.\u00a0\"2015-06-26<\/a><\/p>\n

By the time I was on the lake proper the sun was beyond the horizon but still shining into the night sky. Jupiter and Venus were tracking close behind and I was in for a night spectacle like none other I had seen.<\/p>\n

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Along the edges the salt crust was firm and speed could be maintained quite easily. As I ventured further out onto the lake I found myself sinking into the ground more until a point where I broke through the salt crust and very quickly came to a halt as my tyres filled with mud. It must have been close to 9pm and by far the longest day I had done on the bike thus far. \u00a0Soon I realized that I had carried momentum across the thin salt crust for a few kilometers and would have to push back out to where it was firm again.
\n<\/a>\"2015-06-26<\/a>Arduous is one word that could describe pushing a heavily laden bike across a boggy salt flat, however I took the time to appreciate the surroundings and the big night sky which lead me to replace arduous with breathtaking! Words do little to describe some moments in ones life when you push yourself to your limits. This becomes even more apparent when the end destination you pushed yourself to is the worlds largest salt lake on the edge of one of the worlds largest deserts.\"2015-06-26<\/a><\/p>\n

I slept little that night overwhelmed by my surrounding and just how far off the map I had come.\u00a0