Day 5: Beaumaris to Bay of Fires to Pioneer - 83.3km

Wednesday 22nd December 2021

My legs after the day prior’s riding and all through the night, including on this morning felt fine. And then in the first section of my ride on this morning, I got to a steep hill (and it was steep) and I felt the burn. I got up to the top okay, but I did think to myself that I was gonna be in for a loooooong day and plenty of lactic acid was gonna be getting used.

I definitely started the day a bit different than I did the day prior, after riding about 13km I arrived at the town of St Helens, and oh man did I “go to town”! I ate so much, so as to not make the same mistakes again, and I definitely felt it paid off, as I didn't get hungry until towards the end of my day, and even then, it was bearable.

After chilling in St Helens for about an hour, I made the (mostly) cruisey ride to Bay of Fires. I actually ended up at a section of the Bay of Fires that I have never been to before (complete fluke), The Gardens. I ended up spending about 2 hours there, chilling out, and jumping/climbing across the bright red/orange rocks. It is a pretty unique spot. The brilliant weather and the turquoise waters definitely added to the attraction.

I then started to make my way to Pioneer. I started by following the road back that I had just been on for about 2km, before Google Maps told me to turn off to the right for 1km..... "okay, but this is a gravel road," I thought (probably out loud). I double checked, and this was clearly the quickest route, so I figured "okay, it's only 1km, it makes sense to go this way"......that 1km of gravel road turned into an extra 10km, then into an extra 5km......then an extra 25km! I ended up on gravel road for 41km. Long story short, it was hard work, especially on a bike with no suspension, I was feeling every bump! And especially with the cheeky tree shadows masking a lot of the pot holes, add in a batch of poor eyesight! I didn't go over too many pot holes, but I did have to slow down a lot going down the hills, so to avoid them. And then struggle up all the ascending hills. Surprisingly, my legs were fine for the rest of the day, after that initial "burn" in the morning.....it must've been all that extra food I ate.

I arrived in the small small small roadside town of Pioneer in the early evening. And after checking in, with little to do in the area, I took a small stroll to Pioneer Lake, which was actually cooler than I was expecting.....

That's it now, the east coast is done....

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