Bridge2Bridge Day 4: Glen Innes to Armidale

We're into cold country here - thankfully Glen Innes kept it above zero for us. It was still pretty tough riding off in 4 degrees. I found that the cold wind really caused havoc with my joints, especially my knees. By 30mins in, I was in a lot of pain. But I kept on riding, spinning a smaller gear in the hope of warming up the joints.

We had a big climb early on to bring us to the top of the Ben Lemond Range - the highest point of our ride. In theory, it is more downhill than uphill from here on.

I should clarify that the day did not get much warmer - even at midday, it was barely about 15 degrees and the wind was bitter cold.

I couldn't keep up with my two breakaway companions so I was in between the groups for most of the day.

We stopped in Guyra and found a cafe catering just for cyclists! There was a bike rack made from a huge gum tree stump and a mechanics setup in the corner. And most of all, the coffee was great! It was paradise for us on a cold dreary day.

The other reason we stopped in Guyra was to do a small appearance at the local school. We talked to them about our ride, the cause and why it was important. We also did a Q&A time which was quite funny. The kids asked all sorts of questions including "how fast can you ride?", "who has the best bike?" and "what color is your house?" Haha it was great fun. We enjoyed some sandwiches afterwards and had a good time showing the kids our special cycling shoes and gear.

Waving farewell to the kids we motored towards Armidale. Thankfully it was mostly downhill with only a few climb leading into the town. Dinner was at a great pasta/pizza place where we enjoyed enough food to feed an army. It's already pretty cold here now and due to drop to 1 degree overnight! I bought some deep heat cream which I will put on my knees to avoid more aches and pains tomorrow. Fingers crossed it works.