Day 86, the risk doesn't pay off!

Day 86, September 30th, 60km and 540m climb and 30km in the back of a ute, Diagnus Well to Jeffrey City

Wow, what a day! Overnight it bucketed down and we were dead smack in the middle of a massive thunderstorm at 2am. The tent withstood it all and we emerged dry into overcast skies. The first 5km of riding was really good and then we hit the first of the mud which literally stopped us in our tracks. We got through that and had mixed riding and pushing for the next 25km to the Bison Oil Field. Here we took 2 hours to push the bikes 2km up a hill. 

At this point we had two options, either put the tent up and try it all again tomorrow (more rain was coming so we would have another day of minimal progress) or try and escape by hitching a ride. We were a bit dubious about this as not a single car had passed us in 5 hours. The God's were on our side though as Dale from the oil field was about to head home after his daily checks and was happy to load us in the back of his ute and take us out to the nearest sealed road. He dropped us at an intersection and we scarpered a further 30km into Jeffrey City which consists of a pub, a motel and a church that caters for cyclists. After a feed at the pub we have had a hot shower and are tucked into bed in the basement of the church trying to figure out what to do tomorrow. 

So. The Divide Basin chewed us up and spat us out. We're really pleased we gave it a go though as we would have regretted not trying. It is a stunning place, huge landscapes, Antelope and horses roaming free and in the dry would have been a lovely ride.