Day 2 Northam to Merredin 160 kms

I was lying quietly in bed this morning thinking how lovely it was to just lie there, nice and warm, for a few more minutes, when I think I hear someone fiddling with the outside of the truck. The next thing I know the zipper has gone up and I have a torch being shone in my eyes. Whoever it was probably got a bigger fright than us as he shot off like a scared rabbit. I was definitely awake now and desperate to know who the intruder had been. We found it quite funny but I can imagine just how embarrassed the person must be feeling.
The temperature was hanging around 5 degrees but didn't feel too bad once I got dressed into the thermals and jeans. Next job was to find out who entered my bedroom (discreetly) so I walked into the camp kitchen and asked quite loudly "Alright, who was it?" Poor Paul owned up very quickly and he was looking for his jacket that he had left in the back of the truck yesterday. The jacket had spent the night out in the weather so was a little damp.
Kirsten was just about to leave when she discovered 2 flat tyres. We thought they must have been tampered with overnight so we pumped them up and away she went. Apparently she only got as far as the turnoff before they were both down again so they had to be changed. This put her and Mark way back in the group but they are pretty strong riders and soon caught up alot of ground making morning tea with time to spare. They were a bit scared we wouldn't wait for them and we quickly reassured them that we would always go back and look for them if they are overly late.
They all took off in thick fog this morning so had to take extra care on the road. As the sun broke through a huge number of great big spider webs were exposed in the trees all along the road. It was an eerie sight but quite beautiful. I hope someone took some photos of it so I can put it on the blog. Once the fog lifted it was a clear blue sky until around lunchtime when the cloud came over, it got chilly again but no rain. The day ended with clear skies once again.
We started following the water pipe today and at times there were 2 running together. This is the first time we have noticed 2 pipes together and assume it may be due to the increasing population and the demands for water out this way. Amazing the number of repairs on the pipes and it must be a continuous job.
Paul did his personal best today, having ridden only 120 kms before today. He has done very well and Richard rode with him to make sure he was OK. Paul, Richard, Jim and Woody have decided to take a cabin tonight but the rest of us will be camping. At the briefing I informed everyone that it was predicted to be 2 degrees at 6am so it would be best if they remained in bed until at least 8am when they say it should be around 8 degrees. I don't think this will happen but I can only try.