Outback Odyssey - Mini Mawson 2 - Day 4 - Laura to Melrose

Final day of riding, so despite all my aches and pains I felt that I was confident of getting through this like all the previous days.. slow and steady. Even with this being a shorter day of 57km I was probably already coming to the realisation that my goal would be simply to finish and that doing any of the awesome trails at Melrose would be taking things a bit too far.. as it turned out, even finishing todays ride was going to test me  

Saying good bye to Laura we headed along a section of the Mawson trail that runs parallel to the highway. I've passed this section plenty of times in the car, so it was a real treat to be able to roll along here. We resisted the temptation to deviate from the trail and head to Stone Hut Bakery (best pies in the universe!) and headed into Wirrabarra Forest. The trails through Wirrabara were both a highlight, and a frustration. While todays ride was relatively short, it was basically undulating all day. So i was experiencing some of the most incredible trails, while at the same time feeling my knee rapidly deteriorate. I adjusted the saddle height up a few times during the course of the day, but eventually, at about the half way point my knee started telling me enough with some unpleasant stabbing pains  

Mt Remarkable in the distance

A group of ride marshals came over to assist, as well as the sag wagon. I sat for a bit, we made a few more adjustments to the saddle, i put on an adhesive ice patch and took some voltaren. I also unloaded my heavy bag into the sag wagon to lessen the load. Then.. tried to limp to lunch. Having come so far, i think stubbornness may have been overriding intelligent decision making. Exiting the forest, I could see Mt Remarkable in the distance.. our destination! so i pushed on with the marshals and Miss V supporting me along the way.. and the sag wagon stalking me  I finally made it to the lunch stop after a long smooth downhill run. Less than 20km to go!

   

nice downhill run

Two of my saviours for the day

 
I stuffed the lunch roll into my gob and was waiting for Miss V to finish hers. All the while I could feel my knee stiffening up. So i made the decision to go ahead, knowing that V would catch me up the road. I figured as long as I could keep moving, I'd be ok. I passed a few people on this stretch, which made me feel better mentally, but at the same time I was pondering if I was doing damage to the knee at the same time. That said, while it felt ok, I was moving ahead. 

Home stretch into Melrose!!

With about 10km to go Miss V caught me on one of the long downhill stretches with a massive grin. She'd chased for around 10km and finally caught me! nice riding  for the final 10 km we rode fairly steadily together, just making sure I could get to the end. There was enormous relief once we started riding familiar roads just outside of Melrose, with the final two to three kilometres filled with a mix of elation and relief. Super fast road descent into Melrose and into the camping ground completing our journey. 


Getting off the bike i was starting to appreciate the extent of my knee issues as i was having difficulty bending it due to the inflammation.  I hobbled around and helped Miss V set up the tent, and then sadly watched her ride off to have a play on the Melrose trails. I think one of the biggest disappointments of the entire trip was not being able to join here on even one loop of her favourite Weaving Camels trail loop  

Strava Data - Day 4

Melrose turned out a delicious roast lamb and beef dinner with apple crumble for dessert. With no more riding to do, I made sure to (repeatedly) "sample" the excellent wines from the nearby Bartagunyah winery  

We said a few goodbyes to the people we're ridden with that night, and then in morning after breakfast we packed up our stuff and headed back to Burra. Amusingly (for us), the weather was terrible before we got there, sensational while we were there, and is forecast to rain for the rest of the time people are riding.. we must be good luck  

Having done this event once, sitting at home struggling to walk due to the knee inflammation, the question is whether i'd do it again? I think I would. I'd definitely do some things differently though. For one i think i'd avoid the large beam rack bag and settle for whatever I can carry in a camelbak. Probably more significantly, I think i'd look at getting a XC 29er bike to use for it, rather than my All Mountain 26" bike. 



  

Outback Odyssey - Mini Mawson 2 - Day 3 - Spalding to Laura

Another long day to look forward to, which had me extremely concerned because my knee wasn't getting any better. Once again, loaded up with Voltaren and hope that I wouldn't finish in the sag wagon.

Long trail out into the distance

After packing up our gear we headed out, initially on the highway until we reached a turn off to continue our journey along the Bundaleer channels. Once again, this was a really nice section with nice gentle gradients and nice farmland surrounding us. As well as the channel itself, we saw yet more old school engineering with a massive aquaduct about 50 metres above our heads which was connected to the channels. 

Once again, Miss V and I took a road option that was presented to us where it was know that some local farmers had ploughed the trail and planted crops. We made pretty good time along here, with me on the front, despite my painful knee, tapping out a tempo until reaching our morning tea stop. Ahead of us, was the steepest climb of the day, and possibly our entire trip, heading up to the top of the Never-Never Range. Looking back from where we came we were treated to some awesome scenery and also a view of other riders still struggling up the climb. 




From the top of the Range we dropped down towards the Bundaleer Forest. After lifting the stupidly heavy bike over the gate we were treated to some beautiful scenery as the trail twisted and turned through the forest. Apparently it's fairly easy to get lost in the Bundaleer forest, but fortunately the group we were with managed to find our way through without too much drama.

Exiting the forest we had a mostly downhill run into the very pretty township of Laura. Once again, I was struggling with knee issues, with both knees now feeling the pressure. In my head i figured I had one more day to get through, and I'd be good to go home. We rolled into Laura after being out for about 7 1/2 hours, covering 80km. We set up in the local caravan park, showered up and waited for dinner. 

For dinner the local community put on a big spread of food, which included pumpkin soup, Chicken Casserole with dumplings, apricot chicken, satay chicken and curry chicken. With Laura being the home of Golden North Ice Cream, there's no prizes for guessing what was for dessert! 

Strava Data - Day 3

Miss V climbing up the Never Never Range

Me! Happy, but in pain

Ruins of Manatoo School

Nearing our destination

Outback Odyssey - Mini Mawson 2 - Day 2 - Hallett to Spalding

A nice short day for us today, with only around 45 km to cover. Forecast was for a nice day out on the bike with no rain. Though the locals did remind us that the area is known for it's wind farms..  

The Taj Mahal in the morning mist

Trail heading off into the distance

With a short day, we were able to have a later breakfast, and a slightly more relaxed morning. We awoke to find the entire oval shrouded in fog which gave a fairly eerie feel to the place. Thinking about the day previous, I adjusted my saddle up a bit, put some Voltaren gel on my knee and took a Voltaren tablet. The logic being that if i could get through this day, there was a nice half day rest waiting for us. Tent and gear packed up, and we were on our way into the fog, with dark clouds looming. Fortunately, as predicted we had no rain and we had a cracker of a day out on the trail. 

Wind Turbine outside of Hallett

First highlight of the day was around 25km outside of Hallett. An awesome climb, to a summit where we were within (say) 50m of a wind turbine. I know they're fairly controversial in some quarters, but I can't help but admire the simple elegance in their design. After stopping for a while at the summit we had a sensational downhill run. Even on this downhill my knee was starting to feel the pressure which was even more of a concern.

Miss V next to the Spalding Channel

A sharp turn and we were onto our second highlight of the day, the Spalding channels. At the time, these channels were considered state of the art engineering, and were used to collect rainfall runoff and direct it into the Bundaleer Reservoir. There is an access road which runs along side of these channels which forms part of the Mawson trail, which is what we were to ride along. Apparently this stretch is well known for inciting hatred in the puncture fairies with an abundance of caltrop present, but fortunately they took pity on us and left us alone! 

Arriving in Spalding, we were treated to a baked potato for lunch at the pub, before heading up to the local school oval to set up our tent. A little bit of bike maintenance for good measure before sitting in the tent resting with a few cups of tea. On arriving I found that the leg warmers that I had chosen for the day had literally started rubbing my skin away where the gripper tape was. Yet another annoyance that i could do without!




Once again, the local community treated us to a sensational dinner, consisting of pumpkin soup, roast pork, roast chicken, roast beef and apple crumble for dessert. 

Sunset in Spalding

Strava Data - Day 2

Outback Odyssey - Mini Mawson 2 - Day 1 - Burra to Hallett

Pitchy and Contessa ready to roll

Up early (for us!) only to find that many of our fellow riders had already packed up and headed out! After having some breakfast we packed up our gear, put out name plates on the bikes and readied ourselves to head into the unknown. Rolling out, we (i think wisely) decided to avoid the muddy stretch and rode out along the highway. Along the way we rode past the ruin that is featured on Midnight Oil's Diesel and Dust Album cover. After about 20km of riding on the highway we turned off onto the first of many unsealed roads. A further 5km and we had reached our morning tea destination at Mokota Conservation Area, a natural grassland environment. Things that had become apparent by now was that Pitchy was even more heavy and ungainly with a massive bag attached, and that this was going to be fairly slow going overall. 

See the trail down there.. guess where we're heading :)

A couple of minor bike adjustments by the support crew and we were off again. Nice fast downhill to get us back into the swing of things. There were a few undulations before short climb, where we stopped to take in the view. A couple of photos and we were off again, cruising into the valley in preparation for our big climb of the day up to the summit of Dares Hill. A fairly long climb to the summit of 16 km, including a stop for lunch by the roadside, and we continued on our way. By this point, the tiredness in the legs was starting to set in, but at the same time, the excitement was still overflowing. The countryside around there is stunning, and it felt like no time before we hit the summit. Stop for a few photos, and we were off downhill again. The trail deviates off the road for a bit heading along trails which could almost be described as single track. Short climb of a couple of kilometres and we arrive at our afternoon tea stop, located at the restored birthplace of Sir Hubert Wilkins. A nice chance for some sightseeing, a sit down and to take on some snacks and fluids before heading back out on the road. 

Ominous looking skies... clearing

With nearly 20km to go, not only were my legs starting to feel it, but worryingly my knees starting feeling less than ideal. Not really the kind of thing you want to feel on day one of a four day tour. The final 20km consisted of a number of short sharp uphills, followed by a equally short sharp downhill. I had to try to pace myself here because i could feel the knees getting progressively worse. 

Beautiful weather for most of this ride

Entering Hallett. This sign couldn't come soon enough.

We rolled into Hallett after nearly 8 1/2 hours on the road, covering a shade under 90km. Having found a spot on the football oval we put up our tent and tried to get a little bit of rest before dinner. Fortunately the day had minimal rain, so there wasn't much in the way of bike maintenance to do. Dinner consisted of Veggie Soup, Beef, chicken patties and sausages. The local community were awesome, and were pretty happy to have us stay there (usually the Odyssey stay at a homestead 10km out of town). They put on a raffle which Miss V won! :) lots of comments from everyone else that she should be made to ride the rest of the way with it on the bike, but she managed to talk to truck drivers to take care of it for her. 

Strava Data for Day 1

Outback Odyssey - Mini Mawson 2 - Day 0 - Preparation and Arrival

For some time Miss V and I were planning on taking part in the BikeSA Outback Odyssey. As newcomers to this style of riding, we had chosen to do only the middle section of the ride, the Mini Mawson 2. Also, both of us (me in particular) are fairly new to camping, so this was going to be an adventure in multiple ways!

During the lead up weeks we spent a lot of time going through our check lists, double, triple and quadruple checking them. Even so, we didn't plan for my camelbak to split the night before heading off, so with all of our gear loaded up in the car we headed to Ray's Outdoors for a new one. 

Our Tent, dubbed by some as the Taj Mahal

It was about a two hour drive to the start location in Burra. As we were driving we were passing through some insanely heavy rain, all the while thinking "what have we got ourselves in for? Rolling into Burra, the rain had stopped, though it was fairly breezy and cold. We received our welcome pack and wandered over onto the football ground. With a bit of a struggle, we managed to get out tent up, dubbed the Taj Mahal by some of the other campers :) (if we're going to be forced to sleep outside like homeless people, then dammit i'm gonna live like a well to do homeless person!) 


That night we were welcomed by the other riders, and heard of the insanely wet and miserable conditions they have had to endure to date before being treated to an amazing local steak. During dinner we had all our ride and weather briefings for the next day, including the announcement of a permitted road detour due to extreme muddy conditions. After that, back to the tent, alarm set and off to bed in preparation for a big day on the bike tomorrow.