Penneshaw to American River - 20th October 2013
The day started with the alarm going off at the ungodly hour of 6:15am. resisting the temptation to sleep in we got ourselves organised and ready to ride. As a side note, I really appreciated the sleep that I got compared to Outback Odyssey where significant effort was spent trying to stop heat escaping the sleeping bag.
Rolling out, we noted that Karen and Brett's tent was the last standing. Apparently they copped a little bit of a hurry up about that, and so they vowed not to be last out again :-)
The ride started on a fairly intense note, climbing the same hill we rode yesterday up to the winery. Sadly, this time there was no stopping to sample a drop. We continued along the road which seemed to get more potholed as we travelled. The CX bikes handled this pretty well and we were frequently flying past people on route. The scenery was very pretty along the way, which tended to make you forget the hammering the body was taking.
This segment ended as we reached the lighthouse at Cape Willoughby. It was a really impressive sight as we travelled the road to the lighthouse, framed by ocean views on each side of approach road. Stopping at the lighthouse we had our morning tea and had a poke about the surrounds of the lighthouse.
Suitably fed and watered with tea and fruitcake we got back on the bikes and headed back the way we came, turning onto Willson River road, which later becomes East West road. Some of this road I really enjoyed on the CX bike, and I think I could see that my bike handling skills have improved a lot as a result of racing CX. That said, this stretch of road was generally pretty awful with sand, potholes and deep corrugations to contend with. The body really was taking a battering over this section, as was the bike.
Eventually I pushed the bike a bit too hard over some ruts and got a pinch flat probably less than 5 kilometres from the lunch stop :-( Turns out this is my first ever flat in any of the organised events I've taken part in so I guess my luck just ran out.
With a quick tube change we were on our way again, reaching our lunch spot we sat and enjoyed our ham and salad rolls while trying to recover from the beating that we had just received. After licking our wounds we headed back onto the (thankfully) sealed road heading towards American River. We could feel the wind picking up as we approached our destination.
Our camp site at American River was a thin strip of land next to the football oval, meaning that real estate was at a premium. Miss V and I found a nice patch of space and put up the Taj. Not too long after we were completely surrounded. Having a bigger tent sometimes has its disadvantages, in this case it meant that we couldn't just slot ourselves in to one of the many small spaces, but rather had to find somewhere much further out from the food hall and other facilities. No matter, we still had a delicious dinner at The Shed, home of the local sports and community club.
Dinner consisted of potato soup, a massive serve of lasagne with chips and three different salads and fruit salad and ice cream for dessert. I also discovered the delicious Somersby cider.. very tasty.
This segment ended as we reached the lighthouse at Cape Willoughby. It was a really impressive sight as we travelled the road to the lighthouse, framed by ocean views on each side of approach road. Stopping at the lighthouse we had our morning tea and had a poke about the surrounds of the lighthouse.
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| Miss V checking out the ocean views at Cape Willoughby |
Suitably fed and watered with tea and fruitcake we got back on the bikes and headed back the way we came, turning onto Willson River road, which later becomes East West road. Some of this road I really enjoyed on the CX bike, and I think I could see that my bike handling skills have improved a lot as a result of racing CX. That said, this stretch of road was generally pretty awful with sand, potholes and deep corrugations to contend with. The body really was taking a battering over this section, as was the bike.
Eventually I pushed the bike a bit too hard over some ruts and got a pinch flat probably less than 5 kilometres from the lunch stop :-( Turns out this is my first ever flat in any of the organised events I've taken part in so I guess my luck just ran out.
With a quick tube change we were on our way again, reaching our lunch spot we sat and enjoyed our ham and salad rolls while trying to recover from the beating that we had just received. After licking our wounds we headed back onto the (thankfully) sealed road heading towards American River. We could feel the wind picking up as we approached our destination.
 |
| Miss V on the East West Road |
Our camp site at American River was a thin strip of land next to the football oval, meaning that real estate was at a premium. Miss V and I found a nice patch of space and put up the Taj. Not too long after we were completely surrounded. Having a bigger tent sometimes has its disadvantages, in this case it meant that we couldn't just slot ourselves in to one of the many small spaces, but rather had to find somewhere much further out from the food hall and other facilities. No matter, we still had a delicious dinner at The Shed, home of the local sports and community club.
Dinner consisted of potato soup, a massive serve of lasagne with chips and three different salads and fruit salad and ice cream for dessert. I also discovered the delicious Somersby cider.. very tasty.
Weather forecast for tomorrow didn't sound too promising, with a 100% chance of rain, 10-15mm expected. While we had planned to do the unsealed road rides where possible, we were considering doing the sealed road option to save the bikes from getting too grubby this early on in the trip. To be decided tomorrow!
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