Bike SA Annual Tour - Day 7

Kingscote to Penneshaw - 26th October 2013

Our last day of the tour! 60 km to cover to get to Penneshaw and hop on the ferry.

Overnight the temperature seemed to plummet and leave us freezing in our tent bringing back memories of Outback Odyssey. Fortunately our sleeping bags were more than up to the task.

We were fairly organised this morning, getting most things sorted before breakfast. After breakfast, we pulled down the tent, signed out and we were on our way. The route for today was a fairly easy one for the most part, though we were well aware of a steep climb within the last few kilometres.

Unfortunately for Brett the day started off poorly with a puncture before leaving the camp site. Suspect Gatorskins wouldn't have punctured like that..   just sayin' is all.

For most of the day our pace was fairly relaxed. I think both Miss V and I are both feeling a bit unwell, so the aim was to get to the end and enjoy the ride. There were a few faster bits that we took advantage of and we did have a few tag onto our paceline, but we weren't really pushing the pace as we had done in previous days.

Our first and only rest stop came at the bottom of Prospect Hill. While enjoying fruit cake and tea we could look far and wide over the landscape as well as watch other riders on the road below arriving.  Some were choosing to climb to the top of Prospect Hill which I imagine would have delivered awesome views, but both Miss V and I were happy enough enjoying the view from a more sensible height (plus the thought of climbing that many stairs didn't exactly thrill us).

View from the base of Prospect Hill

Looking up towards Prospect Hill,
Miss V looking to take photos

My loyal steed Black Betty who got me through the tour.

Eventually, we departed our morning tea stop to take on the final leg of our adventure. Our pace was still fairly relaxed and we knew that we're be in Penneshaw with buckets of time to spare, so there was a pretty good feeling amongst the riders around us knowing that, barring any major catastrophe, they'd make it to the end of the tour.

We approached the final climb of the day knowing that it would probably hurt a bit. A number of people (including Miss V and Karen) sounded like they had resigned themselves to walking it.  Things were probably made worse by being able to see the road snaking up the hill before us well before we hit it. As is the norm, Miss V told me to take off and meet her at the top. I pushed a bit up there, figuring that after this effort there was no more required. I got up there fairly comfortably and set about finding a place to wait. While rolling along I got swooped twice by a magpie..  first time on this trip! I eventually found a nice shady spot sans magpies and waited for Miss V to crest the rise. I didn't have to wait that long before I saw her familiar figure pop into view. She had a bit smile on her face as she told me that she hadn't stopped..  awesome effort.

From the top of the hill it was nothing more than a couple of kilometres of rolling into Penneshaw. Almost immediately on arrival the bikes were loaded into the truck, ready for transport.

View before riding into Penneshaw

Miss V just before Penneshaw

We all said our goodbyes to the various people whose company we'd enjoyed over the last week and then went to a local cafe to wait for our ferry.  A fairly smooth ferry ride and we were back to the mainland, ready to return to normal programming.

Happy faces - the end of this cycling adventure.

And with that, the Bike SA Annual Tour is done for 2013. Being the first of these that we have done, it's difficult to compare with what has gone previously. The closest I have to compare is the Outback Odyssey Mini Mawson that we did earlier in the year. I think I enjoyed this event much more because simply because my body didn't decide to fall apart on me! 

All things considered I'd say that the event as a whole was enjoyable and very well planned and organised. Full credit to the Bike SA staff for making things run so smoothly, and a massive thank you to all the volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout. 

Congratulations to Brett and Karen, who originally suggested that we join them on this trip, for completing the journey with us. Congratulations also to the lovely Miss V for finishing the tour alongside me, and riding so strongly each and every day, even if the pace was pushing her a little.

Thanks for reading! :) 

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