Heading to the start
After a restless, and somewhat sleepless, night, we jumped out of bed ready to face the challenge ahead. Nothing more could be done to prepare, so we had to run with what we had. Forecast for the first day was crazy hot for May (27 degrees) so we were setting off in nearly full summer gear. Quite different to 2019 where we were expecting to be rained on. The ride in to the start location in Hindmarsh Square was nice and gentle, with chatter about who we might expect to see on the ride from previous rides and the things we were looking forward to in the coming weeks. In the back of my mind was the thought that the next time I would see this path the adventure will have begun. By my standards, I was feeling relatively relaxed about the trip, which is to say I was less of an emotional mess.
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Day 1 - Adelaide to Lobethal
And we're away! After a quick briefing from Russell from BikeSA, we were away under a police escort to bring us to Linear Park. As previously, this is all backyard playground stuff for V and myself, so we're familiar with it all, including the silly sting in the tail that is Stone Hut Road. Maybe due to the heat, maybe due to the poor sleep the night before, but I wasn't feeling great. Things probably weren't helped by forgetting to eat my Carman bar for breakfast that I had in my camelback. Oh well.
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| Miss V leading the way on Linear Park |
Stone Hut Road went about as expected (it hurt!), possibly a little bit worse than I would have hoped for, but that's fine, It's not a race :) I ended up walking a few sections, but I was in no way in the minority doing that!
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| Everyone was enjoying Stone Hut Road |
The Mawson Trail had been rerouted due to the 2020 fires, but we could see from our route the extent of the devastation through the forest, but also the regrowth that has happened in the months since.
We rolled into Lobethal and found our assigned deluxe camping tent, grabbed our lunch and set to work setting up our routine for getting ourselves sorted for the next day.
Our first bit of drama for the trip happened when V's Garmin didn't upload the ride data. It did this once prior to Outback Odyssey and we managed to fix it. Hopefully this is the case this time. fingers crossed.
On a positive note, I didn't short out my powerbank on the first night as I did in 2019.
Day 2 - Lobethal to Tanunda
Yay! it's my birthday! 😁🎂
Kitted up in my relatively new Blackchrome kit we rolled out and paid a quick visit to our friends Rob and Jill. After a quick chat, we said our goodbyes and promised to catch up after we returned.
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| Friendly face in Lobethal :) |
Today was kind of awesome.
Somewhat randomly I spotted a sunglasses case by the roadside which had reading glasses inside. Figuring that they didn't look like they had been there long I assumed they were from our group and took them with me. Later they found their rightful owner.
Later in the day I spotted an echidna walking on the side of the road. V and I pulled up well short so as not to spook it while we took photos. In the meanwhile it walked right up to me, before it decided that it needed to hide. So awesome!
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| Birthday Echidna |
There was a small detour in place for us due to a motocross race happening inside Mount Crawford Forest, but this was fun in it's own right as it took us on some sandy tracks which had the bikes slipping and sliding all over the place.
The undulating terrain across the ridge line was very pretty, but I think we were all hanging out for the gates at the top of the hill to indicate the top of Steingarten Road, which would also mean lunch was nearby! We enjoyed the run into the lunch stop at Liebich Wines via Steingarten Road. Fast, bumpy; all the good things. We were served up some delicious vegetable soup and a ham roll, plus a whole heap of grapes laid out.
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| View from the top of Steingarten Road |
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| Lynskey and Maretta enjoying the view |
We did the final loop around the back of Tanunda before rolling into our overnight venue, Chateau Tanunda. A Black Tie/Fancy dress dinner was held, no doubt in honour of my birthday ;)
Day 3 - Tanunda to Riverton
As with last time, we had included a section of todays trail into our training. As a result, we were reasonably familiar with the trail from Tanunda to Kapunda. Unlike our training ride, there was no rain to spoil our fun today, though it was a bit on the cool side initially.
Lunch was provided by the same catering company as yesterday, so we were treated to a nice pumpkin soup and a baked potato loaded up with all the good things while sitting by the roadside.
We arrived into Riverton to wet roads, and people in camp asking if we'd been hit by the rain. Nope! sometimes riding a bit slower has its advantages.
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| Dark clouds followed us into Riverton |
Day 4 - Riverton to Burra
This was the day where things started to became unravelled in 2019. All eyes and ears were open for any and all weather forecasts. While there was a threat of rain, it seemed unlikely, so we all had our fingers crossed.
The wind direction was certainly favourable for us, right in our back for the run along the Riesling Trail. In 2019 we struggled so badly along here that we suggested that we never ride it again. This time, we really enjoyed it.
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| Much nicer day on the Riesling trail |
Of course, having a favourable breeze for the Riesling trail mean that the
final stretch up and over the Camel's Hump was a little more difficult. That said, riding up to the top of
the Camel's Hump wasn't too bad and was no where near as breezy as 2019 where
we felt like we were going to be blown off the top of the hill!
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| View from the top of the Camel's Hump |
On arrival into Burra we headed over to our cottage accommodation. Solid walls, heaters - all the modern conveniences. Even better, the washing machine was working this time! So after dinner we took care of our washing and breathed a massive sigh of relief.
Dinner was a spicy pumpkin soup (maybe too spicy for me), lasagne and sticky date pudding.
Day 5 - Burra - Rest Day
A bit of a sleep in for us today, before wandering up from our cottage to the oval to grab a bite to eat. Unfortunately they had run out of bacon when we got there, but we certainly didn't go hungry, with a plateful of eggs, sausages, mushrooms and beans on offer. Discussion around the wisdom of eating beans prior to resuming sleeping in a tent is left as an exercise for the reader.
A few adjustments were made to the bike to hopefully stop the chain dropping
off the front chainring, then a quick rest ride around Burra, which also
served as a chance to find food places for later in the day.
The bikes were given a quick once over to have the prepared and ready for the day ahead tomorrow.
With the washing done, much of the day was spent just relaxing and doing the odd jobs that needed to be done in preparation for tomorrow. This is how we had planned things in 2019, but they never quite worked out that way!
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| Nice place to spend a couple of nights |
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