Sadly, some people dump rubbish by the roadside. The council’s are doing more to clean up and I do a little by picking up bottles to prevent glass from being spread about. I just wish the minority who dump would think before they throw.
An interesting week weatherwise (OK when is it not in Tasmania?). It’s been, like, back to Winter with very cold nights and not so hot days with plenty of breeze to keep it company. No worries, riding has continued.
But before we get on to the rides – the Anura. The Anura has landed in Swan Hill, Brian has rebuilt it successfully from all the bits in the box and is enjoying the ride. Fantastic result. Happy Brian and Tony’s bank account. With only two bikes in the garage now I have the space to think about some woodwork too. Winners all round.
I wish you many happy hours on the Anura, Brian.
Generally the weekly rides followed much the usual pattern with routes around the Norfolk Plains. I was able to log over 100 ks for the week – weekly challenge met. The weeks to ECY (End Cycling Year) are drawing in though with only 9 left, so a few more 100+ weeks are needed to reach 5,200 kilometers for the year.
Wednesday – Coffeeneuring – A Ride to Hazelbrae
Hazelbrae is a hazelnut farm over Westbury way. The route I planned, using Ride with GPS, reckoned it was 63k there and back; so I would ride some new roads, try a 60k ride on Magnum and tackle Coffeeneuring Ride #3 all in one go.
Well, that all happened but, as you can see, the ride turned out longer than planned; in fact 75.5 k is now my record on the Magnum and equals the longest ride I did on the Vivente. Oh dear, to test how far I can go in a day I have to contemplate 80k as the next target. Where will it end !
The ride to Bishopsbourne went as per normal and then I headed towards Bracknell until reaching Pitts Lane – when I turned down there. I planned to stop for a short rest at the creek. Just before the said creek I changed down to the small ring on front and the chain missed and came off. Ideal spot for a spot of mechanic-ing and a swig of water.
Deftly wielding tissue covered fingers, I managed to get the chain back on with a minimum of grease on me. Looking up after the task I saw quite a crowd had gathered in the next paddock.
The young steers obviously wanted to know how to re-install a chain, so they watched in total silence as they concentrated on the process.
Soon Magnum and I had reached the right turn and were on our way up Oak’s Road heading for the left turn to Whitemore. Oak’s Road is straight and fast but today I didn’t act as the usual mobile chicane for the traffic. Amazing how there are only a few vehicles in either direction at a time but they normally get to pass each other right where I am cycling. But today was a good day.
Down south the weather forecast is snow to 800 metres. The hawthorn looked like snow here. It felt cold enough too. The temp was chilly 4°C when I left home and it wasn’t feeling much warmer now – a really cold wind was blowing. Out of the wind the sun was strong, feeling like the ozone layer has buggered off again.
(FYI: I am trying to protect my skin a bit more as there is a lot of sun damage on it. I once had ginger hair and so have fair skin to match. I thought the hole in the ozone layer came over Tassie in Spring but I checked with Mr Wikipedia. It says “Tasmania’s clear skies and lack of humidity contribute to that harsh, stinging feeling on the skin. It is not UV radiation you can feel.”. So now I know.)
Today I tried out an extended brim on the cycling helmet – a Da Brim product and it provided shade and the yellow “Bill” didn’t blow away. So far so good.
Turning off Oaks Road I started along the roads less travelled (by me). All went well until finding a road closure.
Hazelbrae is just up there! Oh well, better take the Detour – but which one? Right – Left – Right – um ….. don’t check the map ‘cos I’m a bloke ….. OK, let’s go Right. Turned out that was the wrong decision and led to quite a ride but I did find Hazelwood Lane which was quiet and rural and a nice potter up to the Meander Valley Highway. The Highway section wasn’t so nice being busy with fast traffic and no hard shoulder at all. Soon though I was able to ride into the top end of Hagley Station Road and stop to regain breathe after racing cars to the crests of hills so they could see approaching traffic and pass me safely.
The steeple is Hagley church. I think it is one of those listed to sell off so the Anglican church can pay restitution to the victims of child abuse. The decision to sell churches is causing a ruckus. It’s not just the church – what happens to the associated cemeteries? The above landscape has that UK feel so enjoyed by visitors. The smoke on the right is a bit of pre fire-season burnoff – not normally associated with the landscape in the UK.
Not far now, I soon turned into the entry to Hazelbrae and cycled up past the nut trees.
And found a snug parking spot with a view for Magnum to look at while waiting for me.
After coffee and cake and before riding back (Coffeeneuring shot),
I checked the map in the phone and took the shorter detour route that was indicated by the Left arrow at the original point of detour. Lesson learnt.
All up a 75 k ride. Longer than any of my trike rides to date. For the last 5 ks the legs were tired and the achilles sore for some reason. No other problems noted until I walked in different shoes. It felt like there were stones in them under the ball of the foot. Bruises / Blisters?! That’s something to be managed.
Saturday – a ride to Evandale with Colin and the Warrior
Another 40k ride on Saturday. We rode a loop out to Evandale, sheltered under a tree in the park until the rain stopped, then went back via the road past the Airport then Perth – getting soaked in more rain just before Perth. And then again just after Perth. During this ride the Magnum odometer decided to reset itself just like it did when mounted on Brompton back on the mainland. Luckily I could track distance travelled using the “Ride with GPS” tracking on the phone.
Oh – and the gusty winds blew Da Brim Bill off the velcro strap – perhaps it is not suitable for a Tasmanian Spring after all.
Total for week : 166 k Total for year : 4,307 k
Brompton : 31 k Magnum : 135 k
Tony's Tasmanian Cycling Blog 