Here is another picture taken at the Longford jetty – this time looking down the South Esk river. Another sunny but cold day.
But I went to Deloraine anyway.
The mitts I found at the back of a drawer. Bought in the early 1970s in Wales they came to Australia with us and have been worn bushwalking in the late 1970’s in NSW. Now they have a new purpose. The hand warmers fit nicely into the end of the mitt and do not interfere with cycling the Brompton. My hands stayed nicely warm for Friday’s 20k ride in frosty conditions. Great.
Saturday – a ride alongside the Tamar River.
We set off from Legana situated on the Tamar River after parking in the shopping centre car park. On the West Tamar Highway we dashed down a good hill to the right turn at the bottom which joins with Rosevears Drive. This part of the ride is a Launceston cycling favourite. Local riders cycle out from Lonnie and ride to the “Fish and Chip shop”. The issue for new riders like me is that the F&C shop closed ages ago so it took me a while to realise where the Rosevears ride ends!! Opposite a small shop with a “Closed” sign.
Anyway, we cycled along enjoying the road with a 50kph speed limit, driven by people expecting cyclists to be out on a weekend. It was rather pleasant and the drivers were very careful.
At the end of Rosevears Drive it was necessary to re-join the West Tamar Highway for about 500 meters. A 60kph stretch but narrow, windy, no hard shoulder filled with vehicles just pulled back from 100kph. Not a nice bit to ride.
Then we turned right again onto another quiet road running by the river. The descent to the river through Blackwall was long and fast and worrying because we knew we would have to climb back up it on the way back!
The route took us through Gravelly Beach after which we turned right again onto Paper Beach Road. Flat, quiet and good cycling but the question was – would the Cafe be open? It was !!
After lunch we spotted a couple checking the trikes over. They knew a bit about them and he had ridden a Velotechnik some time ago. A lengthy conversation ensued.
The ride back was equally as nice as the ride there. The large hill was climbed in bottom gear and at one stage a lady with a dog overtook us!! Never mind, we left her for dead once the hill was subdued.
Sunday – another downhill rush to Swansea.
Sue and I are spending the next week visiting friends in the south of the state. We did a similar road trip in early 2018 and I did this downhill cycle on the Brompton – and encountered difficulties cycling one-handed at speed.
The story is here : https://tonyscycling.blog/2018/03/09/downhill-on-lake-leake-road/
On Sunday though I was on the Magnum.
Ahead was 15 kilometers of descent. A small amount of uphill taken at 25+kph, lots of pedalling at 30-35kph and quite a bit of 40-50+ kph good downhill maxing out at almost 56kph.
Sometimes the new chip seal surfacing gave me triple-vision. Wow – Wilmore’s Road only gives double-vision!
The road was in dappled shade and sometimes damp but never icy. Thank Goodness. It was quite a buzz.
Next week I suspect will be quiet cycling-wise. I will not meet by June challenge but I hope to be half way along my 2019 target by the 30th June.
Tony's Tasmanian Cycling Blog 