Outback Odyssey 2019 – The journey begins

Day 1 – Adelaide to Lobethal (Strava Link)

The Outback Odyssey began from the centre of the city in Adelaide. Familiar territory, particularly as I commuted along Linear Park regularly. Early morning rain had made things a bit wet, but we managed to stay dry on our ride in and meet everyone at the start for breakfast.

Ready to go!

We got underway with a police escort down to Linear Park, at which point the whole peloton of riders took to this shared path. Which was probably a bit of a shock to the early morning dog walkers, but we all survived. Morning tea was at the end of Linear Park, where we got to meet the first of the Odyssey doggos, Sky. It was also good to catch up with Nigel and hear that our tent was still standing in Lobethal, last he looked!

The view from Stone Hut

From here, the serious cycling began. It was up Stone Hut Road, something I’ve done far too many times before to be considered entirely sane. For a detailed description of this section, check out my previous post: 
http://gourmetgears.blogspot.com/2014/04/stone-hut-road-take-2.html.

Due to dallying at morning tea, I was already taking my rightful place as a back of pack. Stone Hut Road offered a chance to meet my fellow back of packers, the people who are willing to slog it out with the simple goal of finishing. Walking our bikes for some sections allowed for conversation, at least between the gasps. It also proved a welcome distraction for some, who were perhaps not aware of this first hurdle that they would face.

Leigh

It was here that Carl and I met John and Leigh. Well, I met Leigh first as he was walking up the hill and none too impressed to be in that position. I kept him company on the walk, providing all my local knowledge about how much further we had to go. I’m not entirely sure whether that was a good or bad thing! We’d catch up with John and Carl, who were both able to ride a lot more than we were. But they were happy to wait, we’d ride together a bit then Leigh and I would slowly stroll our way to the next hill. It was definitely better (and probably faster) to have someone to talk to.

Happy Campers

Eventually we conquered Stone Hut Road and I still had enough energy to do a lap of the new kiddy loop at Fox Creek. Which I promptly stuffed up the minute I needed to turn right! But it was fun and I didn’t come off, so all was well in the world.

From there it was mostly a downhill cruise into Lobethal, our home for the night. Our tent, no. 27, was still standing which meant we could lay down and rest. Although we did manage a short walk up the hill to visit Captain Bob and Jill for coffee, which was greatly appreciated.

Dinner was good and we met more friends, some of whom raced bikes so there was much bike talk at the table! However, we’d need to be up early tomorrow, so we headed to bed and slept soundly.

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Day 2 – Lobethal to Tanunda (Strava Link)

Morning rolling

True to our usual form, Carl and I were almost the last ones out of camp. We’re really not morning people, so the first couple of days of getting up early is challenging. But the early parts of this ride were not. They were glorious! Gravel roads through the Adelaide hills in the loveliest weather you could ask for. The morning was shaping up to be amazing!

However, I had apparently irritated the goddess of all things bike mechanical and her offsider the puncture fairy. After flying down a road and coasting up another I went to pedal and lacked any resistance. Knowing that I really wasn’t that fit, I realised my chain had come off. An easy fix, and I was soon off again. But it wasn’t to be the last of my trouble.

Ralphy! (and Chris)

Morning tea next to Mount Crawford Forest was pleasant and I got a proper introduction to another of the Odyssey Doggos – Ralphy. Marshal Chris, who I remembered from previous adventures as being exceedingly good company, was riding the Odyssey on an e-cargo bike with Ralphy safely snuggled into the cargo bay. If you think dogs enjoy sticking their heads out of car windows, just imagine how awesome it was for Ralphy, having the whole world open to him!

After a bit of sustenance, we got going again. But it wasn’t long before I heard a familiar hissing sound. Knowing I had sealant in the tube, I tried to keep going, but a short time later I was facing a flat. This early in the journey many of the marshals were eager to be of assistance, and so half an hour later, with the assistance of three marshals, we were on the road again. As it turns out, the tire liner had sliced the tube and left an epic amount of sealant in the tyre. Not really where it was meant to be.

View from Steingarten Road

With this delay, the sag wagon was on our tail, so Carl and I motored along, catching a few other back of packers as we went. After some pleasant cruising, we were soon facing the challenge of the day – Steingarten Road. We had been warned of the steep, gravelly descent, which made me nervous. Thankfully it was nowhere near as bad as I thought, with only one corner looking sketchy enough for me to get off and walk (a right hand one of course!).

Liebich

With Steingarten Road conquered we were now ready to fill our bellies at lunch, which was at Liebich Winery and provided by the Barossa Food Company. My family has a long standing relationship with Liebichs, my Dad loves their port and they provided the wine at one of my sisters weddings, so it was wonderful to catch up and chat with them on my way through. Lunch was amazing, the soup in particular. It was potato and leek, which I normally can’t stand but this one had so much flavour that I went back for seconds!

There was an option of a short cut straight into Tanunda after lunch, however Carl and I decided to stick to the Mawson. Which resulted in a lot of cursing. It was this section where I started to develop a theory on where the Mawson goes. If it’s uphill and the most indirect method of getting where you’re going, then the Mawson will go there. This philosophy held true for pretty much the rest of the Mawson Trail!

Mr Carl at Chateau Tanunda

Eventually we made it into Tanunda, taking the most scenic and uphill route possible. We were staying at Chateau Tanunda, which Carl and I had fond memories of from racing CX there a while back. Tonight would be a black tie affair, which meant I let my hair down! The food was again amazing, provided again by the Barossa Food Company. The company was also excellent, with Marshall Chris providing many entertaining stories, as well as meeting Kathy, a retired biology associate professor from Flinders University.  Having gone to Flinders it turned out we knew many of the same people! Adelaide is such a small town some times. With full stomachs and cheerful goodbyes, Carl and I headed off to rest and prepare for tomorrow.

Black Tie Affair

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Day 3 – Tanunda to Riverton (Strava Link)

Cruisy morning riding

We weren’t getting any better with the early starts, but thankfully this day started easy, with a cruise up to Nuriootpa along the bike path. Well, it would have been easy except Carl got a bit of a flat, which made the marshals laugh as they rode past. Not that it was difficult to fix, a bit of air and we were good to go again.

Look at those pincers!

Kapunda provided the morning tea rest stop and a large ant, which decided to take up residence on my arm. Glad he didn’t stay long! After morning tea we made our way out of Kapunda and watched as Marshal Pete took a wrong turn. I chased after him a bit and yelled, but he didn’t hear me and kept going. He turned up later so it was all good!

Three arches (almost)

On our way out of Kapunda we checked out the three arch stone bridge that had been mentioned in the briefing the night before. Excellent example of engineering and stonework. But the road ahead called so onwards we rode.

Not for long. Flying down a downhill I felt my back tyre decide to deflate. Thankfully I kept it upright and rolled to a stop halfway up the next hill. I walked to the top and Carl and I proceeded to fix it, changing the tube this time. Luckily for us, the mobile mechanic Lyndsey was on his way past to help someone else and saw us. A flat’s a lot easier to fix when you have a track pump handy.

Kathy pondering the view

So once again we were on our way, with a combination of rolling up and downhills, some very off road uphills and some gravel uphills. We eventually reached a point on Range Road where we were crossing the Light Range. The view was expansive, but very empty of vegetation, something which made Kathy and I both a little sad.

From there it was onwards (and upwards) to lunch. A short section through the Pines Recreation Reserve cheered me up from my earlier sadness, as it was filled with River Red gums and other native vegetation. Lunch was provided by the Barossa Food Company again, and try as I might I could not get their soup recipe from them!

I’m sure I remembered our briefing the night before said that it was all downhill from lunch, but I should know better than to believe that. Up and up we went, on some reasonably challenging trails, before heading back out onto gravel roads. It was here that I fell in love with a road, Farrow Road to be precise. Straight, not corrugated and downhill, gentle pedalling saw us hitting 30 km/hr with ease!

Rolling right along!

From there we made our way, mostly downhill, into Riverton, where we would be staying the night. Dinner with superb table service was provided by the students of Riverton High School. The night ended with an astronomy lesson from Marshal Gerry, and I got to learn about the Southern Cross and Scorpio. I would have loved to stay longer, but it was freezing and we had a long day (more than we realised) ahead of us tomorrow.

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Day 4 – Riverton to Burra (Strava Link)

We had been warned, the wind was coming. Get out early if you can. We didn’t do too bad, leaving camp about 8 am, but the wind picked up and we were facing an 80 km plus day with a 40 km/hr head wind.

The Riesling Trail

We opted for the Mawson, rather than taking the Rattler Rail trail. It may have actually been the easier option, for while the Rattler had a gentler gradient, we were occasionally offered shelter from the wind as we climbed. But it was still hard and about to get harder as the Mawson dumped us onto the Riesling Trail near Claire.

Now those of you who have ridden this are probably wondering what on earth I’m talking about. The Riesling Trail is a reasonably gentle trail that offers you the opportunity to side track into wineries. But there was no gentleness in it this day. Head winds and cross winds took all of our concentration as we struggled to stay upright and move forward. Some riders opted to walk, for fear they would be blown off some of the more open sections of the trail.

BMCR poster boy

But all good things must come to an end and we eventually made it to morning tea. While the wind was still blowing, the trail from here on out was a bit more sheltered and so it was we found ourselves rolling into Clare. Both the temperature and the wind felt like they had dropped and soon we found the odd wet splodge falling from the skies. Opting to stop and put our rain jackets on proved to be a good idea. Not five minutes later, the splodges turned into a torrent, and soon we were wet, dripping messes.

John and Leigh were not quite as prepared and we passed them sheltering under some trees to try and stay out of the rain. There was still a bit of a headwind, at least until we turned right at which point in time we started flying! We may have been cold and wet, but for the first time that day we had the wind at our backs!

Yay Hayshed!

Thankfully we were soon at lunch, which was in a giant hay shed. With two sides open to the elements, it wasn’t exactly warm, but at least we were no longer getting wet. John and Leigh eventually made it, looking a bit worse for wear. Thankfully one of the volunteers had a quilt which we wrapped around Leigh to help him warm up. There were a few others wrapped in jackets and blankets as well, it had turned cold pretty quickly and a number of people were caught out by this.

Carl and I decided the best way to keep warm was to keep moving. So we got ready to go, at which point it promptly rained again. We wisely waited for the shower to finish before setting off to tackle the Camels Hump and the road to Burra.

That was actually the last we would see of the rain, but thankfully we still had the wind at our backs. And what a wind it was! As I was climbing the Camel’s Hump a gust caught me, pushing me along. My speed went up by about 2 km/hr, which given how slow I was climbing was almost a 50% increase!

Trying to stand upright

We made it to the top in fairly short order with the winds help, although staying at the top was slightly more difficult. Taking photos of the view became challenging as it was a struggle to stay upright. But sometimes you just have to tough it out for the shot! After successfully not losing our cameras, we pointed our bikes down the hill, and with the wind at our backs, we flew!

Do you know, if you go the same speed as the wind then it becomes silent? Flying down that hill at 40 km/hr the world became quiet as my tyres bounced over every obstacle. I’d not like to go down that descent with a crosswind, but with the wind at my back it was incredible!

Mini Mawson 1 done!

It was also pretty good to be flying along the flats at about 30 km/hr with very little effort. Slightly more effort was required when the Mawson lived up to expectations and deviated up a rocky hill before heading into town, but after the brilliant run we’d had from lunch, we didn’t really mind.

We made it in with grins on our faces, even bigger knowing that tonight we’d sleep in a real bed with solid walls around us. We’d booked into the Paxton square cottages for the next two nights that we were in Burra and I was looking forward to a warm shower and a warm bed.