Training Log Archive: YakIn the 1 days ending Oct 2, 2020:
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Friday Oct 2, 2020 #
mt bike 5:04:00 [3] 77.0 km (3:57 / km) +632m 3:48 / km
Owen to Clare
Planned 8.30am departure came & went with no sign of the other two! Had they gone for a walk / died in their beds / ? They eventually staggered out after 9, having not set an alarm & been fooled by total darkness in their room, so we left at 10am. We meandered the 25kms into Balaklava ignoring the bitumen road & made a bee line for “Wendys” the recommended café/ coffee shop for an early lunch. I had arranged to meet with Glenda Shepherd (nee Traeger), an old friend from teachers college days & she & husband Dave came and met us there. Amazingly I also ran into 2 members of the “Uncool cycling club” at the café – Elaine Davies was working in the area, whilst Peter Werner was heading home to Whyalla.
After a long stop we headed off from Balak to Halbury on the Shamus Liptrot rail trail, named after a local junior cyclist who was severely injured in a track accident in Tasmania & subsequently died. Sadly Halbury, like many railway towns, is almost a ghost town now. Our next landmark was Hoyleton, where I found the railway sheds had been graffitied even more since my last trip. The pub still hadn’t been sold ($220k) & the local resident who topped up my water said the last few years the pub had attracted rough types who partied into the night & were troublesome, so she hoped it would be sold as a residence. I can’t see a pub being a going concern here either, as few houses remain. Glenda had given us delicious choc chip muffins which were gladly devoured under the pub verandah.
It had been pretty boring on the wide, white, flat dirt rds. and everyone had been keen to get some undulating country. Mt George Rd certainly met this criteria but to my horror it had been recently graded with blue metal & there were no flattened car tracks, so all of us had to do a bit of hike-a-bike because back wheels were slipping even at 8%. Did I mention it was 32 degrees & again we were struggling into strong northerly winds again! Being a bit allergic to the monotonous Riesling trail I had altered our plans slightly to take Upper Skilly, Hughes Park & Gillentown rds. that ran parallel to it. Had been recommended as it went up a gully, was picturesque & had several adjacent wineries. Mitchell winery had a nice setting. This was indeed scenic, though Stacey remembers it for losing her thongs somewhere in this section. We turned R on Spring Gully Rd, emerging at the caravan park, from which there is a small bike path on that side heading into town. S & J stayed at Clare Hotel Motel, while I climbed up Kingfisher Dr to stay with the Northeast’s.
Planned 8.30am departure came & went with no sign of the other two! Had they gone for a walk / died in their beds / ? They eventually staggered out after 9, having not set an alarm & been fooled by total darkness in their room, so we left at 10am. We meandered the 25kms into Balaklava ignoring the bitumen road & made a bee line for “Wendys” the recommended café/ coffee shop for an early lunch. I had arranged to meet with Glenda Shepherd (nee Traeger), an old friend from teachers college days & she & husband Dave came and met us there. Amazingly I also ran into 2 members of the “Uncool cycling club” at the café – Elaine Davies was working in the area, whilst Peter Werner was heading home to Whyalla.
After a long stop we headed off from Balak to Halbury on the Shamus Liptrot rail trail, named after a local junior cyclist who was severely injured in a track accident in Tasmania & subsequently died. Sadly Halbury, like many railway towns, is almost a ghost town now. Our next landmark was Hoyleton, where I found the railway sheds had been graffitied even more since my last trip. The pub still hadn’t been sold ($220k) & the local resident who topped up my water said the last few years the pub had attracted rough types who partied into the night & were troublesome, so she hoped it would be sold as a residence. I can’t see a pub being a going concern here either, as few houses remain. Glenda had given us delicious choc chip muffins which were gladly devoured under the pub verandah.
It had been pretty boring on the wide, white, flat dirt rds. and everyone had been keen to get some undulating country. Mt George Rd certainly met this criteria but to my horror it had been recently graded with blue metal & there were no flattened car tracks, so all of us had to do a bit of hike-a-bike because back wheels were slipping even at 8%. Did I mention it was 32 degrees & again we were struggling into strong northerly winds again! Being a bit allergic to the monotonous Riesling trail I had altered our plans slightly to take Upper Skilly, Hughes Park & Gillentown rds. that ran parallel to it. Had been recommended as it went up a gully, was picturesque & had several adjacent wineries. Mitchell winery had a nice setting. This was indeed scenic, though Stacey remembers it for losing her thongs somewhere in this section. We turned R on Spring Gully Rd, emerging at the caravan park, from which there is a small bike path on that side heading into town. S & J stayed at Clare Hotel Motel, while I climbed up Kingfisher Dr to stay with the Northeast’s.