Halls Track Attack. The letter box ride.

Halls Track Road has always been one of those gravel questions I have been too scared to ask. She looks all cherubic innocence at the start but have long suspected that reasonably shortly there would be tears and something about please for the love of all things holy, get me off this goat track.

Appropriately psyched up, today was the day to get out there and give it a go.

I just cannot get excited about the ride down the Cygnet Coast Road even though it runs parallel to one of the nicest stretches of river you will see in this country. Cars go too fast and too close in their headlong rush to get wherever their important day is taking them.

It is always good to turn off up Pelverata Road where things immediately turn to gravel. Whilst there are very few cars, the surface has noticeably deteriorated over the last 6 months with pot holes and washboarding. Not really an issue for me today on the Triton with her low pressure 2.3s, but maybe not as pleasant if I was Warbirding.

I was enjoying the signs on Pelverata Road today. Twisty turny bits next 11km, just says fun to me.

And don't you worry about your vampires Mr Dusk to Dawn, down here in Tassie we have giant kangaroos that will lift your car up and throw it around like a toy.

Halls Track Road turns off Pelverata Road at Pelverata itself. Pretty good option to take as the road is sealed again at Pelverata, which is a little bit less fun when I am on the 29er. In effect, by taking Halls Track Road I can cycle to Sandfly on nearly all gravel once I turn off the dreaded Cygnet Coast Road.

The other real bonus of Halls Track Road is that it doesn't climb at the stupid gradient that Pelverata does, it kind of bends around the mountain a bit more making it easier to ride and just a bit more fun. I'll take a GPS with me one day just to sort out the different altitudes on the 3 options for getting over the mountain into Hobart.

Halls Track Road has an excellent surface for the first couple of kilometres at least. Reminded me about a conversation I once had about how good it is to be able to hear the gravel crunching under your tyres. Engagement of the senses.

Apparently I was still enjoying it at this stage.

Getting closer to the summit there was definitely some dodgier surface. Not certain young Benny is going to enjoy the descent on his skinny 28s back down the Track.

Crested not long after that and kind of bumped along the top of the mountain for a few kilometres and decided to stop and get a photo of the mighty steed. Held up by magic stick.

Exactly where I stopped had apparently been used as a rubbish tip by one of the locals. If anyone is looking for a pedal car, just yell out.

It was an excellent descent down some long flowing hills on a much improved surface. Someone who enjoys that kind of thing may probably have gone much faster than I did.

Had to take this photo for dad. Who doesn't want an old Toyota in the shed? Don't know which one will last longer, the Toyota or the shed.

Some excellent letter boxes spotted today. I had always thought that rows of letter boxes out in the middle of no where was a very Australian thing but can recall seeing things like this in Montana as well. I really should have had a camera with me back then.

Letter box of the day goes to the Rooster.

Had so much fun riding Halls Track Road that when I reached Sandfly I decided to turn around and head back up and over the hill again rather than taking the sealed option on Pelverata Road. Glad I did, enjoyed the longer ride. It was either a bit steeper from this side or I was a little bit less good on the bicycle. Photo says when you engage gear 1 on the Rohloff, it is a long way back around to gear 14. The Rohloff aficionados will know what kind of bird that is on the shifter, but the bird is telling me I am in 1st gear for the climb back up Halls Track Road.

Spotted this sign on the ride back over. What an excellent idea for a sign on a quiet dirt road, should see more of that.

Not a very long ride today, maybe 60km? but it was exactly what I needed. Got out there, blew away some cobwebs, explored somewhere I have not cycled before and could feel my mind starting to operate properly again for being out there. No racing or being worried about being left behind just me out there on a bicycle.

It is probably time to start getting serious on the bicycle again which will involve plugging a GPS in again and counting kilometres and getting out there on days when I don't feel like it or will feel guilt for cycling when I should be doing other important things but today was just a good day to ride a bicycle.

Bruny Island Audax adventure.

Pretty good day out on Bruny. Would struggle to get better weather for a bike ride ever, anywhere in the world. Clear skies, low 20s and the gentle northerly that had pushed us south on the outward leg turned into a gentle southerly sea breeze for the push back north.

Down to Kettering by 7.30 for the 7.45 ferry. Just be aware people, even at the height of tourist season in a very pleasant little seaside town that lives off the tourists coming through the Bruny Island terminal there is no where selling coffee at this hour of the day. How is any self respecting human being let alone someone on a gravel grinding bike supposed to function?

I think 7 cyclists for the day. 15 minutes on the ferry allowed for lots of admiring of bicycles and catch up with new people I hadn't met before. Got chatting with a guy who did the Transcontinental race last year and is all fired up for another crack this year. Had some great stories of being lost in France, Stelvio in the snow and lawlessness in Albania. Sounded like a huge adventure and an excellent demonstration of why people get hooked on touring.

Strategy for the day. There is always a diverse range of cycling abilities on Audax rides despite the sadly constricted demographic of participants, which means you really can pick your pace and there will be someone to cycle with if that is what you choose. I have always been a solidly committed mid pack rider and that suits me just fine. Unfortunately my good mate Benny is off the bike for a month or so after surgery on a dodgy shoulder. This time, I had been keen to ride with Dave who did such a sterling effort organising the ASH Dash a month ago. Dave enjoys riding sweep and has his timings sorted out so that he beats the cut off and hopefully has enough time for a creamy soda and paddle pop before the ferry arrives.

Difficult start straight off the ferry with a couple of quite steep pinches to start with. Unfortunately this meant that I put my head down and worked quite hard for the first couple of kilometres and when I looked up we had left Dave and a couple of the other guys behind. Once we reached the flat bit, the majority of the ride, found myself riding with the guy who did the Transcontinental and a bloke training up big for a 600km Audax in a few weeks as his qualifier for PBP. These guys were keen and if I had any idea how much I was going to hurt later in the day I would have casually backed off and rejoined my mates in the midpack who I know would already have been talking about beer despite it being only 9 in the morning.





















Still, enjoying the ride.

The course for the day was an out and back format from the ferry terminal 60km south to the Light House and then return. Hilly at both ends otherwise just some gentle rollers to keep you on your toes through the day. Traffic was awesome with very few cars and those that we did see highly respectful in their interaction with cyclists. Big thank you guys.

Plenty of photo opportunities all the way down to the light house. With spectacular views out to the Southern Ocean.

Was actually still feeling pretty good when we reached the light house as the halfway point but was disappointed that there was no food truck there selling hot jam donuts and creamy soda. Why are Tasmanians so bad at capitalising on business opportunities? Reality was we were in a National Park where I am pretty happy that they don't do that kind of thing and also tourism is highly seasonal down here and it would be very difficult to keep a business going in the 10 months of the year when mainlanders fly north not south.

Hung around at the light house for about half an hour, regaining some composure and psyching myself up for the 60km ride back to the ferry which I knew was going to hurt but the whole in for a penny in for a pound stupid boy thinking had the better of me. Was happy to find a gentle sea breeze pushing me along.

About halfway back we stopped at the Alonnah General Store next door to the pub and reprovisioned. I gutsed a burger and a soft drink, found a tap and refilled my water bottles. Totally spent and a little sunburnt I knew that my mates in the mid pack were going to be stopping at the pub and enjoying a beer when they turned up in 40 odd minutes time but pushed on with the fast guys none the less. Riding made a little more enjoyable by the coastline.

I could say that I decided to slow down and enjoy the ride a little more which I have certainly done in the past but really not long after pushing off from lunch I was totally spent and surprisingly quickly the other two guys rode away from me. Not a bad thing, I do really enjoy cycling on my own and it was only 30km to the ferry to enjoy.

It was a different way to cycle and probably a good thing for me to do that every now and again. I have done a lot of big days in the saddle and am probably reasonably fit but this was in a different league. I have never felt myself cramping up whilst still on the bike purely from the days effort and I have had much, much longer riding than this.

As is always the way when you dig too deep and pay the penalty, the blackness that descends extends to all things. The ferry back to Kettering leaves every hour and I arrive literally two minutes after the ferry departs with the other guys on board. Sitting down at the little kiosk with my well earned paddle pop and can of pink fizz, check face book and my mid pack mates are posting photos from the pub back at Alonnah sitting on the front porch beer in hand looking out across the water.

Let's consider this one a lesson well learned. Awesome place to just go and ride bikes, perfect weather, next time just relax and enjoy being out there. Find some good gravel all. Hmmm, wonder when the next one is.