Hi Peeps. Thanks for joining me again – well you add a little bit rain and let me tell you folks – the blogs i’ve read and stories i’ve heard are correct. It’s pretty much unrideable. The track looks very unnasuming and at first glance absolutely rideable – then within literally 10 meters – your wheels are bogged down, you’re sliding sideways and then all of a sudden, the wheels won’t turn. It was bucketing down, my wheels wouldn’t turn, I was literally STUCK IN THE MUD. I’ve heard stories of derraileurs snapping and all sorts so I already knew this was hard but reading it is one thing hahaha. All the mud was getting stuck in my mudguards so I had to get my swiss army thingo out and cut it totally off, throw it away, scrape mud away from every moving part before I could attempt to keep riding. I was either sliding sideways or stucj hahah – My sense of adventure was still strong however, i managed only 9km’s in 3 hours when a lone farmer was driving down the road, stopped and said ‘geeez you’re keen mate’. He offered a lift but I just couldn’t do it hahaha – he then said ‘mate, if you want a plan B can I give you a tip’? I was all for good tips – he said ‘see those two trees there – go through the paddock and head towards those trees, then after 9km’s you’ll hit tarmac all the way to Burra because this storm is only going to get worse and you will not get through those roads’
I said thank you very much and attempted another few km’s but it was really pointless. I eventually took his advice and headed towards those trees when I glanced at my garmin, zoomed out, found the main road and headed those 9km’s. I had so much mud everywhere I have never experienced that kind of riding before hahaha
I must say that when mud get EVERYWHERE….you can’t touch anything without getting it wet and totally muddy. Having said that, Siri is an absolute legend when you can just ask something e.g directions or ‘as the crows flys’ or weather or rain approaching or ‘direct me to’ and she has helped so much when the rain doesn’t help with a touch screen haha. The garmin is absolute legend too….having navigation and breadcrumbs and an actual map helps sooo much.
tip for young players whilst I think of it….bring a high vis rain jacket for safety AND clear glasses (or spare lense) plus a hat under your helmet. Not only does your eyes thank you after a day in the sun (less squinting) but when it’s raining, it keeps the rain out of your face.
You know, this Mawson trail whilst rewarding, is definitely challenging with the vast differences in days, from heat to bugs to rain to unriudeable mud to steep hills but the rewards are too good not to do it. The towns, the MAGNIFICENT views, the wildlife, the lovely people, the hard work required, the lovely australian landscape, the red or white dirt roads as a backdrop, the serenity of it all – I could go on because there’s so much more and I can say that I am in love with this trail. I will say though that to anyone that isn’t a mountain bike pro, It is (IMHO) twice as hard as road riding – the bike handling, the steep hills on loose gravel roads, headwinds with a full load, the cold, the heat, the bugs, battling the rough terrain it really takes it out of you but when you’re in your bed pondering on the day that was – a big smile comes over me about how awesome and alive it is to be doing something like this. I am revelling in the fact that me myself and I just did that with my own mind and two legs.
I was excited because I had accommodation in Burra as Gherns and her parents were coming to visit. Gherns wanted to experience the trail for a couple days and her parents were nice enough to drop her off and it was a lovely pizza night had in Burra that night (thanks for the wine Malcolm and jean and the amazing company) a much welcomed edition hahaha
I was also pleasantly suprised because one of my best mates Tim came to say hello and we chatted for hours and had a coffee and a few laughs – I only wished the weather and timing was better so we could’ve spent a couple days camping as we are good campers together and we both really enjoy – maybe next time Tim – ythanks for coming all that way mate was awesome – spewin i forgot a DAMN PIC – hate that
So the following morning, we were supposed to follow the Mawson trail but the executive decision was not to as that was unrideable and lets do a side trip….so lets take a leisurely trip to Clare – well leisurely IT WASN’t hahaha – it ended up being crazy head winds and 80km’s in total BUT we had an amazing time. We ended up suffering the 42 clicks to Clare with some of the mawson being trialled and Gherns realising quickly that ‘those wheels just won’t spin’ hahahahah. We cleared the mud again, headed for the tarmac and onwards to This Olive Bus place. Well when we arrived buggered after 3.5 hours on the road we were greeted with a holy grail of lunch buses….shelter, blankets, food, coffee and a beautiful little location. This place is the ultimate reward after sloggin headwinds……Overlooking the vinyard, family owned olive farm, little bus with amazing food and a heated pot belly all nice and warm….South Australia – thank you for this little Gem. We smashed some toastied with olive tapenade made from olives literally ten meters away – this toastie tasted so bloody amazing.
We chilled there for a couple coffees and then headed home with this amazing tailwind – I was pretty chuffed at Gherns today who never complained and just got on with it and did her second biggest ride ever but longest duration being 5hrs:30mins…..brilliant effort especially after last weekends 50km hike.
Given how long 9km’s took me and the rain that’s about to come (believe the grape growers not the farmers I was told hahahahaha) I was thinking of not continuing as the rain has made so much of this trail unpassable and what’s the point of taking the road when the whole point is doing the mawson trail and I am a bit of a completionist HOWEVER, the decision now is let the trail dry tomorrow, take off the next day, then see the weather forecast the day before it rains, take a couple days off when it’s raining and then try again. I feel like it’s not worth busting a bike for. And I have the time to wait it out – rather then go home and then attempt it again when the chance of rain over two weeks is high – so lets knuckle down and just try when possible and see how I go. stay tuned for the next day and the coming days – it will be MUDDY GOOD……
VANDERPANTS OUT!!
Vanderpants Oz Tour 