Tour de Tasmania Days 1 and 2 (200km and Freycinet rest day)

Tour de Tas 200k - 2300m of elevation gain, in small bites.

Riding in Tasmania looked like this. Not in Japan anymore!

We headed out of Hobart at 6AM on Sunday February 17, over the main bridge toward the airport, about 25 riders, riding in a double line to "own the lane" and ward off traffic (with Gavin as our guide), then after the bridge shifted to the shoulder of the major road, then after a few kilometers turned off to a secondary road without significant traffic.  We saw no heavy traffic again until Launceston, two and half days later.

Cloudy skies on the approach to Orford. Pauline out of Canberra/ACT stops briefly.

This was a relatively hilly 200km, with many hills in the first half, then headwinds on the flatter section, then a short "Cherry Tree Hill", another flat stretch with tailwind as we came back South down the Freycinet Peninsula, and a set of very, very nasty short hills to get to the finish at a light house in the national park. 

Slight rise ... but with a headwind and a 5% grade, I find myself slowing to a near crawl

Looking back down that rise

The morning riding was cool, afternoon hot, but not outrageously so, and the finish again cool. The hills were, well, steep, but not so high. The riding country reminded me a lot of California, and of other countryside in southern NSW I have seen on other trips to Australia. 

On the coast!

Spiky Bridge ... aptly named for its spikes

Andrew, Tom and others at the Swansea control

Tasmania has more roadkill per km than any other part of Australia.
Mind the critters, especially from dusk to dawn!

I made it to the Orford Control by 930AM, ahead of plan (to the extent I had a plan) ... but stopped at a cafe up the road for a sandwich and coffee, so did not leave until 10AM. It was getting warm. We were out of the hills, but into the headwinds.

I was pretty much exhausted by the time I got to the Swansea Control, and the section after Swansea was very hard for me. It was a huge relief when the road turned south and the wind to my back on the peninsula. Andrew, the lead organizer, had warned us that there was a nasty hill in the national park, over 20% grade, and we might choose to walk up it. There were actually several hills with 13-15% sections, and then the 20% one.  I walked up one of the earlier candidates, and the actual 20% one. Still, at that point we could have walked all the way to the lighthouse and still made the time cutoff, so we could take our time, and once we got there, enjoy the view.

End of the 200k! View from the lighthouse, our reward.

Mark Thomas, Seattle, and Catherine Shenk, Colorado (in her Proviz reversible vest)

 Our lodgings were shared cabins in a camping/vacation facility. My cabin-mates were Scott and Tara, from Queensland, and Wolfgang, from Dusseldorf/Munich. Tara educated me about the local wildlife. Wolfgang was quiet, but responded to questions. We had all all-rider group dinner, slept, and enjoyed a free day.

On the free day, I went with Fred, a Seattle-based randonneur to see one of the most iconic beaches in all of Australia -- Wineglass Bay Beach. We left our bikes at the trailhead, and did a 13km loop hike through a saddle between to of the mountains, down to the beach, across the isthmus and back. It was a great hike -- spectacular views, clean air, deep blue water, white sand, wallabies, and more. Fred was very good company -- he grew up in Washington DC, Dupont Circle, and knows a lot about bikes, among other things, and offered a bit of a window onto the Seattle randonneur and gravel bike culture. He also brought some beers and a large towel to the beach ... I had water only and an onsen towel.

Second live wallaby of the trip. I soon lost count.