Friday, April 17, 2009

Stone Hut to Melrose

A mere 52km to Melrose. Lunch at the North Star. A quick ride back to Stone Hut along the bitumen. Brrttthp.

Stone Hut to Melrose, return along bitumen road


Ah yeah, so had another Leave-Without-Pay-Day courtesy of the recession, so Graham and I decided to make the most of it and ride another day on the Mawson Trail. We would be up this way anyway for the weekend, hiking 63km along the Heysen Trail.

So the ride to Melrose was pretty cool. The lunch was fantastic. The ride back was maybe a little harder than expected, we though, from the advice we had sought from a keen cyclist, that it would be mostly downhill. It wasn't, well not until after Wirrabara, but it was still a good ride, just 2 hours back to Stone Hut.

These two photos are from Wirrabara Forest. I've heard tales of mud so thick through this forest that one couldn't ride a bike because of the mud that quickly accumulated between the wheel and frame. It seemed to be mostly dirt roads, and perhaps only a few of these seemed to hold the potential for this gripping mud. So easy to say huh?

Next 2 or 3 day ride in late May. Looking forward to it, getting back out with our bob trailers and camping.


Download kml file to view in Google Earth or adapt to use as a navigational aid in a GPS unit
































































Stats

Mawson Trail
Friday Friday
17/04/2009 17/04/2009
Near Stone Hut to Melrose (Mawson Trail) Melrose to near Stone Hut (via bitument road)
Distance 52.3km 39.9km
Start Time 8.02am 1.34pm
End Time 12.35pm 3.50pm
Moving Duration 3h33m 1h56m
Stationary Duration 1h02m 10m
Moving Average 14.7km/h 20.6km/h
Overall Average 11.4km/h 18.6km/h
Oodometer 52.3km 92.2km