Cruising, Stalling and Steaming Along

Today was one of shifting fortunes as far as my progress went from our start in Clare through to the end of the ride in Gawler. Here is the story of how things unfolded ...

A Visit From Magpies

There were a number of magpies flying around the campground serenading us as we packed up. Di decided to give them a bit of a feed. A few of them were so happy with this bit of nourishment that they started to serenade her. I grabbed a quick but not very clear photo ...

Di is serenaded by appreciative magpies

You can't really tell from this picture, but the right-most bird has only one leg and appeared to be the matron of the group. In the hopes I might be able to catch a bit more of the birdsong I recorded a short video, and there is a very small bit of warbling near the end ...

That done it was down to the day's business ...

Cruising Through Vineyards

The Clare Valley is one of South Australia's - and indeed, Australia's - premier and oldest wine growing regions. The wineries and vineyards become really concentrated as you travel south out of Clare and we were looking forward to the scenery on this day's ride.

After yesterday's discussions Collis had specified a start time and time frame for morning tea. This worked really well and we all set off pretty much together, apart from Peter who had decided to spend most of the day following the Riesling Trail. He was pretty keen to get off the bitumen for a change and connect with his off-road roots. (The trail is actually fine for road bikes but we the rest of us wanted to continue riding through the small historic towns along the Horrocks Highway.)

It was cool and damp as we packed up and actually started spitting as we set off, so we were all in our rain jackets. There was a bit of a following breeze but the four of us all seemed to be looking for a relaxed sort of ride and we rolled along past the vineyards at a leisurely clip. It was great looking at the various generations of vine blocks: from rows of ancient, stumpy, gnarly knowing old plants through to slender, young, innocent vines finding their feet, to everything in between. Of course there were numerous approaches to training the vines on show too, which also made the riding very interesting. Because the road was a bit twisty with regular traffic passing by I haven't got any video footage from this section of the ride and, because of the damp conditions, didn't feel inclined to stop and take photos, so you'll just have to do with these word pictures.

This pleasurable bit of riding continued for about 20 kilometres through to the historic town of Auburn, where there was a lovely place called the Cog Webs Hub Café we decided to visit. Auburn is a very bike-friendly town, which is very much reflected in this café, which hires bikes as well as selling food. Here's a photo I took of Jacquei and Di out front when we arrived ...

Jacquei and Di at the Cog Webs Hub Café

... and here's another that Jacquei took of Jim, Di and me ...

Are we pipsqueaks, or is Jim really that big?

Yes, Jim is a bit of a man-mountain. As a cyclist, I have come to think of him as Jim of Multiple Thighs because I am sure that those massive legs that power him along must be more than just a pair.

Inside we went and ordered a hot drink and a nibble. Lo and behold, before we knew it Collis and Kathy had appeared and then Peter also arrived, with the Riesling Trail making one of its many crossings of the highway at Auburn. The owner of the café was very interested in the story of our trip and insisted on taking photos of the group so I got her to take one for me too ...

Collis, Peter, Di, Doug, Jacquei, Kathy & Jim

After this pleasant break it was back on to the bikes for a morning tea rendezvous scheduled for Tarlee, another 30 kilometres down the road.

Shifting Fortunes: Stalling ... and then STEAMING Along

Peter made his way back to the Riesling trail, while Jacquei, Jim, Di and I steered back on to the highway. Immediately I noticed a problem with my right shifting lever. Yes, the one that moves the chain up and down the cogs at the back of the bike. I went to shift to a bigger cog but instead of moving up the cogset, the chain went the other way ... and continued right down on to my smallest cog.

The Offending Article, photographed at the Gawler Bike Shop

I pulled over to have a look and fiddled a bit. It was pretty quickly obvious that I had completely lost the ability to change gears at the back. My front shifter of course was still working, so I effectively had two gears: a big one and the biggest one. By this time Jacquei and Jim had circled back to find out why we'd stalled just after leaving the café.

I explained the situation, and Jim suggested I jump on the front so that I could ride at my own pace. I did that, saying that I'd probably spin along at as fast a tempo as I was comfortable with, as there was a light following wind and I'd like to be able to make as much of it as possible. (Those of you who are cyclists would also be aware that it's good to maintain momentum as much as possible to reduce the grind factor.) Luckily, the run ahead was downhill overall and the hills that we did have to deal with were very gentle. Jim was stuck to my tail like glue, but Di and Jacquei soon opted for a more moderate pace. About 20 kilometres down the road Jim also dropped back, which surprised me because he seemed to be enjoying the tow. I found out later that I'd kicked up a bit of grit that had lodged in his eye, so he'd stopped to remove it.

Kathy and Collis passed me a few kilometres out from Tarlee and were set up with a great morning tea - nuts, and a good assortment of biscuits and a fruity cake - when I arrived. I explained my situation and why I was ahead of the others, with my priority to try to get my bike sorted before our scheduled departure on Friday morning. Again, it was extremely lucky that this gear failure happened when it did as well as where, as we had a rest day (that's now today) ahead in a town that has a bike shop. It's probably the only one that we pass through between here and Melbourne.

My next task was to call the bike shop owner in Gawler to explain my plight. He said he'd call his supplier to check availability of the part I needed and get back to me. I told him that would be great and that I'd be at his shop as soon as I could. While I was doing this the others arrived and I had a couple of quick nibbles before jumping back on the bike.

There was another 45 or so kilometres to get to the bike shop and I was keen to get there, so off I steamed again. While I wasn't able to keep quite as high a pace as I'd maintained I was absolutely chuffed that I wasn't faced with any steep hills that would definitely have forced me either to walk or wait for Collis to go past so I could ride in the truck with him. Another aspect of my good fortune as to where the failure occurred was that the overall run was decidedly downhill. Here's a Google Maps snapshot of the route from our departure point to the bike shop, showing the route profile ...

Clare Caravan Park to the Gawler Bike Shop

I was pretty pleased with my rate of progress, which was inevitably slowed by the start-stop traffic passing through town - the bike shop being about 4 kilometres south of the town centre. I stopped about 500 metres my destination and called to make sure I hadn't passed it. Here's a snapshot of the distance covered for the day to that point ...

Distance just before bike shop

... and another showing my average speed ...

Average speed

When I arrived at the bike shop, Nigel let me know that he'd gone ahead and ordered the part over the phone and asked that it be put in an overnight bag because if it did arrive in time it would be by far the easiest option that we'd discussed for getting me back on the road again. It was vital that this be fixed before our next stage which involves some proper climbing through the Adelaide Hills. Nigel was pretty confident that the replacement shift/brake lever would arrive within a day, so that sounded good to me.

As I said earlier, it's a rest day today. I've just received a call from Nigel to let me know that the part has arrived. He will have help in the shop from midday so I've arranged to be there with my bike at about 12:30. How good is that!

We are well and truly in the home straight now. A calculation of the distance we've covered - over 3600 kilometres - and what we've got left to Melbourne - just over 1100 kilometres - reveals that we are well and truly past the three-quarters mark. Here is a graphic of our progress so far ...

Perth to Gawler

That's about it for now. I'm off to the caravan park to get my bike and ride the 5 kilometres south to the bike shop. Hopefully in a couple of hours I'll have a fully functioning drive train again. Adios!

Postscript: Farewelling Peter ...

... or, as I have come to think of him, "Diesel Pete". No, he's not a diesel mechanic, and he doesn't have a strange, pungent oily smell about him. What he has got is an engine that reminds me of the D4D diesel on my Prado. Basically, he just turns the cranks over, and turns the cranks over, and turns the cranks over - pushing a high gear at a low cadence and looking like he could go on doing so for the 500,000 kilometres I expect to get out of my Prado's engine. I don't think his big cog has a speck of grease on it and the second and third cogs could probably be re-used too when he decides it's time to get an new cassette.

Diesel Pete

Peter signed up for the ride from Perth to here in Gawler, and he's been telling us ever since we started riding together that he couldn't afford more time off work than the six weeks he allotted to get to Perth, ride to Gawler and get home again. However, recent comments about what the weather is going to be like along the Coorong and  the Great Ocean Road have brought that line of argument deeply into question. Throw-away lines such as, "It's a long way south from here - bound to be bitterly cold", "It's always wet along that coast in winter", and "The amount of rainfall in the Otways is pretty high ... you'd be lucky to get a dry day there" all suggest that there was something other than work preventing Pete from keeping us company for the full Ride Across the Paddock. The man's from Port MacQuarie - a lovely place but a bit soft and sub-tropical as far as weather goes. I say to you, Peter: harden up, lad!

Seriously though, we're really going to miss Pete. Nothing seems to faze the bloke. When his bike was stolen on the second night out of Perth he just proceeded to organise a replacement. No problem, despite the serious financial set-back of not having it covered by insurance.

Peter is an incredibly generous guy. He is always quick to share food and drink, especially brews of the amber - and darker - variety but also beverages of a red colour as well. He is also very down to earth and, basically, practical. When it became clear that there wasn't enough clothes pegs for everyone to do their laundry at the same time, he simply went out and bought a couple of packets.

Peter had an incredible capacity for putting food away. However, we often were "treated" to that food working its way through his system some hours later. Funnily enough, Peter invariably allocated the credit for his abdominal rumblings to Jim if he was near enough at hand. Fittingly, not only can Pete eat well, he can also cook up a storm. We enjoyed a number of fine meals put together by him. 

So, sayonara Pete. We'll look forward to catching up again someday ... perhaps to walk into The Walls via Lake Ada.