Another Dream Run: Streaky Bay to Elliston

Aeolus Blesses Us Again

Getting underway

Di and I were a bit apprehensive about today's ride, especially after strong winds buffeted the tent all night long. Camping on the beach was idyllic yesterday afternoon, but by the time we got back from the pub the wind had got up and was blowing straight in off the bay. Consequently the tent flapped long and loud; most of us slept restlessly all night, probably partly thinking about both the day ahead to Elliston and the big stage of 152 kilometres the following day to Coffin Bay - which looked like having some strong side winds and showers throughout the day.

Once we were up we were all pretty happy to hit the road promptly as the wind blowing in off the water was quite cool. We all rugged up pretty well: even weather-resistant Jim had his warm jacket on over a long-sleeved top. Dianne and I were the first away but I was surprised that we weren't overtaken as we were having a hard time getting going. Di in particular was a little out of sorts, which led to a few words between us. Thankfully, we got that out of our system before too long and started to get into the ride.

Working ourselves into the ride

Once away from the waterfront we were much more sheltered and we stopped after about 10 kilometres to take off our waterproof tops because we were starting to get too hot for comfortable riding. For the first 30 kilometres or so the wind, like yesterday, was not really any help - instead buffeting us from the left. We spent most of the time rolling along in a two person echelon to try to get a bit of respite from both of us being blown all over the place. We've taken to swapping turns at 3 kilometre intervals to try to avoid getting too tired on these days of riding 100 kilometres plus day after day. For us old buggers whose main recreation isn't cycling it seems to be working pretty well.

Morning tea was meant to be at 50 kilometres, but the rest area marked on Collis's map wasn't there. Di and I pulled over anyway for a comfort stop and Jacquei shot past us. We rolled on to about 55 kilometres where Kathy and Collis had found a reasonable spot to pull over.  Jacquei had just started tucking into the food when Di and I arrived. By then the wind had turned more northerly to northwesterly and was starting to push us on nicely. I asked Collis what he thought of the idea of pushing back the lunch stop from 90 kilometres as we'd gone a little further before morning tea. He thought that was a pretty good idea, especially as we were experiencing such favourable conditions and nominated 100 kilometres. Jim and Peter arrived soon afterwards, and we all agreed that we'd been much luckier with the winds up to that point than we might have been.

Pushing onwards, ever onwards

Ever mindful of making the most of the conditions, Di and I did not linger and were first back on the bikes. We started to get up a bit of a head of steam as the winds strengthened to about 20 - 25 kms/hour. Like yesterday, the terrain was lovely: not quite as scenic until later on when we started to catch glimpses of the sea behind long sand dunes, but a gently undulating route through grazing paddocks and cultivated fields. Once again, we were delighted to cycle along kilometre after kilometre without seeing any rubbish, an experience we sadly don't enjoy in Tasmania.

We spun along, trying to find a balance between making the most of the great tailwind and not blowing ourselves up. We were going so well we reached 100 kilometres before Collis and Kathy passed us. The rolled by shortly afterwards though and found a good spot at about 102 kilometres to set up for lunch. Had we not needed water we might have kept going as the wind was still blowing strongly pretty much straight behind us. However, we were both pretty much out of liquids so we pulled in, and were in the middle of refuelling when we heard a call from the highway: Jacquei went sailing by, indicating that she was bypassing the lunch stop and going on to Elliston.

Rolling Into Elliston

The wind remained constant for the rest of the 26 kilometres into Elliston but, much to Di's chagrin, there were a few rolling hills to get over towards the end. She had worked so hard spinning through the undulations up to this point that the slight increase in gradient was a degree or so too far after over 100 kilometres in the saddle. We eased our way over those last few small hills and were pleased to finally get on to the nice downhill run into town. Arriving at the Elliston Bakery we found Jacquei sitting in the sunshine sipping a coffee. Inside we went to see what they had. Di liked the look of the Cornish Pasties on offer so opted for one of them. Here she is getting it into her ...

Replacing the calories

 I was seduced by the Chocolate Macadamia Nut Brownies (yes, that's plural - I had two!). Good decision. They were amongst the best brownies I've had the pleasure of partaking:   thick and moist and chewy without being gooey. Perfect. Between us we took the three that were remaining. Sadly, I couldn't persuade Di to give up her dessert after the ginormous pastie she'd ingested.

After eating my two brownies I went across the road to take a picture of a whale tail sculpted out of coastal vegetation of some sort ...

Whale tail sculpture

While I was over there I snapped a photo of Di and Jacquei kicking back together ...

Di and Jacquei at the Elliston Bakery

Taking Stock

When I checked our ride data upon arriving at the bakery, I was pleased to see that we'd averaged 27.5 kilometres per hour over the 128 kilometres since leaving the Streaky Bay Caravan Park, despite being slowed in the last section by those few rolling hills. There was only 500 metres of climbing throughout the ride, which no doubt contributed to our quick time but of course the wind was the big booster today, pushing us on to an even faster average speed than yesterday and the quickest 100 plus kilometre ride of the tour so far.

Here's what today's ride looks like on Google Maps ...

Streaky Bay to Elliston

As I sit here composing this post the wind is raging outside.  Di is dozing in the tent, Peter has gone off the the hotel for a sparkling ale, Jim is on his way there too and I'm not sure what the others are up to. I think I'll head off to join Peter and Jim momentarily, but I'll just have a small beer as I don't want to compromise the blind tasting comparison of Southwark and Cascade Stouts we've scheduled, to be accompanied with fresh local oysters. Peter reckons Southwark is the best Stout in Australia - we'll see: I've not had it before but would  have to say that Cascade is the best Australian-made stout  I've tasted.

A little while ago we had a conference and, at Collis's suggestion, we are varying tomorrow's ride and bypassing Coffin Bay. Instead, we will turn east at about 80 kilometres into the ride and head towards the town of Cummins. We all thought it was a good idea to minimise the buffeting by the strong westerlies and soaking from the showers that are forecast for tomorrow; this way we will have only about 116 kilometres to ride and should actually get a tail wind for the last 35 or so kilometres. I'll let you know how we things went.