Day 15: Rosebery to Strahan
|
Useful Resources
|
Well I decided I would leave nice and early today. As Tasmania is expecting temperatures in excess of 35c today, which is unusual. I was therefore riding at about 8am.
The ride started nice and cool and I had a series of rolling hills to take me to Zeehan. My first stop for the day. Thanks to a nice tailwind I got to my destination at around 10am. Zeehan is another typical small town built on mining. I visited the local museum and was impressed by the number of displays they had about the surrounding area. You certainly could spend half a day there and still not see everything.
After the museum I went to the cafe for a second breakfast. Whilst ordering I met this other touring cyclist who had ridden from the top of TAS down the north west along a series of dirt roads. The trip sounded interesting so may look at that for a future tour.
When we finished chatting I was back on the road at about 11.30am. I had about 40km to go to my destination, Strahan, today. The road to Strahan was mostly downhill. About halfway I stopped at the lookout across to the west coast of Tas. After I had gotten some pictures and cooled down I was back riding.
I had gotten no further than 500 metres when I heard a loud bang (like a car back firing) from my front wheel. Thankfully I was only going about 30kph and was able to stop the bike. I was fortunate to find a nice shady spot and noticed my front wheel was flat. On closer inspection appears the tube had a blowout. At least the tyre was okay. The rim most had overheated with the high temperatures, fast downhills and I did just inflate the tyres this morning. So I spent the next 10 minutes replacing the tube and making sure both tyres had their pressures reduced.
After that excitement, the rest of the ride into Strahan was rather uneventful, thankfully. The road leveled out and was the flattest since my ride to Coles Bay 10 days ago. Thanks again to a nice tailwind, I got to Strahan at about 1.30pm.
Strahan is a major tourist town on the west coast of Tas. The weather is supposed to be good all weekend, so I am going on a cruise along the Gordon River tomorrow. Then I'm back riding on Monday. Hopefully the ride will remain uneventful for the rest of the tour.
The ride started nice and cool and I had a series of rolling hills to take me to Zeehan. My first stop for the day. Thanks to a nice tailwind I got to my destination at around 10am. Zeehan is another typical small town built on mining. I visited the local museum and was impressed by the number of displays they had about the surrounding area. You certainly could spend half a day there and still not see everything.
 |
| One of a number of old trains in the Zeehan museum |
 |
| Zeehan |
After the museum I went to the cafe for a second breakfast. Whilst ordering I met this other touring cyclist who had ridden from the top of TAS down the north west along a series of dirt roads. The trip sounded interesting so may look at that for a future tour.
When we finished chatting I was back on the road at about 11.30am. I had about 40km to go to my destination, Strahan, today. The road to Strahan was mostly downhill. About halfway I stopped at the lookout across to the west coast of Tas. After I had gotten some pictures and cooled down I was back riding.
 |
| My first view of the west coast of Tassie |
I had gotten no further than 500 metres when I heard a loud bang (like a car back firing) from my front wheel. Thankfully I was only going about 30kph and was able to stop the bike. I was fortunate to find a nice shady spot and noticed my front wheel was flat. On closer inspection appears the tube had a blowout. At least the tyre was okay. The rim most had overheated with the high temperatures, fast downhills and I did just inflate the tyres this morning. So I spent the next 10 minutes replacing the tube and making sure both tyres had their pressures reduced.
 |
| 500 metres later, bang! The end result. RIP poor inner tube |
After that excitement, the rest of the ride into Strahan was rather uneventful, thankfully. The road leveled out and was the flattest since my ride to Coles Bay 10 days ago. Thanks again to a nice tailwind, I got to Strahan at about 1.30pm.
 |
| Strahan Harbour |
Strahan is a major tourist town on the west coast of Tas. The weather is supposed to be good all weekend, so I am going on a cruise along the Gordon River tomorrow. Then I'm back riding on Monday. Hopefully the ride will remain uneventful for the rest of the tour.
