Well, the bad news is that that back wheel was not in good shape. The good news is that Wayne from All Terrain Cycles has organised a replacement wheel to be fitted when we arrive in Bright in a couple of days time. He has also done what he can with the current one, so it will hopefully last us that long. Wayne also advised us to lose some weight, so we did. We packed up and sent on some of the clothes we hadn't worn very much, and the Thermos and spare water bottle. And 3 of the spare blocks of chocolate.
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| Picking up the bike from All Terrain Cycles in Mansfield |
Once the bikes were ready and loaded, we set off on a route that Google Maps described as "mostly flat". We should have known better.
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| Mostly flat |
The first half hour was on a pleasant, low- traffic sealed road out of Mansfield. There was no indication of what awaited us, except perhaps for the views of tall hills all around and the nagging thought that perhaps our road was going to go up rather than around them.
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| Pleasant road cycling out of Mansfield |
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| That looks like a pretty big hill up there. |
There were about 20 km of dirt road, which we were expecting. We were not expecting the road surface to consist of lumpy stones, or for the first 15 of those kilometres to be constant climbing.
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| Negotiating the uphill, lumpy, dirt road |
And then the rain came. Although the route was quite scenic, we didn't take many photos, except for a few of a cyclist climbing on a dirt road in the rain.
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| Happy cyclist, going uphill on the dirt in the rain |
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| Although we did photograph this fungus |
When we reached the top of the hill there was a warning sign for vehicles travelling the other way. Apart from stating that entry to the road was at the user's own risk, it did warn of dusty and slippery road conditions, and of steep and uneven ground.
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| Sign at the top of Blue Range Road |
Anyway, after the steep climb on this mostly flat route, there was an even steeper descent. While the road was again very scenic, the road surface consisted of loose gravel with protruding stones, requiring a great deal of concentration from the descending cyclists.
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| Scenic descent, Spring Creek Rd |
Eventually, the gravel road ended and the tar began. The road was largely downhill all the way into Tatong, where we were to stop for lunch.
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| Scenic descent into Tatong |
When we arrived in Tatong, we admired some of the village's mural art, and went into the pub for a coffee.
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| Mural Art, Tatong |
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| Happily supporting the Tatong Hotel |
We enjoyed our traditional picnic lunch outside the hotel, and resumed our ride just as the rain was returning.
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| Picnic, Tatong Hotel |
From Tatong to Benalla was about 26km on a well-surfaced, quiet country road. There was plenty of interest on the way. We saw quite a few kangaroos, and quite a few cows and sheep, as well as a few birds.
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| Quite a few kangaroos |
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| Quite a few cows |
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| The road to Benalla |
We arrived in Benalla late in the afternoon, checked in to our b&b, and went out to support one of the local establishments (the Royal Hotel) for dinner.
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| Arriving in Benalla in the late afternoon |
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| A few birds from today's ride |
Day: 21
Distance: 69.8 km
Cycling time: 3 hrs 58 mins
Elevation gain: 1105 metres
Cumulative Distance: 1023.32 km
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| Day 21 - Elevation profile |
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| Day 21 - Route |
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