A blog about cycling...especially the long distance stuff

Monday 27 May 2013

Adelaide to Melbourne - Summary


Just a sum up here, mainly for anyone else planning a similar trip.

Route and Statistics

 

Route / Distance / Elevation Gain (map links on http://bikeroutetoaster.com )

Day 1 route map / Distance: 153 km / 852 meters / Blog post
Day 2 route map / Distance: 156 km / 99 meters / Blog post
Day 3 route map / Distance: 137 km / 114 meters / Blog post
Day 4 route map / Distance: 156 km / 438 meters / Blog post
Day 5 route map / Distance: 110 km / 176 meters / Blog post
Day 6 route map / Distance: 111 km / 867 meters / Blog post
Day 7 route map / Distance: 112 km / 931 meters / Blog post
Day 8 route map / Distance: 105 km / 315 meters / Blog post

Total Distance: 1040 km
Total Elevation Gain: 3792 meters
Nights Camping: 5
Nights in Motels: 2

This was a much easier tour in terms of distance, length of days, and hills than my last. But this was also my first with a fully weighted bike, so it was a good learning experience. I enjoyed having shorter days on the last 4 days which had good scenery, and there were plenty of side trip options available, or if it was summer...the beaches would get more of a visit!



My gear all performed really well , especially the bike with no major breakdowns and just the 1 puncture. My only gripe was the rear rack, I don't think I'd trust the Topeak rear rack again, the fitting looks and feels too flimsy for serious touring. I'll look into fitting a Tubus rack next time to match the front. One addition that would have been super useful is a dynamo to generate my own power for charging gadgets, I'll be looking into that more in the future for sure!

So that's it for now. I had an amazing time, was suitably challenged, and got to see plenty of this beautiful country! I'm sure it wont be long before I start planned another interstate ride...


1 comment:

  1. Nice trip, if a liitle quick for the distance. The trick with touring in Oz is to take it a bit slower and make judicious use of camping vs. motel/B&B/cabins etc, try to avoid the main highways and explore the back roads.

    You can see a few good shorter tours out of Melbourne on my blog at http://reddyneddy.blogspot.com.au/search/label/CycleTouring

    Cheers,
    Mike

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