DAY 46 - GAWLER SA

GAWLER SA

DAY 46

ADELAIDE - GAWLER

58.95 km

Total Time: 11.00 – 17.00 (6h)

Time on Bike: 2h 50m 46s

Max. Speed: 52.2 km/h

Av. Speed: 20.7 km/h


I love it when things happen for a reason.

At the time though, everything seems like a complete fucking disaster and misery is all that’s on offer.

By day’s end, hindsight has had time to kick in and the coins often begin to drop.

I snapped my chain this morning in Adelaide, about 20 minutes after departure.

After riding 2200 kilometres from Sydney, the chain just decided to break as I was crossing an intersection near the city centre.

It was not a crippling problem at all - the main issue was always going to be the amount of time spent dicking around in Adelaide trying to fix it.

3 hours later, I was back in action, although just as afternoon rush hour beckoned once again on Main North Road, which of course happened to be my escape route towards the Clare Valley.

By 2.30 pm, the original destination of Port Wakefield was completely out of the question and I hastily revised the day’s proceedings towards Gawler.

Another 2½ hour game of life and death awaited on the main north route out of Adelaide as I aimed to put as much distance on the clock AQAP.

Conditions for the duration were as horrific as expected and again I am seriously relieved to have made it into Gawler with my life intact.

So in hindsight of the day’s activities, I believe there is a reason for what happened this morning and it has brought me here to Gawler.

Gawler is a hub of access to 3 main centres in the region: Barossa Valley, Adelaide and Clare Valley.

Having successfully explored the two former, Clare Valley lies directly north of here and is, I am led to believe an infinitely more interesting (and safer) route than straight up the guts of Highway 1 into Port Augusta.

I’ll still arrive at PA in the same amount of time but the main idea is to seize the opportunity and hopefully raise the bar of enjoyment in the process.

Gawler is likely the most practical place to be and yet there still may be reasons as to why this path has been chosen for me.

I am as curious as you are.