We awoke in the highlands of Tasmania on the edge of the Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at Tarraleah. Tarraleah started life as a hydro-electricity township at its peaks in the late 1930’s - early 1940’s, it was home to 500 workers. Once constructed the town was effectively abandoned before being resurrected for tourism. This morning the geese and wallabies almost outnumbered the riders in the sub 10 degree mist.
Our easy day started with a series of pinchy climbs that tore at tired legs and challenged riders’ mindsets. “Where is this easy day?” is the polite summary of the mutterings of the bunch. However, it was not long before we started our descent out of the highlands as we headed south to sea level at Hobart.
A drink break in Hamilton and then it wasn’t long before the call of free play was made, and riders were again straining muscle fibres as the pace picked up. A brief regather with the bunch braking into teams to spin into New Norfolk for lunch. This lush valley running along the fast flowing Derwent is where some of Tasmania’s best hops are grown and is home to one of Australia’s oldest pubs (1815). No pub lunch for us, another gourmet picnic in the park, followed by a final 30km dash into Hobart!
The pace was good, the scenery spectacular and the banter impressive, the promise of a transition day was delivered.
Some fun facts for day 5
- Distance 135km
- Moving time on buke 4hr 50min
- Avg speed 28km/hr
- Calories burnt 2,353
Tomorrow we head to Bruny Island before returning to Hobart, the promise of another 150km day and more than 2,000m of elevation, Thursday will not be a transition day!
Last night’s jersey winners were;
- Orange Jersey sponsored by Pure Storage went to Andrew Bloxham
- Green Jersey sponsored by Toga went to David Costa
- White Jersey sponsored by Dynamic Projects went to James Marsden
- Black Jersey sponsored by LSH Auto went to Neil Hayward
Blog author Charles Moore CR Rider #127
