MT CRAWFORD FOREST TO TANUNDAth

MT CRAWFORD FOREST TO TANUNDA
 

21^st December 2015

38.8km/523m

https://www.strava.com/activities/456265580

Heading off on the fat bikes for a day ride starting at Mt Crawford Forest just 4 days before Christmas Day was nothing more than perfect. The Mawson Trail took us on some great dirt roads and tracks with a few small climbs and lots of long awesome rolling down hill runs.

We came across the cutest little koala sitting on a low limb of a gum tree who interestingly watched us ride past. We couldn't resist but to stop and go back and take a few happy snaps of this little guy.

A great climb into Steingarten Riesling Vineyard gave us a breathtaking view of the Barossa Valley. From this vantage point you could clearly see the fire path from the recent Pinery Fire. Kilometre after kilometre of burnt ground could be seen as far as the eye could take you, showing the devastation this unforgiving fire created.

The final leg of this ride was a long, fast downhill into the valley. Great coffee was had at the end of the ride at a great little café in the main street.  

DAWESLEY TO MT CRAWFORD FOREST

DAWESLEY TO MT CRAWFORD FOREST
(Dawesley to Rockleigh, Rockleigh to Mt Crawford Forest)

13^th- 14^th December 2015

73.8km (33km/641m & 40.8km/607m)
https://www.strava.com/activities/452479279
https://www.strava.com/activities/452479287





I am so grateful for having fun and adventures in my life.

Last week we made a big effort and got a few decent gym workouts done YAY 😊😊 On Friday we did one with lots of FAF front squats with a rest day on Saturday giving time for the legs to recover before heading off on the bikes for our first 2 day mini bike packing adventure. WRONG!!!! On Sunday the legs were still in pieces 😳 oh crap!!!!

Unfortunately our fur kids thought they were coming too and there were 5 sad faces when we left without them.

We headed out on our first overnight bike packing adventure. I rode my fat bike Priscilla for the first time loaded with gear. Oh boy does that ever change things. That extra weight alters balance, steering and power. Yep had to find my Big girl undies and dig deep. Well we also had hills, killer  
 
hills. One hill was even called Steep Hill Road wtf...and we thought that would be fun - ha - pushing a fully loaded fat bike up ‪#‎steepasfuckhillroad nearly BUT didn't make me cry. Yeah yeah yeah the view at the top was amazing but seeing the sign at the top saying 'No Trucks' well that just cracked us up. This badass hill was too steep for tough old trucks 😜😜

We got to camp out in our little tent at an old school house at Rockleigh. Opposite was a very old disused tennis court stuck out in the middle of nowhere with large grain properties either side. It turned out it wasn’t disused, as a local family of 5 rocked up with their rackets, a rope for a net, an eski for cool drinks and a fold up chair for the mum. Here the Dad and 3 kids played tennis for well over an hour while the Mum relaxed under the shade of a tree. After an hour or so they packed up and headed back home leaving us to the sights of a promising sunset. I was out to it shortly after dinner way before the sun went down totally knackered. Dave took his camera in hand and stayed up happily clicking away waiting for that perfect sunset shot that didn’t quite eventuate.

Monday morning brought a very hot day. We were on the bikes before 9am and headed off with smiles. Legs felt really good, energy was high and attitude positive. We melted in the sun quite a few times when the Garmin was reading 40 degrees + but nature provided us with coolness on some awesome shady downhill runs. We came across one slithery brown snake wanting to share our road so we offered him right of way. We finished our awesome little adventure with a fresh salad wrap at the Mt Pleasant bakery before completing our last 7km.

This is just our beginnings of our bike packing adventures, just little one and two days at a time, getting the feeling of things and working out all the do's and don'ts. It is tough work and no room for princesses. The shower comes in a packet called Active Wipes. The loo comes with a shovel, (or if you're really lucky you may get a long drop with red back spiders and all) And the best thing of all is the feeling of freedom and the excitement of doing it over and over again.