R
RuKu
Guest
Hi all,
Here's a short writeup with my favourite pics from my Gippsland run on the weekend 2-3rd March 2013.
I left Saturday morning at 9am, intent on following glitch's route at: http://austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4101 I had it loaded as a track on my Garmin Zumo 660 (which is great).
It took me a very gusty hour to get to the startpoint at Longwarry. Once there, I headed further East along the route. There were so many great views of yellowed rolling hills such as:
The run through to Mirboo North was lovely. Mainly great bitumen, and some easy gravel roads. The bitumen was all deserted as promised. This is because it led to gravel roads that no one else wants to travel!
Lunch at Mirboo North:
After this the route headed to the Strzelecki State Forest.
The route took me to this 'road' which I decided I would not go down:
But I rerouted using my GPS to meet up again around Morwell River Road, which was much more dirt than gravel.
I completed my first river crossing! VICTORY!
After this the road deteriorated and it became muddy. In fact, I hit a deep patch of mud, hidden around a corner, and highsided (at low speed).
Very minimal damage was done to the bike. Just some axle sliders need replacing. But my ankle was slightly twisted, and I had lost my nerve for doing dirt roads solo. My recurring knee injury also started playing up.
Anyway, here's a picture of the mud:
And one of my very muddy wheel (notice the missing axle slider, too):
I had a few slippery moments on the gravel before it cleaned off. I stayed upright after that though.
I looked at the remainder of the track, and saw it dipped up through Strzelecki again. I was not in the mood for any more off pavement, so I routed direct to Port Albert.
Even though i was pretty dejected (and sore), this view as I went south was worthy of stopping. I think it is the Prom and/or Snake Island:
I made it to Seabank at Port Albert without further incident, and set up camp. My Big Agnes Copper Spur UL1 tent, Luxury Light Cot and sleeping bag all fit into the red 20 litre dry bag. I have clothes on one side of my Giant Loop Coyote, and food/water/mess on the other. The top part contains my hat, camp shoes and sitting mat. I also have a few things in my Hydrapak Laguna backpack.
The place was quiet and $25 a night. There was a great guy (name I forget) staying close to me. He's an ex-rider (for valid reasons), and a gear head, so we had fun talking gear. He told me he works for Andystrapz out in Frankston - works the booth at bike shows. He stopped me feeling sorry for myself because my knee had started to really hurt by then.
Here's his setup next to mine:
The next day I was struggling quite a bit with pain and just wanted to get home. I took the straight way back via the A440. An hour to Leongatha for fuel, then an hour to Pakenham for lunch, then half an hour home. It really hurt to get on and off the bike, so no pics.
While I'm not out of the touring idea quite yet, I think it will be some time before I venture off pavement again. I am quite active and sporty, and re-injuring my knee on my last two outings has me weighing the risk of falling quite high.
Peace.
Here's a short writeup with my favourite pics from my Gippsland run on the weekend 2-3rd March 2013.
I left Saturday morning at 9am, intent on following glitch's route at: http://austouring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4101 I had it loaded as a track on my Garmin Zumo 660 (which is great).
It took me a very gusty hour to get to the startpoint at Longwarry. Once there, I headed further East along the route. There were so many great views of yellowed rolling hills such as:
The run through to Mirboo North was lovely. Mainly great bitumen, and some easy gravel roads. The bitumen was all deserted as promised. This is because it led to gravel roads that no one else wants to travel!
Lunch at Mirboo North:
After this the route headed to the Strzelecki State Forest.
The route took me to this 'road' which I decided I would not go down:
But I rerouted using my GPS to meet up again around Morwell River Road, which was much more dirt than gravel.
I completed my first river crossing! VICTORY!
After this the road deteriorated and it became muddy. In fact, I hit a deep patch of mud, hidden around a corner, and highsided (at low speed).
Very minimal damage was done to the bike. Just some axle sliders need replacing. But my ankle was slightly twisted, and I had lost my nerve for doing dirt roads solo. My recurring knee injury also started playing up.
Anyway, here's a picture of the mud:
And one of my very muddy wheel (notice the missing axle slider, too):
I had a few slippery moments on the gravel before it cleaned off. I stayed upright after that though.
I looked at the remainder of the track, and saw it dipped up through Strzelecki again. I was not in the mood for any more off pavement, so I routed direct to Port Albert.
Even though i was pretty dejected (and sore), this view as I went south was worthy of stopping. I think it is the Prom and/or Snake Island:
I made it to Seabank at Port Albert without further incident, and set up camp. My Big Agnes Copper Spur UL1 tent, Luxury Light Cot and sleeping bag all fit into the red 20 litre dry bag. I have clothes on one side of my Giant Loop Coyote, and food/water/mess on the other. The top part contains my hat, camp shoes and sitting mat. I also have a few things in my Hydrapak Laguna backpack.
The place was quiet and $25 a night. There was a great guy (name I forget) staying close to me. He's an ex-rider (for valid reasons), and a gear head, so we had fun talking gear. He told me he works for Andystrapz out in Frankston - works the booth at bike shows. He stopped me feeling sorry for myself because my knee had started to really hurt by then.
Here's his setup next to mine:
The next day I was struggling quite a bit with pain and just wanted to get home. I took the straight way back via the A440. An hour to Leongatha for fuel, then an hour to Pakenham for lunch, then half an hour home. It really hurt to get on and off the bike, so no pics.
While I'm not out of the touring idea quite yet, I think it will be some time before I venture off pavement again. I am quite active and sporty, and re-injuring my knee on my last two outings has me weighing the risk of falling quite high.
Peace.
