Bike Heaven

PART II | Often, the smaller the township, the better the time we have. Scottsdale did us proud, that’s one I remember.

Another was near Port Arthur, where they turned on a bush band in a huge tent and everyone — hundreds of people — crammed in for barn dances and had a great deal of fun. I think that more than a few of us got a just little tipsy …

But you can’t drink much when you face nearly a 100km of hard riding the next day, and being Tasmania, the weather might make it harder.

On one ride, starting at Devonport and via Cradle Mountain, where we camped on the airstrip, we cycled into Strahan on a really hot day amid the flames and smoke of a bushfire that evidently had been deliberately lit at the Rookerie.

After that it rained and rained. On the stretch from Lake Burbury to Derwent Bridge it poured all day long and we arrived soaked to the skin.

There was a lot of merriment as we steamed and sizzled until we were dry …

But there’s a huge pub there and they had built an enormous log fire for bike riders, bush walkers and hitchhikers. Literally hundreds of people stood around this fire, turning to dry themselves like so many chooks on a rotisseries. There was a lot of merriment as we steamed and sizzled until we were dry and that night there was a rock band too.

Plus a couple of ugly incidents. These big rides do attract the envy of some people and you get things like cars hazing riders on the road next day or a few bikes being stolen, but the police take swift action and sometimes the grounds are patrolled.

These sorts of incidents aren’t frequent and they might happen everywhere, not just in Tasmania. There are marshalls on the road and volunteer patrols at night so there’s very little harassment overall.

In the last six Bicycle Victoria big bike rides I’ve seen most of Tasmania. Apart from magnificent scenery on the way — and on a bike you can take it in much more easily than speeding along in the car — on rest days you can explore sights like Port Arthur or the Franklin, or take up organised activities like kayaking, horse-riding, and the like.

One time I went with a few friends on a scenic flight to the South West, stopping at Cox’s Bight for morning tea. That was awesome.

And, that's why I'll be on my bicycle again come February 2005.

PART I | PART II