In 2012 Tracey Croke, Sydney based travel journalist addicted to roughty-toughty off-track adventure and exploring on her bike, came along on our Tasmania Cycle Tour. We loved her witty and honest description of the tour, and have republished it here for you all to read. Thanks Tracey! I couldn’t understand why my bike was stopping on a steep decline. Had the brakes developed a mind of their own? Was the earth’s gravitational force shifting? Maybe I was being drawn into another time through an invisible wormhole? After my imagination stopped running away with itself, I discovered a perfectly logical explanation. I was getting an introduction to the the roaring forties – a gale force wind that rips around the Earth in latitudes between 40 and 50 degrees – and Tasmania lies smack in the path of it. Along with other factoids, I should thank that wind for the cleanest air in the Southern Hemisphere (measured by the Bureau of Meteorology) The wind could be a good friend on long climbs, but having to put more effort into the descent was a new and comical experience for me. It was an early lesson in my bike adventuring that nothing is easy if you catch nature in a mischievous mood. I planned a trip to Tasmania after stories from a couple of tour-cycling buddies made me hungry for a taste of self-sufficient bike adventuring. While Googling the best routes for my great adventure, hotel searches soon replaced a NASA level study of lightweight tents. I was completely thrown off track by a company offering to coordinate the whole journey and provide a personal luggage-shifter, who took care of everything for me sans pushing the pedals. If you’re not afraid of hills and headwinds, this five-day 450-kilometre Launceston to Hobart self-guided route is a
In 2012 Tracey Croke, Sydney based travel journalist addicted to roughty-toughty off-track adventure and exploring on her bike, came along on our Tasmania Cycle Tour. We loved her witty and honest description of the tour, and have republished it here for you all to read. Thanks Tracey! I couldn’t understand why my bike was stopping on
