Day 6: Carcoar to Orange (The End)
We made it! 54 kms on a very windy, grey and cold day. No jackets were removed, even when riding the steepest of hills. The first 10 kms were the worst, with two hills going up about 400m on crappy gravel. When we reached the tops, we couldn't descend fast, as the road was too corrugated. My head was nearly shaken off at 30kph.
Arriving in Millthorpe, we chanced upon the best cafe ever and devoured baklava and a Portuguese tart, downed with the best long black. Maybe it was just the cold and being out of the wind, but it really did seem magnificent.
Back on our bikes, after Ray had changed his gloves from fingerless to finger full, because his hands were cold, the rest of the trip was a doddle. Downhill and on bitumen, we made it back to our motel in super quick time.
The car was still where we had left it. Bentley, the gorgeous Panda type doggy came out to greet us. After a hot shower and a lie down, I am starting to feel human. No more riding for the rest of the trip. Yippee!
More vistas
Can't quite tell here but that was a very rough, corrugated and steep hill
Thanks for letting us know - this is almost at the end of the first section of gravel. Ironically, this section was some of the smoothest of the day.
A rather nice tree lined road, with the trees forming barrier to the cross winds
Yes those are camels.
Camels and Ostriches (or possibly emus although they look too big)
Am I excited? Why of course - 354.5 klms done and dusted.
Ride Notes
- This map is the one produced by the Orange360 organisation as, for some reason, the GPS on my phone would not work. We rode form Carcoar to Orange.
- The start point was on the right of the course profile - yes we started with hills
- The gravel roads today were pretty ordinary, containing heaps of corrugations, rough sections, potholes - not a great riding experience. Add to this was a significant climb which caused a few curses.
- ON a positive note, the traffic today was pretty good, not many trucks and respectful drivers.
- Millthorpe has good cafes so there are plenty of food options here
- It was also nice to complete the ride with some tailwinds and a nice downhill slope right into Orange
- Overall a good end to an overall good ride