Adventures of Coatesy

The last day of the GTBR was a lazy 56km into Hobart. I rode with my Canadian mate Pete who I met on the Great Ocean Road almost a month prior and with Sarah-Jane. Pulling into Hobart was a great feeling of achievment and relief. I hadn’t sucessfully completed a lap of the map of tassie completely under my own steam but I had done most of it and I had done my best. I wanted to chuck it in and go home heaps of times and was glad I didn’t. The total distance for the trip was 1350kms.
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Safely back in my own tent I had a great sleep and the next morning I felt strong again and ready to face the longest leg of the GTBR - the 105 km stretch from Bronte Park to Bushy Park. I was a bit apprehensive about riding the 105kms because its a bloody long way and I still wasn’t fully fit. Same old story blah blah blah. Anyway, I didn’t want a repeat of my east coast 100+ effort where I smashed myself almost beyond short term recovery.
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In the first half of the Great Tasmanian Bike Ride (GTBR) the food came thick and fast and in huge portions. They had scrolls, cream buns, lamingtons, cakes, fruit and all sorts of goodies at every rest stop. ... [Continue reading this entry]

So this continued for a few days, CC and I spent the whole rest day together and the next day riding to Lake Burbury. It continued to rain and I continued to stay in the brown tent. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Today was 85km, the longest ride since I smashed myself on the east coast. It was pissing with rain, about 10C and windy. Not headwind windy though, tailwind windy, which was bloody marvellous and all but cancelled out ... [Continue reading this entry]

If you are on a bike ride with 1400 people, a good 800 are men and there are only two toilet trucks with a total of ten cubicles, an interesting problem arises. Especially if like me, you are a ... [Continue reading this entry]

Photo of the day: Another lake meant that I could avoid bum bumping for tonight! A lake near Tullah, West Tassie. What a bloody great day 59km all downhill. A bit of ... [Continue reading this entry]

Photo of the day: A mountain, it could be the back of Cradle Mountain but I am not sure, I should be though, I rode up the bloody thing! Today was ... [Continue reading this entry]

Photo of the day: An extremely mediocre picture of Lake Barrington from my campsite. It was much more beautiful in real life! After pushing myself to the brink of physical collapse on ... [Continue reading this entry]