A few ups and downs immediately South of Burra before a long gentle downhill with the Camel Hump Range ahead. The climb over the range would be the first test of my new single-speeder status. I'm normally a drop-into-granny-gear-and-spin sort of climber so I wasn't really used to standing on the pedals and pushing a bigger gear, especially with a touring load. But it turned out OK. It wasn't a massive climb but gave the old blood-pumper a workout never the less. I was happy that I didn't have to hop off and push. Gave my confidence a good boost after days previous.
A quick downhill, followed by a few short climbs had me passing White Hut through some magic country dotted with clumps of big eucalypts and the occasional vineyard, getting more prevalent as I approached Clare.
I was now on the Riesling trail, which given my lack of high gears started to get a bit tedious. I would hit my highest cadence at around 15-20km per hour. The scenery was great but on a flat, straight rail-trail without big gears to hammer along the riding was dull. Was getting sore with not enough weight on my legs having little resistance to push against.
Lunch at Clare and continued on. Would like to come back here one day with a cruiser bike, a big fat seat, and a basket to gather booze along the way.
Auburn by 2PM. Stopped at the oval to fire up the stove and brew a coffee. Looks like a good camping spot for next time, but was a bit early to stop and sit by my tent all afternoon.
On to Riverton along stock routes or farm tracks, in saddle high grass at times. Was a bit concerned about snakes but only saw lizards. Dropped onto Riverton's rail trail - thankfully not as manicured as the Riesling trail and coasted into the Riverton Caravan Park.
Pitched the tent in an unpowered site. Think next time I'd get a powered site to get back off the main road a bit, but otherwise nice enough with plenty of grass and shade.
My tiny tent was pitched near a massive 5th wheeler motorhome. You couldn't get more contrasting modes of travel if you tried. It looks bigger than some of the houses I've been passing lately. I hate to think how much fuel they slurp through towing the thing.
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