Day 146: Port Wakefield to Adelaide

October 21, 2022

Start: 8:30am
Distance: 104km
Ride time: 4:44hours
Average: 22km/hr
Max: 35km/hr
Finish: 3pm

My stealth camp was good and I wasn't woken by any trucks. There were heaps of mozzies waiting for me when I got out of the tent.

The road had a good shoulder most of the way. Sometimes the shoulder would disappear for a few kms and I had to ride in the lane of traffic.

There were two lanes of traffic heading to Adelaide. I took this when there was no traffic. Usually there was lots of traffic.

Thankfully the weather forecast was way wrong. I was due for a headwind and ended up with a nice tailwind. Wahoo!

The temperature was about 25C although to me it felt like 30C.

I stopped in the small town of Dublin for some good craic.

And a cold juice.

On the other side of town were some interesting statues:

These were made by a local farmer, Stephen Jones, as a protest against the establishment of a dump in the late 1990s.

The dump still happened and the statues still remain. Apparently they are in the movie Wolf Creek 2. I don't watch scary movies so I can't confirm.

This hay seems to have been on the ground a long time.

Further on down the road was the small town of Two Wells. It was named after 2 wells that are now next to the highway.

Originally they were used by the local indigenous people and later on by farmers to water their stock.

I saw this sign about 30kms from Adelaide.

The freeway was an indirect route, so I stayed on the Port Wakefield Rd AKA Princess Hwy.

The traffic lights had buttons for cyclists. I didn't need to use them as the traffic was extremely busy.

I found this path when I was 18kms from the city.

The path adds a further 6kms to get to the city. Even though I was keen to get to my hotel, I took the longer route hoping it would be more scenic.

And then it ended in an industrial area. I ignored the sign only to find it soon ended in a construction site.

There was no alternative route signposted. It was still 14kms from the city.

The traffic was insanely busy and fast so I rode on this dirt path for a while.

After a while longer, I found a less busy road to the city and the traffic speed was a lot slower.

I still had to ride in the traffic because the city only cares about cyclist safety before 9am. 🙄

My hotel is in the middle of the city. I arrived at 3pm. The traffic was very busy. They would blast their horns at every intersection (not directed at me). I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the commotion.

In hindsight I would recommend staying on Port Wakefield Rd and not taking the cycle path.

I was glad to get to my room and have a refreshing shower. The reception let me put my bike in the room.

I went for a walk and found some chocolate. I think Haigh's chocolate is the best Australian (SA) chocolate.

I was back in my room by 6pm so I didn't get to see any Friday night life activities.

Today's ride: 104 km (65 miles)
Total: 8,793 km (5,460 miles)

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