Penultimate pedal - Three old blokes tackle the Tasmania Trail - CycleBlaze

March 23, 2022

Penultimate pedal

Franklin to Margate

Unbelievably it’s our second last day on the ride and for Pete it’s his last day as he’s peeling off at Huonville and heading up to Hobart to see his parents. (A big shout out to Mr and Mrs Cox; avid readers of the blog).

It had rained on and off overnight and continued in the morning as we headed off for our first coffee in the Franklin Post Office which seems to be doing a roaring trade in coffees and not much trade in stamps. It was about 10ks along the Huon highway to get to Huonville for our second coffee and then on to Kate Hill winery for a wine tasting. Pete kept going up the road to Hobart whilst we spat perfectly good wine into a spittoon.

Thanks for your company Pete! Another great riding adventure.
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That’s Kate in the middle.
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Rain squalls coming in.
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We rode back to Huonville and headed down the other side of the Huon river to Cygnet, a very pretty town on the water and had a decidedly upscale lunch of rigatoni with a pork and fennel sausage. We turned inland  and crossed a range to get to the coast on the other side and headed north up a narrow road that was way to busy to be enjoyable. 

Heading to Huonville
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There are apple orchards everywhere with the plumpest looking apples dangling just waiting to be picked but there’s seems to be very little action happening. One tractor did roll past us with wooden crates fully laden and he kindly gives us a couple to get us up the hill.

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Can’t get fresher than that!
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The squally rain showers came and went all day and finally let up on the last leg up the highway to Margate. The B and B I’d booked was set high above the town, meaning great views but added another 150 metres climbing right at the end. I was nursing another deflating rear tyre that I managed to coax within walking distance of our place and pushed the last 300m.

Another bloody picture of trees and bikes
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Allez, Allez, Allez
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The view was sort of worth it.
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Tomorrow is a short stint up to Hobart and time for a rest!

Today's ride: 63 km (39 miles)
Total: 724 km (450 miles)

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