Day Eight: Davenport to Launceston
Another day, another 140 kilometres with 1,700 metres of climbing – this is not getting any easier! Today also saw me spend a fair bit of time helping out on the front of the peloton, and although it is great to think that I am respected enough to be called upon to do this at this late stage of the tour, it also makes for a harder day in the saddle.
After rolling off the Spirit of Tasmania at 8.00 a.m., we conducted two school visits in Davenport before making our way to the beautiful little town of Sheffield. The ride entering and exiting Sheffield provided spectacular views of Mount Roland, with the views on the way out being postcard perfect. My appreciation of the views were sort lived, as 8 kilometres out of Sheffield I learnt pretty quickly that Tasmanians don’t like creating hills with gentle gradients. There were two sharp climbs we had to contend with, the second on Union Bridge Road really packed a punch. Although the total distance was only 3.5 kilometres, the average gradient of 7% made parts of it very challenging. After a sharp descent, we rode through Mole Creek and Deloraine, before stopping at Westbury for lunch. The ride to Launceston following lunch was relatively straightforward, with a steep descent into town seeing us reach speeds of 85 kilometres per hour – exhilarating but a touch scary at the same time. Two policemen on their push bikes provided us with an escort to central Launceston for a Camp Quality function that was organised to coincide with our arrival.
Views of Mount Roland on our approach to Sheffield.
No community dinner for me tonight as I was on laundry duty with some other riders. I go to sleep with the knowledge that the hill that enabled us to reach such high speeds on our entrance into Launceston this afternoon is the only way to exit the town tomorrow. Roll on Hobart.
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