The Dunstan trail for us started at Smith’s Way some 17kms
from the Cromwell Heritage Village. It
then joins the trail proper and is about 40kms long. Whilst I had read a bit about the trail
including information about a couple of hills to negotiate, it didn’t guarantee being prepared for what lay ahead.
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On the way to Cromwell
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We were shuttled up to Smiths Way and were almost literally blown
down the lakeside to Cromwell by a strong northerly wind.
We went through a new attractive development
called Pisa Moorings where I suspect a lot of people have a bit of money.
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Part of the Heritage Precinct
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The Cromwell Heritage Precinct is a collection of saved and
restored buildings from the main street of Cromwell which is now underwater as
a result of the creation of Lake Dunstan.
We stopped there for a cup of coffee and a bit to eat before setting out
on our ride to Clyde via the Dunstan trail.
Initially we were blown toward Bannockburn on an undulating but quick gravelled
track.
After crossing a bridge, the climbing
started.
They were not hard or long
climbs, usually just short, sharp and steep. The track continued along the side
of the lake and then at Cornish Point we again had the wind behind our backs
and headed into the gorge proper.
It is
a very well constructed path.
We soon
came to the cantilevered bridges hanging off the bluffs just above the water.
They were narrow but fortunately we did not
encounter anyone coming towards us whilst on them.
About 20 kilometres into the ride we came to
the Coffee boat where we stopped along with a whole lot of other people who were
having refreshments.
We opted for an ice
cream as it was a bit late for a second coffee.
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Coffee Boat
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Cantilevered bridges
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The boats were in a nice sheltered area (I wouldn’t call it
a bay) and that was the launching pad for the first challenging climb.
First it was a steep ride up to an essential
loo stop, then I looked up and saw a series of switchback climbs and wondered
whether I would be walking a bit of it.
I had taken my beta blocker which tends to deaden my legs but I said to
myself “you can do it, just take it slowly and use all the gears”.
That is what I did and slowly I ground my way
up the trail completing it without stopping other than to take a photo looking
toward Cromwell.
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Near the top of the first climb
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What we were about to tackle
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Finally we reached what was the highest point on the trail
but it was not the last climb.
It was a
quick decent which gave some relief to our over extended lungs and tired
legs.
For the next few kilometres the
path undulated then it was the next hill and again it was a lung busting effort.
The next highlight was traversing the Hugo Bridge (a swing bridge over a rather
deep ravine).
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Hugo Bridge
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On the way down
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It was soon afterwards, when I was about to go over a little
bridge, that I felt a huge amount of air blasting my from nether regions.
I called out to Bev (who was a little further
ahead) to tell her
I had encountered a
problem with my rear tyre. It led to nearly an hour long repair process.
The tyre, which didn’t have a whole lot of
tread left, had a hole in it and I suspect what happened was that a sharp stone
penetrated it .
I took the wheel off, during which time quite a few people rode
by. I grabbed a spare tube and then decided
that it would not be a good idea to
replace it without fixing the tyre as well. I also didn’t want to have to walk
14kms to the end of the trail if I got another puncture. Fortunately I had a puncture repair kit. I used one of the patches to cover the hole
in the tyre. I also realised I would need to put the damaged tyre on the front as
I did not want to put additional pressure
on it from my weight. An hour later I
had the bike reassembled. Remarkably
only one person stopped to ask if he could help which was so nice. All in all the tyres swapped, new tube
installed and then wheels put back on the bike
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The highest point
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All back together
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The rest of the ride continued without drama.
I nursed the bike along and while there were a
few more climbs they were insignificant compared the earlier ones.
It was with relief that we reached our destination of Clyde Dam,
as it meant should something further happen, Bev could ride on and get the car
to pick me up.
Finally we headed down the last hill and then endured a
short climb off a bridge over the Clutha to Clyde village. We ended the day by having a pizza.
Bev was very tired and it is the first time I
have seen her go to bed early while the lights were on and fall into a deep sleep.
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