Day 3 of Mawson Trail - You must be Resilient

Friday 16 October
Distance:  62 km
Elevation gain:  433 metres
From Rawnsley Park Station to The Outback Highway (target was the town of Hawker)
About 4 hrs elapsed from 7am to 11 am.

This was a big day.  At Rawnsley Park Station we were about 40km from Hawker along the Flinders Ranges Way highway, but the Mawson Trail took a round-about 93km to reach Hawker.  
I was anxious after the previous 2 days where the Mawson Trail was hilly, rough and rocky.  How could I manage 93km over such a challenging course?  There were 4 segments today - the first 10 km on the Flinders Ranges Way highway, then 28k on a dirt road, 12 km on the Outback Highway before the final 43 km on a mix of single track and backroads.

I had an amazing 3 segments and after 50km was flying and having a great day.  The conditions were great with smooth bitumen roads and a pretty good 28km dirt road.  It all came undone on the final 43 km.

First the good news - It was an early start at 7am and there was a lovely sunrise over the ranges.  I had a mostly downhill 10km run along the Flinders Ranges Way bitumen before turning onto the 28km Moralana Scenic Drive.  It was definitely scenic - through the Flinders ranges with so much wildlife.  It was a twitcher's paradise with so many birds, joined by mobs of kangaroos and plenty of emus running all over the place.  I had an early morning-tea in a dry river bed with massive Red Gum trees.  It was such an Australian landscape.

Then onto The Outback highway for 12km where there was a headwind that made slow going but then the road turned or the wind changed and I had a tailwind.  Fantastic...but hard work.  I felt confident that I was able to reach Hawker in good time and achieve the 93km journey.  After 12 km along The Outback highway I was now 31 km from Hawker.  But the Mawson Trail didn't follow the highway.  Time for the final 43 km on a red dirt track.

Now the bad news - I didn't make it to Hawker.  Along the final 43km, about 5km into the dirt track, the caltrops (or 3 corner jacks) made an appearance.  I was flying along when the front tyre started to deflate.  My heart dropped.  I knew this was a risk.  There were plenty of warnings on the internet about these terrible prickles that can ruin both cycling and car tyres.  I stopped and checked my front tyre and it was full of these prickles.  I pulled them out and immediately heard the hissing of air.  Worse was to come.  I checked my back tyre and it too was covered.  I remember pulling one prickle out of the back tyre and hearing the rush of air.  Two flat tyres.  Dam.  

I got to work, first the front tyre and then the back.  I had 2 brand new tubes so it was just time to replace them (I didn't consider patching them).  Carefully checking the inside of the tyre before installing the new tube.  There were a few nasty 'needle like' prickles that were easy to feel and I removed these before the new tubes were installed.

Finally I was ready to get going.  But what to do?  Should I continue forward along the dirt track where there was still close to 40km to get to Hawker,  or backtrack to the highway?  I decided that it was easier to get rescued on the highway and backtracked 5km so that I was back on the bitumen.  I carefully made it to the highway and thought I could make it to Hawker, but the caltrops had other ideas.  I don't know if I missed one (or more) of the original needles or if I picked up new punctures.  The outcome was the same.  After less than a kilometre on the highway I had another two flat tyres.  Double Dam.  At this stage I made the call to Mel for a rescue.  I found a shady spot by the highway and sat down to wait.  A few choice words were yelled at no-one in particular.  
Thankfully Mel arrived to collect me and drive the 30km to Hawker.  

Today’s theme song is by AC/DC - Highway to Hell
This leg of the Mawson Trail is my highway to hell.  What a horrible, horrible ride.
In no way can it be fun,  

In other news, Mel returns home tomorrow.  She is driving 4.5hrs to Adelaide and then flying home.  That leaves me all alone without a rescue vehicle if this was to happen again.  
I have made the difficult but wise decision to cut short my Mawson Trail adventure. I"m going to catch a lift with Mel tomorrow and restart my adventure in the town of Clare.  This skips about 450km of the Mawson Trail, but I'm not prepared to sacrifice more tyres and tubes, and waste time.  From the town of Clare I will be closer to civilisation and minimise running across those 3 corner jacks ever again. I will spend another week on the Mawson Trail cycling from Clare to Adelaide.  Stay tuned.

Happier times at the start of the day. 

The trail crosses the riverbed. I stopped for a break early in the day. 

The final leg along the trail today was smooth.  Except for the punctures. 

An example of the 3 legged jack in my glove. Those points are made for destroying tyres.