The Riesling Trail in the Clare Valley, is a 27km trail that follows the route of the old train line between Auburn and Clare. They have recently extended the trail down to Riverton as well, but this weekend was all about Auburn to Clare.
We arrived in Auburn on Saturday morning, about 8:30 after an early exit from Adelaide. By about 9, we were on the road. The track is on a gradual incline from Auburn to Sevenhill, before a short 5km decline into Clare.... And we had a headwind, all the way!!! It took us 3 hours to get to Clare! We stopped at a few places along the way for photos, muesli bars and fruit and to read some of the signs along the trail.
We ate our packed lunch under a shady gazebo in Clare, stopping for about 30 minutes to rest our saddle weary bottoms before jumping back on the bikes. The stretch between Clare and Sevenhill, which had been a blessing on the way up, was now putting me fair in struggle town!!! I was really feeling it and my motivation was rapidly dropping!!! Andy had visions of parking me under a shady tree, riding back alone and returning to collect me and my bike in the car!!! Once I had a little recoup at Sevenhill, I got back on and I was absolutely on fire from there!!! OK, so it was downhill, but still, it was a great feeling, whizzing along the countryside with the wind whistling through my helmet!!! We made it back to Auburn in half the time, so we had plenty of time for a quick freshen up before hitting a few wineries.
We did 3 of my favourites, Penna Lane, Killakanoon and Sevenhill. At Sevenhill we explored the old church and its crypt where we set about trying to find the oldest date. Wandering the church brought about an interesting conversation about religious symbolism.
We went to Watervale for dinner, where we were seated next to a family of yokels, um, I mean locals, out celebrating their daughters 10th birthday. The birthday girl made us feel really at home by letting rip with a massive audible fart in our direction. Luckily this was before our meal had arrived! It was certainly an experience!
On Sunday, we headed back to Penna Lane and had a beautiful cheese platter for lunch, accompanied by a lovely crisp white wine. It was our 5th "Monthiversary", so that is how we justified such extravagance! We were joined by "Panda" the resident Bernese Mountain Dog, who sat beside our table and fell asleep. Being dog people, we enjoyed her company as much as she enjoyed out pats!
So a good weekend all round. I highly recommend packing your bike and driving an hour and a half north for it! Our lungs were filled with fresh vineyard air, our legs are feeling a little more toned and we are both feeling very self righteous, we rode 50km on the weekend and there isn't a tender muscle in sight!!!
We arrived in Auburn on Saturday morning, about 8:30 after an early exit from Adelaide. By about 9, we were on the road. The track is on a gradual incline from Auburn to Sevenhill, before a short 5km decline into Clare.... And we had a headwind, all the way!!! It took us 3 hours to get to Clare! We stopped at a few places along the way for photos, muesli bars and fruit and to read some of the signs along the trail.
We ate our packed lunch under a shady gazebo in Clare, stopping for about 30 minutes to rest our saddle weary bottoms before jumping back on the bikes. The stretch between Clare and Sevenhill, which had been a blessing on the way up, was now putting me fair in struggle town!!! I was really feeling it and my motivation was rapidly dropping!!! Andy had visions of parking me under a shady tree, riding back alone and returning to collect me and my bike in the car!!! Once I had a little recoup at Sevenhill, I got back on and I was absolutely on fire from there!!! OK, so it was downhill, but still, it was a great feeling, whizzing along the countryside with the wind whistling through my helmet!!! We made it back to Auburn in half the time, so we had plenty of time for a quick freshen up before hitting a few wineries.We did 3 of my favourites, Penna Lane, Killakanoon and Sevenhill. At Sevenhill we explored the old church and its crypt where we set about trying to find the oldest date. Wandering the church brought about an interesting conversation about religious symbolism.
We went to Watervale for dinner, where we were seated next to a family of yokels, um, I mean locals, out celebrating their daughters 10th birthday. The birthday girl made us feel really at home by letting rip with a massive audible fart in our direction. Luckily this was before our meal had arrived! It was certainly an experience!
On Sunday, we headed back to Penna Lane and had a beautiful cheese platter for lunch, accompanied by a lovely crisp white wine. It was our 5th "Monthiversary", so that is how we justified such extravagance! We were joined by "Panda" the resident Bernese Mountain Dog, who sat beside our table and fell asleep. Being dog people, we enjoyed her company as much as she enjoyed out pats!
So a good weekend all round. I highly recommend packing your bike and driving an hour and a half north for it! Our lungs were filled with fresh vineyard air, our legs are feeling a little more toned and we are both feeling very self righteous, we rode 50km on the weekend and there isn't a tender muscle in sight!!!
1 comment:
Lots of cycling and one very tired Annie at the end. Effort well done! Love ya Annie!!
Judy
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