Day 2: Hawker
Day Two – Hawker
A 160km day, this route is notable for scenery and being a fast and relaxed ride. I discovered immediately after leaving the Railway Hotel that there is a new long-hour servo on the outskirts of Jamestown, open from 6am-10pm, which helps with the food desert past Clare. Inevitably, by the time I reach Jamestown when heading north, everything is shut, so this will help.
Jamestown out to Hornsdale/Mannanarie is always an uncomfortable start. It's usually windy (hence the wind farm) and there is enough of a climb to irritate legs which would rather still be in bed. The day was marked by head winds forecast at 20km but which seemed to be higher, with the inevitable noise. Headwinds above 10kmh really slow down a bike with panniers.
Past Mannanarie, the road is much flatter. But it was cold! 8.30am at Mannanarie and the temperature was still -4C despite the bright sunlight.
The key stop on this road is Orroroo where there is a good IGA and a nice bakery! It's the last food on a fast trip north because Hawker will likely be closed by the time you arrive, and still shut when you leave!
With the wind, it was clearly going to be a slow day, so I figured that I might as well go into the old town of Walloway which is north of Orroroo. There was a train crash here in 1901.
The picture is looking back to Orroroo from the hill above Walloway. Be aware that if there has been winter rain, you may have to ford a creek. I kept one foot dry!
There is good water at Carrieton, which is about 95km north of Jamestown. The pub has re-opened, and may have some counter food, depending when you come through. The little General Store has always been shut by the time I get into town, so I have no idea what it may have on offer.
I added water to my dry-food tea at Craddock (just after dark) and, with a welcome drop in the wind, made up a few minutes on the last stretch into Hawker.
Stats: 166.4km, 10:13 hours moving at 16.3kmh, Real Average Speed: 13.3kmh, Min Temp: -4C
Keeping Warm
I wore an open knit short sleeve jersey as a base layer. Then a long sleeve Hi-Viz yellow jersey. For most of the day I had a padded gilet over this. I wore short finger gloves and put on full finger undergloves after dark, and added a longsleeved puffer jacket over the gilet. On the bottom end: Knicks, shyshorts, and legwarmers do a good job in the day time. After dark, I add extra socks to my long ski socks, plus booties which come half way up the calf. This still left me with cool feet on this trip.
Be aware that this clothing will only keep you warm while you are riding. It takes about 20 minutes being stopped to start shivering and not long after that to start having trouble coordinating movement. But once riding, it tends to being slightly cool at the periphery to almost too warm in the core.
Food
I carried home made muesli with powdered milk-add water for breakfast. This is a mixed cup of oats, almonds, peanuts, pepitas, sunflower seed with a few crushed chocolate bits. I bought tea at Clare, but had five meals of cous cous mixed with the aforementioned nuts, plus currants, dried vegetables and a good dose of Moroccan spices. It takes about an hour to rehydrate. I carry a daily ration of small chocolate bars, and had a kilogram of Anzac biscuit mix made up in a thick moist slice. Anything else had to be bought on the way. There needs to be careful planning because shops are "few and far between," and trading hours are often fairly short.
