The clocks went back an hour over the weekend, signalling the slide into winter. I’m sure there’s still plenty of good riding weather left before winter properly hits, but down here in Tasmania you just never know! The mornings are getting nippy, and the evenings are much darker. The weekly hammer fest that is the Wednesday Night Hustle has concluded until at least September.

With all that in mind, I thought I’d get this month’s metric century in the bag early, rather than chancing the weather later in the month.

Wheeling the Canyon Aeroad out early, I started “optimistically underdressed” in short sleeves and short fingered gloves. Summer kit, summer bike. It was most definitely arm and knee warmer weather, but I was stubborn and knew I’d just ditch them after an hour. I didn’t fancy lugging them around in my jersey pockets for the rest of the ride.

This loop is a Sunday favourite of mine. It makes for a good endurance ride. Most of it is solo and early on a Sunday morning the roads are quiet. I enjoy a short stretch with the regular “SunDaze” bunch from Mornington to Richmond for coffee (if you can call what they serve at Richmond Bakery coffee) then it’s solo again to clock up the hundred.

I like this route as its mostly flat-to-rolling. No major climbs, but still enough elevation gain to test the legs and lungs. You can easily tack on a Cat 3 climb or two if you feel like it, or cut the ride short with a diversion or one less loop at either end. The terrain enables you to keep the hammer down and push hard for the majority of the ride. Also, there are NO traffic lights on the entire route!

This ride was simply about clocking some decent time in the saddle, keeping pressure on the pedals while never going too far into the red. A fairly uneventful ride, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. From here on in the summer bike may get parked and the clothing layers will get thicker. It’s been an incredible summer of cycling, so I’m not complaining. Plus to be fair, Autumn is a beautiful season in Tasmania.

Distance: 100.4 km / 62.4 miles
Total elevation gain: 800 m / 2630 feet
Average speed: 30.3 kph / 18.8 mph