46.54km / 3:39:01 / 122m / 29.0°C
After a leisurely breakfast in town we returned to the hotel, got on the bikes, and headed out for a full day of exploring around. Was probably around seven hours or so by the clock, three thirty-nine riding time, all over the place including a lazy hour or so lying around in the Sale Botanic gardens snoozing and reading the paper
First port of call was the port, then off down the canal to the swing bridge to read up on the engineering and restoration. South around the wetlands “Sale Common” and we found ourselves at a locked gate leading into “Heart Morass” – it seemed we were allowed in, pedestrian access was possible, just locked against car owners who don’t have a key. Several rides up and down along dirt tracks around the swampy lowlands, then trying to leave by following a track heading north alongside the power lines…. it very nearly worked, we got to within a few hundred metres of being able to rejoin boardwalks and tracks in the common, but those few hundred metres were through swamp, over fences, possibly through private property, and would have been a struggle, so back again. All the way back to town for a late lunch, then around another lake and into the botanic gardens to laze about for an hour before once again heading towards the common to see if we could connect up the tracks we’d partly ridden. Found that parts of the boardwalk are closed, and sections have been removed to prevent people trying to use them, so another retrace and a side road to its end, then in from the other end and around again
Lots of fun, lots of bird-life in the wetlands and above us, one small tiger snake, two big fat blue tongue lizards, a couple of kangaroos, a wallaby and a rakali swimming under our boardwalk. Finally back to the hotel for a couple of well-earned beers
Few clouds, 28°C, Feels like 27°C, Humidity 16%, Wind 5m/s from WNW - by Klimat.app
My 1375th day in a row riding a bike; the last 6 days of 2019, my and all of 2021, 2022 and 2023 so far…
Garmin / Strava / ridewithgps
