Today's ride was a challenging one — 44.1 km with 748 metres of climbing and 1,019 metres of descent. We tackled four tough climbs along the way:
• Pole Road: 3 km, 150 m gain, with a max gradient of 12.2% and an average of 6.6%
• Formby Road: 1 km, 91 m gain, max 14.5%, average 9.9%
• Chalk Hill Road: 0.7 km, 63 m gain, max 14.9%, average 10%
• Easton Road: 0.5 km, 47 m gain, max 11.9%, average 9.4%
But it wasn’t all uphill. We were rewarded with two great downhill stretches:
• Frith Road: 8.8 km descent, dropping 280 m
• Piggott Range Road: 16.2 km descent, dropping 384 m
The morning started off cool and cloudy, which helped as we warmed up on the climbs. By the time we were heading downhill, the sun had come out — perfect riding conditions.
We kicked off the ride at Belair Station and made our way through Belair National Park. After climbing Pole Road to Ironbank, we followed the ridge down to Clarendon for a well-earned coffee break. From there, we avoided the main roads, taking a quieter back route up via Chalk Hill and Angel Gully Rd and then onto Piggott Range Road.
The final stretch was a long, scenic descent to Onkaparinga River Park, finishing at Seaford Meadows Station — where we arrived just in time to catch the train home.