ABFC Clare Valley March 22 - 28

Greetings All: A quick update on the past few days. As you may or may not recall a random inquiry about finding a bike shop put us in touch with ABFC; the Australian Bike Friday Club and we were invited to attend their annual gathering. This year it was in the Clare Valley and we managed to arrange to be there. We jumped on the train to Adelaide and were picked up by our friend Rob Mengler for a few days of sightseeing in his old stomping grounds before we went out to the Clare to meet up w the BF People.

It had been 10 years since we had seen Rob and he hasn’t changed a bit. He did however change jobs; from parks and into the Forest Service. Doing essentially the same thing (Habitat management) just for a different organization.

We went off and raked for blue mud crabs; managing to get enough for an ocean side feed prior to going to have a look at the mangrove swamps on the way back to town.

The next day was a visit to Murray Bridge so named because it was the location of the first bridge to span the Murray River.

The Murray, as it is called in Aus., is a major waterway and the main supplier of water for the desperately dry southern part of Aus.

After poking around MB a bit we were shown an area that has an endangered species of bird, the Malee Fowl, which build huge nests and uses compost to maintain the nest at a constant temperature so the eggs will hatch.

Eventually the time came for Rob to drop us in the Clare Valley. He came up and spent the evening with us as we met some of the BF folks. He was impressed by the amount of travel these folks undertake and was amused at the collection of small wheeled bikes that had been assembled.

We checked in with the BF Folks on Thursday evening and got the lowdown on the next day’s ride. The Clare Valley is littered with wineries and has some of the oldest vines in Aus. The Seven Hill winery run by the Jesuit Priests has been continuously producing sacramental wine in the area since the early 1800’s.

On Friday we joined the group (approx. 110 riders) for a ride that could be anywhere from 35 to 60K depending on the route you followed. There were folks from all over Aus. Plus three kanuks and two yanks. Bike Friday sent out one of their sales folks for the event so we had a chance to talk to him about our bikes and experiences. The après ride festivities included much food & drink coupled with info about the next day’s ride. The Sat. Ride was a bit shorter but mostly on hard packed dirt road.

We had a very enjoyable time riding with an American chap and his daughter. He was a pilot for United Airlines and his 15 year old was nicking some time off school to attend the ride. They have been attending ABFC events for the past 10 years. Saturday evening was a catered dinner with a charity auction that raised over $2000.00 for Seeing Eye dogs of Aus. There were at least 3 blind riders in the group so the choice of charities was very appropriate.

After three days of organized rides Sunday was a personal choice day followed by a catered lunch at the local golf course. After lunch people said their goodbyes and scattered to the four winds. We hitched a ride back to Adelaide with a great couple Greg and Rose. We had a stellar ride back and dinner with them. They generously offered us their spare room for the evening and dropped us in the city the next morning so we could pick up a rental car to begin the last leg of our journey which would see us arrive back at Sarah and Paul’s place in Karrajong just outside of Sydney.