What do you do when you are on a Walk the Yorke cycling camp and a blistering northerly wind (up to 50 km/hr) is forecast? You find a north to south ride: Port Rickaby to Hardwicke Bay on the west side of the Yorke Peninsula.
Fortunately, with my non-cycling husband Derek to assist us, some of the pain of shuttling cars was sorted.
Port Rickaby
Only sixteen kilometres from our base at Minlaton Caravan Park, Port Rickaby is a charming seaside village with a jetty and its own caravan park.
A short ride along a back road soon brought us to the entrance to Barkers Rocks Conservation Park.
Barkers Rocks Conservation Park
Before long, we began to realise that we had quite a challenge in front of us.
Edging along the back of the coastal dunes, the track was very sandy. Our tyres frequently sank to the spokes.
However, the scenery was aridly beautiful.
We rode where we could
and walked the rest.
After what seemed like an age, we finally emerged at the Walk the Yorke Shelter at Barkers Rocks.
Canola Fields
After a short break we pedalled east along Barkers Rocks Road, experiencing the northerly blast as a cross wind.
As we turned south onto Parsons Road, the northerly blew us along for a wonderful four kilometres. Some of us had never cycled so fast on a gravel road!
Then, as we turned back towards the coast, we enjoyed a short three kilometre break on bitumen. However, the powerful cross wind was still giving us plenty of challenge.
Throughout the month of August and into September, the rich agricultural fields of the Yorke Peninsula are dotted with iridescent yellow canola fields in full bloom.
As we cycled east, we passed this glorious field on Parsons Beach Road.
Parsons Beach to Port Minlacowie
Now we came to one of our favourite sections of the ride. Starting with a well-compacted double track, the Walk the Yorke headed south again.
We cycled past magnificent white sand dunes.
After Watson Beach Road, the track became sandy in places, but not overwhelming.
We were able to ride the whole way.
Nevertheless, we felt we had earned our lunch stop at the Walk the York Port Minlacowie Shelter.
Cockle Beach
Between Watson Beach Road and Cockle Beach Road, there are a couple of sandy tracks that lead to the beach. On a ride later in the week, we followed one of these and found a beautiful lunch stop.
To Hardwicke Bay
From Port Minlacowie, we rode eight kilometres on a straight and solid dirt road all the way to Hardwicke Bay. With the northerly behind us, we covered this distance in next to no time.
We were pretty pleased with ourselves when we arrived at Hardwicke Bay.
Summary of Walk the Yorke from Port Rickaby to Hardwicke Bay
While the track through Barkers Rocks Conservation Park had been tough, we enjoyed the variety of this section of the trail. The powerful northerly wind had been our friend for most of the way.
I particularly enjoyed the trail between Parsons Beach and Port Minlacowie, and the track through to beautiful Cockle Beach was an extra bonus.
All together we had cycled 32 kilometres and climbed 66 metres. I would definitely recommend this section of Walk the Yorke. However, I suggest that you tackle the Barkers Rocks track early in the ride, while you are still fresh.
Two other good-for-cycling sections of Walk the Yorke are between Port Moorowie and Edithburgh and Stansbury to Edithburgh. Or, for something completely different, why not try Walk the Yorke from Port Wakefield to Port Arthur?
