Stage 359 is proof that when you come off a ‘short cut’ across a land mass between two seaports, in this case Port Pirie and Port Wakefield, then the only way is down. However before the fun of the descent, there’s further work to do on the climbing scene as the first two miles build on the finish of stage 358.
Rolling out, the road south of Lochiel to the Maxwell road junction to Kilmarnock is straight and climbs two hundred and fifty feet in a little over two miles. The summit arrives as the Augusta Highway passes to the west of Pineville and that signals the start of a nine mile descent to Beaufort, albeit that the road does flatten and even climb briefly at five miles as the highway passes by Nantawarra.
After Beaufort, the road is flat and straight all the way to Pareora where a right/left combo of bends sees the Augusta Highway join the B85 Copper Coast Highway that comes in from Wallaroo on the Spencer Gulf coast. Thereafter, the road becomes the A1 Port Wakefield Highway as it continues on south east towards Adelaide.
The road remains completely flat as it swings left through Port Wakefield and even though it swings slightly inland as it leaves the town, the highway remains flat to the end of the stage just west of Terrigal.
Distance: 22 miles / 35 kilometres
Ascent: 322 feet / 98 metres
RGT Magic Road: lApkNfe6uRCl
Max elevation: 617 ft
Min elevation: 124 ft
Total climbing: 323 ft
Total descent: -546 ft
You must log in to post a comment.