First to finish a bonus

Scenic 1780km ‘trip to Hell’

THERE are no prizes for winning the Tassie Gift, but after eight days in the saddle Hobart rider Alex Hunt says he will settle for a shower and a beer.

Billed as an off-road, unsupported and unsanctioned “scenic trip to Hell”, the 1780km bike packing event follows back roads and trails in a huge figure of eight traversing some of the toughest terrain the state has to offer.

After enduring the full gamut of Tasmanian weather and catching a few hours’ sleep by the side of the trail each night, the 29-year-old was greeted by a small crowd of wellwishers when he rolled into Hobart’s Red Square at about 1 pm on Friday.

He said he was glad just to have been able to complete the gruelling course — being the first rider to finish was a bonus.

“It was difficult but I also really enjoyed it. We got to take in a lot of the state and see some really cool places I hadn’ t seen before ,” he said.

“I’ll probably have a shower and then have a beer, or maybe have a beer and then a shower. I don’t know, we’ll sort out the order. They’re pretty high on my priority list.”

According to the event’s GPS tracking page there were 13 riders on the course in its secondyear.

Some treat the event as a race, some as a “leisure ride”. Four riders had withdrawn by late Friday, and the last known rider was still 800km from the finish.

And given the unofficial nature of the event, there may have been other riders taking part.

Mr Hunt traded the lead several times over the last week with well-known local endurance rider Emma Flukes, event organiser, course designer and last year’ s winner.

“Emma really kept me honest. Mentally, she’s just incredible ,” he said.