On The Launch Pad!

Correcting A Misconception

The Nullarbor Plain, or just "The Nullarbor", has an enormous presence in the psyche of most Australians. Actually, it  has such a strong influence, most people think that travelling from Perth to Melbourne by road is all about The Nullarbor. Therefore, when we've talked to people about riding our bikes  across the country reactions vary from utter horror to skepticism, wonder (as in "What the heck?") and even, occasionally, admiration. Wikepedia says that "Crossing the Nullarbor for many Australian is the essential Australian Outback experience". However, the Nullarbor is actually less than one quarter of the distance we'll be travelling. The main thing is that it's not just the Nullarbor! So, to be clear, we are hoping to ride from Perth to Melbourne, mostly via the coast, which will give us nearly 5000 kilometres of cycling. Here is the approximate route ...

Last Minute Preparations

We are at the stage of trip planning and preparation that I absolutely hate and am incredibly bad at, i.e. the business of tidying up all the loose ends before we depart. Things like ... how many pairs of socks and jocks will I need ... one pair of shoes or two ... this cycling top or that one ...

It's all a bit more complicated than usual because we've never done a long cycle tour like this before, and there's a good chance the weather will be very wet for the first couple of weeks.

I'll do whatever I can to put off making all these decisions, even resorting to starting new projects in the garden in the middle of winter! Thankfully I've got Di to bring me back on task. She has three or four lists on the go for all the different things we need to think about and, if previous trips are any indication, will have her stuff packed the day after tomorrow.

Still Having Fun

Yup, there's boring organisational stuff to do, but as far as I'm concerned you've still got to do the Carpé Diem thing. Gather ye rosebuds, and all that. The forecast for today in Hobart was for uninterrupted sunshine so there was nothing else for it but to get on the bikes. Today's ride was a repeat of the wonderful day we had just over a week ago. I took this photo of Di on Fingerpost Road ...

What you see is pretty representative of the whole ride: rolling terrain through farmland. At this point we had just passed one of many apricot orchards in this area. The location where this photo was taken is marked red dot in the Google image below, and part of our route is shown with a blue dotted line ...

... or for an overview of the country that encompassed the whole ride, have a look at this image ...

Our route took us from Hobart, north to Bridgewater, through Tea Tree, on to Sorell via Fingerpost Road (the spot where I took the photo of Di is at about 550 Fingerpost Rd), across the two causeways then around the airport, through Acton Park, Lauderdale and Bellerive. A little over 100 kilometres, 1000 metres of climbing at an average gradient of 5%. Not bad for a couple of old fogeys. We had a little wind but not too much, especially for Hobart. What could be better?

It looks reasonable for another ride tomorrow before the rain comes later, so I'll be on the bike again. Di is talking about a different game plan (I don't think she's starting to pack just yet) but I don't want to miss out as we only have a handful of opportunities left to ride before we go. And I'm definitely not riding my bike on Thursday as this is what the forecast looks like ...

Call me a wuss if you like but I might have a walk ... 

... or go to the pool ...

... or maybe take in a movie. 

Anything but go for a ride!

P.S. Just came across this video, which is a must-watch. I don't think we'll be trying anything like this on our ride across Australia ...