All Good Things ...

... Must Come to an End

It's been a week since the last day of our epic ride across the continent. We've unpacked, done all our dirty laundry (Di), put the bikes back together (Doug), cleaned the house (Di) and done some gardening (Doug.) We've been to the State Cinema to see a movie (Ricki and the Flash with Meryl Streep), had dinner with friends, out to breakfast this morning with some other friends and have even had a couple of rides. It doesn't feel weird anymore not getting up every morning and into our cycling gear straight away, so I guess we've generally settled back into being homebodies.

I figure there has been enough time - and space - between finishing the big ride and now to be able to look back and sum up the journey. Here are some raw numbers:

Total number of ride days: 44
Total number of rest days: 9
Total days from Perth to Melbourne: 53
Shortest stretch of consecutive days riding: 2 (the first two days; ~ 200 kilometres)
Longest stretch of consecutive days riding: 12 (Esperance to Ceduna;  > 1400 kilometres)
Total distance: ~ 4700 kilometres

Memorable Moments

I've always been of the opinion that raw numbers don't mean anything without some sort of context. In this case, the context has to be the experiences we had along the way, the things that really stand out. We went off on this caper with the attitude that it wasn't necessarily going to be a holiday as such, but that it sure would be some sort of adventure. We thought it pretty likely that we would have some very ordinary weather and that could significantly impact on player comfort level. (In fact, there were very few days when we set out in early morning rain.) Our little accident just a few days before leaving home didn't help. As it turned out things went much better than we could ever have dreamed, so there were a lot more highlights than lowlights. Here are some of the moments that stand out, both good and bad:

Best Moment Off the Bike

This one was easy: it's definitely eating oysters and drinking stout with Peter and Di in Cowell ...

Ahhh ... the simple pleasures of life!

Peter had treated us to some oysters in Tumby Bay and we were looking forward to some more further down the coast of the Eyre Peninsula in Coffin Bay. Unfortunately the weather was looking abominable for the ride south so our route was amended and we thought we were going to miss out on another feed of South Australia's finest oysters. Little did we know that Cowell is growing oysters and its reputation for them. I wandered over to the closest factory from where we were staying and paid for three dozen of them. When we got down to shucking the pearly beauties it turned out that we'd been given 38, so a great little bonus. And they were fantastic!

Worst Moment Off the Bike

We were in Madura. It was the longest day's ride of the entire journey: 157 kilometres, the first 60 of which was in pouring rain and into a bit of a headwind. Di had been having trouble eating as her stomach didn't like the various anti-inflammatories she'd been consuming to try to get some relief from her sore hip. She reluctantly got into the van after morning tea at Cocklebiddy after we'd plodded along that 60 kilometres and rode with Collis. We opted to take a cabin at the caravan park rather than crawl into our tent with thunderstorms threatening. (And did it storm! The thunder raged for over six hours!) Di was so low she said, "This is the worst holiday I've ever had!"

Hardest Day Of Cycling

Gairdner to Ravensthorpe. Definitely. Way back in Western Australia and only the eighth day of riding. It was the second of two long days - each just short of 150 kilometres. It started with a gradual uphill slog of 30 kilometres into a steady, cold headwind, which was too strong for Di to do much with so I towed her most of the way. I'd had diarrhoea overnight and was feeling pretty shattered by the time we finally made it to the caravan park. It was made worse by the fact that, after an exhilarating descent to the Phillips River just a few kilometres from the end we had the inevitable climb back up to the town. This was offset by maybe the ...

... Most Beautiful Moment On the Bike ...

... when we were just on the outskirts of Ravensthorpe. We rode towards a large flock of galahs which were across the road in front of us. Just as we neared they rose into a pink and grey cloud and wheeled, wheeled and wheeled again before settling on the road in front of us. As we drew closer once again they rose and flew off and we thought that was the end of it. But no: we soon came across another large flock that did just the same thing. And then another. There would have been hundreds of them in total and they left us feeling exhilarated after such a hard day.

Most Relaxing Morning Tea Break

This is an easy one. Di and I had climbed Horrocks Pass, ridden through Wilmington and on to Melrose. We had a fantastic break at the bike shop in the sun, drinking coffee and eating brownies and muffins!

Most Dramatic Finish

This happened on the short stage from Cummins to Tumby Bay on the Eyre Peninsula. I got a great photo of a dog in the back of a truck as we left Cummins ...

Could this be another King?

... then we had some great riding into the hills east of Cummins. Rain started falling as we got towards the highest point of the range and continued as we descended. But once we reached the outskirts of Tumby Bay the storm hit with a bang. It was so wild I was moved to howl back at the wind and rain. Di and I were out in front and made straight for the café on the waterfront and waited out the worst of it inside. Once we made our way to the caravan park everyone else had decided to forego camping and take shelter inside four walls and we promptly followed suit.

Most Rewarding Day

This is a tie. Sorry, but I've mulled over and over this one and there's no way out of it. 

For Di, the day to Madura was a shocker, and that night was the low point of our shared experience. But for me, that day of riding was terrific. The whole group had slogged into morning tea at Cocklebiddy, so soaking wet that the proprietor of the roadhouse was complaining as he mopped up the puddles we left on the floor. Perversely, I was feeling pretty chirpy - maybe because we'd done some of our training in conditions just like these and we were somewhat acclimatised, and had appropriate gear on. Once Di made the decision to get in the van, I decided to set off, and I set off with a purpose. The wind had come around and the rain eased and with that my spirits lifted further. I rode the last 97 kilometres of the day on my own in three hours and one minute. 

The other most rewarding day would have to be when we rode from Port Campbell to Wye River. The day started with some gorgeous riding along the coast before going up into the Otways, roller-coasting through thick temperate rainforest and then descending back to the coast and more riding beside the sea. We rode about 125 kilometres and climbed over 1800 metres - the most of any day on the whole route. Di, Neil and I rode together along the coast visiting scenic sites along the way, went at our own pace up to Lavers Hill and down the other side to lunch, then regrouped for the rest of the ride along the coast. It was one of those magic days on the bike.

Most Exhilarating Moment

This would have to be the wild descent into Palmer the day we rode from Gawler to Wellington. Thankfully, I'd been able to get my broken right shifter replaced in Gawler: I'm sure I wouldn't have had nearly so much fun on Collis's spare bike. I'd just paused at the top of a climb ...

... unaware of what lay ahead. But soon I found myself rounding a corner and plunging down a wonderful, twisting descent. The only thing wrong with it was that it was too short.  This would also have to have been one of my scariest moments of the whole trip. As I was racing down one of the few straight but short sections of the descent a stupid young woman blasted past me in her car with the horn blaring. Caught me by surprise a bit.

Not Just the Nullarbor!

I hope sharing the journey with us across the continent has convinced you that there is a lot more than just the Nullarbor between the west and east coasts. We certainly look forward to revisiting - at a more leisurely pace - much of the territory we passed through. But I can't help but leave you with this striking image from the early part of our traverse across the Nullarbor ...

Di with camel: another road train casualty

Home in Hobart

As I said earlier, I think we've adjusted to being home again. It wasn't hard, even though we think we both have a deep nomadic streak running through us; we love being back in the company of friends and there's lots to occupy us ... at least for a while. 

Today we did one of our favourite rides and had a great time on the bike despite the winds playing their usual tricks, which prompted Di to write a little poem ...

Ode to the Headwinds of Home

A damnable thing is a headwind from Hell

It gusts down the Derwent without letup or spell

And just when you've turned

For the tailwind you've earned

It's back in your face, all your pleasure to quell!

Despite the winds, we are pleased to be home for the moment. But it won't be too long before the restlessness gets the better of us. There are places to go and things to do! And, despite having my soulmate at my side I still haven't found what I'm looking for ...

IT'S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE ...

Yep. We're done. And to salute, here's a fine Russell Morris rendition of that classic Dylan tune It's All Over Now Baby Blue.

Yesterday after we rode from Wye River to Rye I was just too bagged to do a blog post, so today's post covers two rides. It does feel kind of weird to suddenly stop any long journey so I'm sure I won't do justice to the end of this one, but here's how things panned out ...

Wye River to Rye

With another long day ahead including a ferry ride, Collis thought it would be good if we could be gone from camp by 7:30. It was a very cool start which was great because it meant that the skies were clear and the chance of any rain was negligible. We were so confident of staying dry that even Di set off without her rain jacket!

Neil, Di and I rolled out at 7:31, followed - according to Collis - almost immediately by Jim, Jen and Jacquei. The first milestone to tick off was Cumberland River, ten kilometres out of Wye River. It was the stopping place for the previous day's ride back in 2013, but the three of us were very pleased that Collis hadn't opted for it this time around. For one thing, it was that extra 10 kilometres further on top of an already quite big day - but also because it was deep in shade and absolutely freezing as we passed by. Just after we rode through the cold of the Cumberland River mouth and re-emerged in the sunshine, Di persuaded me to stop and record the scene looking back. You can see the road we've been riding along ...

The terrain for the section along the coast was very rolling as we climbed regularly over numerous headlands and descended the other sides of them. Cyclists started to appear intermittently from the other direction quite soon after we set out, and it was great to see like-minded people enjoying the early morning on the road.

Approaching Fairhaven, an amazing house came into view with the lighthouse silhouetted behind and I had to stop for a photo ...

Nearing Fairhaven

After descending this slope we were in Eastern View we paused to take a photo of the The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch ...

Great Ocean Road Memorial

 Constructed by workmen and returned soldiers, The Great Ocean Road was constructed in the 1920's as a memorial to comrades lost in World War I. What a legacy!

Just going back for a moment to our departure from Wye River: when we arrived this lovely Grey Shrike-thrush appeared and was all over our gear, poking about and generally having a sticky beak ...

You nosy thing!

The photo doesn't do it justice, but it was a lovely little thing and reappeared the next morning with the same level of inquisitiveness.

Collis had suggested that we find somewhere to stop in Anglesea for morning tea, which we did. There was quite a climb out of that little holiday place, which is effectively the end of the Great Ocean Road. Once I got to the top of the initial section I paused to record Neil and Di coming up behind ...

The hill actually continued on for quite a way after this, but at a more gradual slope and then there was some nice riding on an elevated section of road through bush before the descent into Torquay. Collis had given us very clear directions for where we would find him waiting there. We got some more food into us before setting out again for Queenscliff, where we would catch the ferry across the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. 

The main reason for our early start on this beautiful, penultimate day of our journey was to try and catch the 1:00 p.m. ferry. Had we enjoyed a blistering tailwind that might have been a possibility. As it was, we had an light but steady headwind from the time we set out at Wye River, so there was no chance that we'd make that schedule. At lunch Collis reset the schedule, encouraging us to go for the 2:00 o'clock boat so off we went again into that headwind, which was gradually increasing the further along the coast we rode.

It was very pretty riding along the waterfront of Torquay, but I was a bit befuddled when Di wanted to stop again almost immediately. Of course I didn't realise it was a nature call that pulled her up, and was pleased when she re-emerged so we could regain our momentum ...

Are you ready now?!?

We went quite hard to try to comply with Collis's aspirations for the two o'clock ferry, but still had time to enjoy the last section from Barwon Heads to the ferry which took us alongside the water and through farmland and quiet small town streets and looked like this ...

Barwon Heads to Queenscliff

For those of you who don't know, Barwon Heads is the home of the great Australian champion cyclist Cadel Evans, one of only a few to win both the Tour de France and the World Road Race Championship (2009) - and perhaps the only one to do it clean.

We arrived at the ferry terminal with ten minutes to spare at 1:50. In fact, the ferry didn't leave until 2:06 and if Jen, Jim and Jacquei had arrived by 2:05 we would have been allowed to board. Apparently the strengthening headwinds finally took their toll and they arrived in Queenscliff half an hour after Neil, Di and I did. This meant that the three of us were pretty keen to get a feed before getting on the ferry, and had some great fish and chips at the special Seniors Price of $10 - and they were really, really good! Once the others realised they weren't going to make the ferry they stopped in Queenscliff proper for a meat pie.

We did manage to get on the 3:00 ferry together and enjoyed the ride across the entrance to the bay.

Then it was back on the bikes for the last section for the day from Sorrento to Rye, mostly along the beachfront, ...

Sorrento to Rye

... which was a lovely way to finish.

Collis had managed to organise for us to stay at a house owned by some people his daughter knew, which was fantastic. No need to put up and pull down tents!

Rye to Mordialloc

Our last half day of riding was pretty uneventful, apart from me getting a puncture and slicing open my finger checking inside the tyre for the offending article ...

... which turned out to be quite a large shard of glass. To save time I tried to pull it out without taking the tyre off the rim but that didn't work so off the tyre came. Once I turned it inside out the glass came out fairly easily, the tyre went back on, a new tube installed and I inflated the tyre with one of Neil's gas cylinders. Hey presto! Back in action.

On we rode to the Mordialloc Bicycle Centre where Di and I left our bikes for packing. We got into Collis's truck and rode back to the Ivey family abode with him, leading the rest of the troupe in. Collis had arranged for a couple of riders who had been on numerous trips with him and Kathy to meet us in Frankston and show us the way for the last 15 or so kilometres, which was kind of nice.

Here's the general route we rode ...

Add caption

It felt quite strange leaving my trusty steed for boxing up. Before I did I checked the final total for the number of kilometres since leaving Perth. In the end it was well short of the 5000 kilometres I thought I might ride if I did a few side excursions along the way. However, it is still a lot further than what I had ever ridden over a 52 day period - including rest days - before.

While it would have been nice to have more riders along on the journey to share the experience with, things went quite well in the end. Jen and Neil, the  two riders who joined us at Gawler, proved to be great companions. Jen had been on one of Collis and Kathy's rides before along with Jim and Jacquei and settled into riding with them. On our rest days she was pretty self-sufficient, taking herself off for walks to explore the particular environment we found ourselves in. I had hoped to get a photo from the back of Jim and Jen to illustrate the difference in their physiques as they were two such contrasting figures: Jim big and muscular and Jen diminutive and slender.

Neil ended up riding with Dianne and me after the first couple of days and we were most impressed with the way he coped with the demands of the trip especially - coming from Cairns - the weather, but also longer distances than he'd ridden for quite a while. He also was riding a relatively new bike that hadn't been very well set up for him. Once he changed a few things he hit his stride and was going like a train. The three of us had some great times together on and off the bike and Dianne and I look forward to catching up with Neil again before too long.

By the time we arrived at their place in Mentone, Kathy had assembled her and Collis's three children and two grandchildren to welcome him home after his six months away travelling around the country. She had also put together a terrific feed to celebrate the end of this, the longest single stage that they have ever run. Eventually Di and I said our goodbyes to the rest of the crew and headed off to our hotel - thanks for the lift, Collis! 

And that's about it for now. Feeling euphoric but also somewhat discombobulated, as you can probably  imagine if you've ever done a long journey like this yourself. Once we're back home and I have a bit of time to reflect I will probably do one last post to sum up the entire journey. In the meantime, thanks to Di for coming with me on this great adventure. It's been quite a ride!

Final Total Kilometres Ridden = 4722