Round Australia by bike - Day 026 - Roebuck Plains to Sandfire Roadhouse

 

Day:	026
Date:	Friday, 21 August 2009
Start:	Roebuck Plains Roadhouse
Finish:	Sandfire Roadhouse
Daily Kilometres:	287
Total Kilometres:
Podcasts:	Here
Journal:	I got up at 2:20am after 4 hours sleep, conscious that Sandfire Roadhouse, my target for the day, closed at 7pm.  In neutral conditions I expected it to take a little over 14 hours which didn’t leave too much margin for problems if I started too late.  Initially the riding was good, if a little cool, and I soon put my jacket on.  After about 20km, I heard a familiar “twang” and discovered another spoke had broken on the rear wheel, also on the derailleur side.  Although I now had a freewheel remover, I didn’t yet have a suitable wrench to use it with.  I stopped in the dark to see if there was anything I could initially do.  The wheel had buckled and was rubbing on the brake so I disconnected the brake and continued riding.  However, an hour later, while it was still dark, I found a suitable spot to stop and decided to adjust some spokes to reduce the buckle but it was too dark to do so efficiently and I decided to keep riding to daylight.  I then stopped again and spent about 30 minutes making similar adjustments to yesterday.  All up I had lost an hour and now realised, with 240km to go to Sandfire, that I might struggle to make it by 7pm.  My problem was exacerbated by a brisk south-westerly sea breeze which, while it took the edge off the heat (low 30s C), was a direct headwind which I ended up battling into for the remainder of the day.  There followed a very tough day, where I struggled to maintain an average speed of 20kph, and ended up digging very deep in the last 50km, when already exhausted, to make it to Sandfire with three minutes to spare.  It is still using temporary premises (after a fire three years ago), and had a limited supply of food and drink.  Two pies and an ice-cream for dinner plus multiple 600ml soft drinks (6, actually) to rehydrate.  Although I started out with plenty of fluids on the bike, I began to think I had under-catered with about 80km to go when, as if sent by the gods, a foreign family touring in a campervan pulled up just ahead of me and asked if I wanted any water.  I said yes and they gave me a 1.5 litre bottle for which I was very thankful.  I spent a lot of time during the day worrying about my buckled rear wheel and when and how I would get it fixed without detouring off my track, and also worrying about my prospects for continuing the record chase.  It seems that every day I have to dig very deep, only for some problem to arise that requires digging even deeper, all so I can have another day doing the same.  I have more or less decided to stick to a schedule that will get me home in 51 days for as long as I can.  If for any reason this becomes impossible, then I will back off to become a tourist and aim to complete the circuit averaging, say, 250kpd, instead and trying to make it a little more enjoyable.

Round Australia by bike - Day 025 - Fitzroy Crossing to Roebuck Plains

 

Day:	025
Date:	Thursday, 20 August 2009
Start:	Fitzroy Crossing
Finish:	Roebuck Plains Roadhouse
Daily Kilometres:	362
Total Kilometres:
Podcasts:	Here
Journal:	As I cycled quietly out of Fitzroy Crossing just before 12:30am I noticed the Greyhound Bus quietly idling next to the community centre.  Each day since leaving Timber Creek I see it a few hours earlier.  I headed westwards out of town, quite apprehensive about the long hot day in front of me, and conscious that it was the first of a number of “crunch” days that I would have to survive to have any chance of breaking the record.  The first four hours, apart from a pleasant break watching the stars while I had a snack at around 3:30am, were quite miserable.  I could not get my mind off how hard the record attempt had become and how many more very hard days I would have before it was all over, one way or the other.  My mood became quite black and I was close to quitting.  Around 4:30am I became incredibly sleepy, which didn’t improve my mood because I knew that, to have any chance of making it through the day by a reasonable time, I could not afford to stop for any naps.  I persevered, but my speed slowed considerably as I fought to stay awake.  I was “saved” by about 10km of gravel road detour parallel to the main road which was being upgraded.  Although not too rough, there were occasional potholes and careful attention was required in the pre-dawn gloom.  About half an hour later, as the sun rose, I heard a familiar twang from my rear wheel and stopped to find that a spoke had broken.  Of course it attached to the hub on the derailleur side meaning that I couldn’t replace it without a freewheel remover which I wasn’t carrying.  Instead I bent and hooked the broken spoke where two other spokes crossed and tightened it to take some tension and then adjusted some other spokes to reduce the buckle in the wheel.  I knew that there was a risk of broken spokes with a new wheel, but I had been checking them and hadn’t noticed a problem.  The delay put me about 45 minutes behind my day’s schedule but I was lucky that as the sun rose, a nice easterly breeze sprang up and lasted to lunchtime, helping me regain some time as I headed across the red earth savannah past the giant termite mounds and boab trees to the Willare Bridge Roadhouse (225km), the first place I would pass through for the day..  About an hour before reaching Willare, a Swiss motorcyclist pulled alongside of me and we had a chat for quite a while as I pedalled along.  He (Matts) hade been all over the world and has a website www.globalbiking.com .  When I reached Willare, Matts was still there enjoying a drink, and he asked me about the bike.  I told him about the broken spoke and he immediately offered to try and fix it for me as he was qualified as both a bike and motorbike mechanic and though he might be able to remove the freewheel with tools he had.  He started the task with gusto and professionalism as I watched and occasionally helped.  Unfortunately he could not get the freewheel off and, instead, spent some time readjusting the spokes to minimise the problem.  He also worked on my gears, making sure that all were functional before he headed off to Broome, having asked where I was aiming for that night.  An incredibly nice helpful guy.  I left Willare about 1pm with another 132km to go to Roebuck Plains Roadhouse.  It was very hot (38C) and the wind had become variable.  The road crossed a few very inviting rivers and waterholes that were probably inhabited by crocodiles, so I passed.  Much of the time the road passed across arid grasslands and it was like a furnace.  I tried to drink regularly and not think about how uncomfortable I was, not to mention very tired.  I finally reached Roebuck Plains Roadhouse at 7:15pm as the last remnants of the beautiful sunset ebbed away.  Waiting for me at the roadhouse was Matts with a freewheel remover chatting to a few backpackers having a beer!  He had biked into Broome, another 33km away, gone to the bike shop and bought a freewheel remover part that could be used with a standard wrench, arranged for somewhere to camp for the night with an old acquaintance, and then ridden back to the Roadhouse to wait for my arrival.  I was totally exhausted after my long day in the heat, but very grateful to Matts and watched and waited as he replaced the spoke and gave my bike a once over.  He was meticulous and professional, but said he was a bit worried about the wheel, which needed some of the spokes to have higher tension than he thought desirable.  He finished about 8:45pm and I thanked him and wished him well.  I retired to my basic cabin where I enjoyed some shepherds pie and jelly custard dessert from the roadhouse.  Got to bed later than planned at 10pm, totally shattered and hopeful of an easier day tomorrow.

Round Australia by bike - Day 024 - Halls Creek to Fitzroy Crossing

 

Day:	024
Date:	Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Start:	Halls Creek
Finish:	Fitzroy Crossing
Daily Kilometres:	290
Total Kilometres:
Podcasts:	Here & here
Journal:	I was on the road by 1am heading south-west out of the sleeping Halls Creek.  The weather was mild and I only needed my short-sleeved top.  The weather forecast was for 37C for Fitzroy Crossing, so I knew it was going to get hot once the sun came up.  I decided to break the day into sections – 60k, 60k, 50k, 40k, 40k, 40k – and looked for the kilometre posts marking the end of each section before finding a place to stop.  Early progress was good and I again enjoyed a brilliant cloudless starlit night at my first break.  As usual, I got very sleepy as dawn approached, but once the sun came up, felt awake again.  Until dawn, the only vehicles I saw in 4.5 hours were the Greyhound Bus on its way from Broome to Darwin and one roadtrain.  Once the sun was up it warmed rapidly and the traffic increased, although still quite light.  For each break I was looking for a nice shady tree.  In the open savannah, this was not always easy to find.  With 70km to go, the road descended to the Fitzroy River flood plain and it seemed to get even hotter.  A headwind for most of the last 50km meant that I arrived very tired and hot, but more or less on schedule at 3:30pm.  I checked into my motel and then had to ride to a small supermarket and also to a roadhouse to get a pie and sausage roll for dinner.  Not much choice, although you’ll be pleased to know I also bought some fruit salad.  I’m not looking forward to the 360km haul to Roebuck Plains tomorrow, especially since the local temps are again forecast to be 38C.

Round Australia by bike - Day 023 - Doon Doon to Halls Creek

 

Day:	023
Date:	Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Start:	Doon Doon Roadhouse
Finish:	Halls Creek
Daily Kilometres:	254
Total Kilometres:
Podcasts:	Here & here
Journal:	After a fitful night’s sleep on the grass in my bivvy sack with the sound of mosquitoes constantly buzzing in my ears, I got up at 1:15am and was on the road by 2:00am heading south on a mild and very dark evening with a brilliant display of stars.  My initial goal was to get to Warmun Roadhouse, 90km away, soon after 6am in the hope that they would be open and serving breakfast.  Without my usual strong coffee before setting out, or my coffee milk for my first break, I was struggling to stay awake around 5am and took a No Doz to get some caffeine into the system.  I only saw two vehicles in the first three hours, but as it became light the traffic increased considerably as road construction crews headed out from Warmun Roadhouse to begin work on the various road upgrades I had been negotiating in the dark.  The sunrise was spectacular, lighting up the red bluffs and bush in front of me and I enjoyed the last hour’s run into Warmun where I arrived at 6:30am.  I got a big brekky and ate it while watching breakfast TV.  As I packed the food and drink I had bought, a guy came up to me very interested in my trip and was a bit of a cyclist himself.  He had met the driver of the van who knocked me off last year.  Small world!  From Warmun I had a hot hilly 162km to my target of Halls Creek.  I knew it would be a tough day in the heat and sun and was determined to maintain a reasonable pace, which I did with some assistance later in the day of a tailwind.  The road was quite busy with trucks and tourists and I passed the access road to the fantastic Bungle Bungle range off to my left, but out of sight.  Generally the road passed through arid cattle grazing land although there was some water in the creeks.  I reached Halls Creek at 3:15pm and checked into the expensive motel in the regional, predominantly aboriginal, town.  I bought take-out chicken and chips for dinner and drink and food for the trip to Fitzroy crossing tomorrow, a 290km haul with absolutely nothing in between.  It’s going to be hot again, but the road is flatter.  Hope the wind is blowing the right way.  My chronic right knee injury was playing up big time today, so I’m hoping a good night’s rest will improve it, or I’ll have to get out the anti-inflammatories.

Round Australia by bike - Day 022 - Timber Creek to Doon Doon

 

Day:	022
Date:	Monday, 17 August 2009
Start:	Timber Creek
Finish:	Doon Doon Roadhouse
Daily Kilometres:	331
Total Kilometres:
Podcasts:	Here & here
Journal:	I was on the road by about 1:30am, hoping the new bike was going to go OK in its first outing.  Two problems were immediately apparent, though neither of them were showstoppers.  Firstly, the brake/gear levers were not set evenly on the handle bars, i.e., the left side was at least an inch lower than the right, and to fix it would involve unwrapping the handle bar tape and moving the levers, neither of which I was disposed to do at this time.  The second problem was that I could not change the gears onto the big front chain ring, so didn’t have access to gears 19-27.  I can fix it with a bit of time, but wasn’t disposed to in the dark with a big day scheduled.  The early riding was very pleasant with no wind or moon and a brilliant starry sky.  It would have been more enjoyable if I could have stopped thinking about the task I had set myself.  I very narrowly missed (by less than a foot) small wallabies which, on two separate occasions, bounded across the road in front of me.  As the sun rose I climbed out of the Victoria River Valley and was treated to some spectacular red rocky bluffs and many alien-like boab trees.  The bike was running fine and I was making good time.  However, as the sun rose and the road became more undulating, it rapidly became hot and a headwind made things unpleasant.  I laboured on to the West Australian border where I was quizzed by a quarantine inspector about whether I was carrying any fruit and gained 90 minutes by entering the western time zone.  From there it was about 45km to Kununurra, my only town for the day and a regional tourist, agricultural and mining town.  Along the way I was flagged down by some caravanners to see if I wanted a cold drink, but I declined, having plenty of fluids and not wanting to lose any time.  At Kununurra I stopped in at the 24 hour roadhouse/supermarket and got a pie and pastie for lunch, plus some preserved fruit and an ice-cream, and a lot of drinks.  I left around noon for the last 105km to Doon Doon roadhouse and endured the worst heat of the day, ~35C, on a narrow and busy road through arid country surrounded by rocky hills.  After 45km, I turned south, got the wind behind me at last and enjoyed a reasonably pleasant run to Doon Doon by the light of a setting sun and surrounded by spectacular Kimberley mountain ranges, though I was feeling very tired.  I got to the roadhouse at 5:10pm, 20 minutes before their kitchen closed and ordered a schnitzel and vegetables dinner from the female proprietor who remembered me from last year.   I booked a campsite for the night and had a shower before sleeping inside my one man tent as a bivvy sack on the grass.  Tomorrow is a short day to Halls Creek where I have booked a motel room.  The next week is pretty much defined by where the roadhouses/towns are and I’ll stick to my originally-planned daily hops until nearer Perth where I will try and claw some time back.

Round Australia by bike - Day 021 - Timber Creek

 

Day:	021
Date:	Sunday, 16 August 2009
Start:	Timber Creek
Finish:	Timber Creek
Daily Kilometres:	0
Total Kilometres:
Podcasts:
Journal:	My flying visit to Darwin all went to plan, more or less, and I am very grateful to Simon of Bike to Fit for opening his shop late on a Saturday night and being patient while wheels, tyres, saddles, bottle cages, etc., were swapped.  He even gave me a lift back to my hostel in the city.  I arrived back in Timber Creek by bus at 3:30pm and then spent two hours refitting the new bike and packing.  Apart from a few minor issues, it seems OK, although I haven’t ridden it at all yet.  My plan is to get an early start tomorrow  and head for Doon Doon Roadhouse, tomorrow, 330km away.  It’s forecast to be 35+C tomorrow.

Round Australia by bike - Day 020 - Timber Creek

 

Day:	020
Date:	Saturday, 15 August 2009
Start:	Timber Creek
Finish:	Timber Creek
Daily Kilometres:	0
Total Kilometres:
Podcasts:
Journal:	Firstly, I have to thank everybody for the sympathetic and constructive advice and support I have received through the Yahoo Group, after describing my mechanical problems of yesterday.  I’m very grateful and apologise for not responding individually.  As a consequence, I decided to explore a couple more options before giving up and heading home.  However, a prerequisite was that any solution would have to see me riding again on Monday, with the loss of only two days, otherwise there is no chance of me breaking the record.  Plan A was to find some temporary fix that would get me going to the next bike shop (Broome, 1300km away and 40km off my route).  I asked around the campsite to see if any of the grey nomads had some industrial strength epoxy resin.  One guy had a lesser standard but expressed doubt, on looking at the bike, that any resin could be applied in a way that would solve the problem.  The alloy nut into which the pedal screws in the carbon fibre crank arm has actually fractured and it’s very hard to see how you would apply the resin to bind the pedal, nut and crank arm.  I decided it was not a feasible solution in the time available. Bearing in mind it is the weekend and taking the bike to any nearby town (at least 225km away) for an epoxy bond repair has doubtful merit.  I have to get there, find someone who will do it on the weekend, and then get back.  The garage in Timber Creek is closed on weekends and they weren’t much help yesterday.  Plan B was to find a bike shop in Darwin with a replacement crank arm or crankset in stock and get them to ship it to Timber Creek on the daily Greyhound bus that leaves Darwin at 7:15am and gets to Timber Creek at 3:30pm on the same day.  I also called Dan Cleary from the Pushy Galore bike shop back home that supplied the bike to see if he had any ideas and left it with him.  I began calling Darwin bike shops and none of the first five had a compatible crank arm or crankset.  I could get another brand crankset, but it would likely require more tools, parts and expertise than I had available on a Sunday in Timber Creek to do the job.  The sixth bike shop I called was Bike to Fit, an Avanti/Specialized dealer, who had just been called by Dan on my behalf to see if they could help.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have a compatible crankset either.  I then asked what bikes they had in stock that might suit my purposes, thinking that it might be easier just to get a replacement bike.  They had one Specialized Tricross, the same bike I have now, but in the standard version (I have the higher-end Expert).  Simon, the proprietor was very helpful and said he could have it ready to ship it to me tomorrow on the Sunday Greyhound bus.  I called Greyhound and discovered their freight office is closed on weekends and that their drivers won’t accept freight unless it is pre-booked.  With an hour to spare, I called Simon, said I would take his bike if I could collect it late tonight or early tomorrow morning, and booked myself a return ticket with bike from Timber Creek to Darwin.  I then hastily stripped my bike of as much of my customised gear as I could in the time remaining, booked my room in Timber Creek for Saturday and Sunday nights so I could leave gear there, and booked myself a room in Darwin near the bus terminal for tonight.  The bus arrives at 9:30pm and I will then get a cab to meet Simon at his shop, leave my current bike with him to ship home, buy the replacement bike (swap my front wheel, which has a dynamo hub to power my lighting and my rear “puncture proof” tyre….can’t swap the rear wheel or crankset easily because the new bike is 27 speed as opposed to my existing 20 speed), return to my hotel room for some sleep and then catch the 7:15am bus back to Timber Creek.  When I get back in mid-afternoon, I will fit the new bike with the customised gear I need – racks, lights, wiring, bottle cages, etc. – hope to get an early night and be on my way by very early morning on Monday. I had a minor panic when I rushed to get the bus from Timber Creek because there was no activity indicating an approaching bus service.  I suddenly thought that I had assumed a 1:40pm departure instead of a 1:20 departure and missed it.  But then it turned upJ.  If this all sounds complicated, then I can assure you that it has been a lot more complicated than I have detailed here, complete with a backdrop of frustration, depression, loss of motivation, and a sense that I’m clutching at straws in a futile and faint hope of continuing successfully.  (The money I’m spending on the new bike could pay for a trip to the UK next year to hike from Lands End to John O’Groats, my next project.)  Even with the loss of just two days, I now have to average 314km per day for the next 30 days to come close to the record.  During my first 17 days on this trip, I averaged 304km per day and four hours sleep per night.  I felt on the edge many times, had several “foetal” moments (just wanted to curl up in the foetal position on the side of the road and wait for my mother to come and get me), and don’t relish the prospect of going even harder for longer from this point on.  There will be no margin for error with respect to health, the bike or the weather.  Common sense tells me that too many things have to go right for success and that I am now grossly over-committed in terms of goals and money.  I think that the most likely outcome is a few more problems, a falling further behind schedule, and a gradual loss of motivation.  We’ll see.  I’m writing this from the Greyhound bus about 2.5 hours south of Darwin and will send it when within range.  Thanks again for all the support.