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.

Round Australia by bike - Day 019 - Katherine to Timber Creek

Day:	019
Date:	Friday, 14 August 2009
Start:	Katherine
Finish:	Timber Creek
Daily Kilometres:	288
Total Kilometres:	5455
Podcasts:	Here & here
Journal:	The day started well and I left a sleeping Katherine at 2am with my short-term target the Victoria River Roadhouse at 195km.  There was quite a bright half-moon and I felt stronger and more rested than any time since leaving home.  I made good time through the undulating savannah and was treated to a lovely bush dawn as I approached Gregory National Park and the Victoria River Valley, an area of red craggy bluffs, with small exotic-looking clusters of prehistoric palms nestled here and there at the base of the bluffs.  With about 30km to go, I became conscious of a slight anomaly in my right pedal motion and initially attributed it to a small stone jammed in my cleat, which I removed.  I had a big brekky at the Victoria River Roadhouse, which sat above an impressive new, but not yet used, bridge over the river.  There was a lot of construction work going on the road approaches to the bridge and at various points along the road for the next 30km.  Early on in the remaining 93km to Timber Creek, where I had a room booked for the night, I realised that the pedal problem was getting worse, to the point where my bad right knee, which always hurts a bit, was getting very painful.  A closer examination revealed that the alloy nut in the crank arm, into which the pedal screws, was working loose from its carbon fibre moulding.  I unscrewed the pedal and confirmed that the skewed motion of the pedal in the loose nut was also beginning to strip the thread from the inside of the nut.  It got so bad that, with 30km to go, I was left pedalling very gingerly with my right leg for fear that the nut would break free from the carbon fibre crank arm.  Eventually, I arrived at the one pub, one garage, one general store outback town at 4:45.  I stopped into the garage to see if there was anything they could suggest.  I asked about using some kind of epoxy resin and they said that might work temporarily, but that there was none in town.  There’s an exceptional amount of stress on that pedal every day, and I have my doubts about the longevity of such a fix, anyway.  There’s no bike shop ahead of me for more than 1000km and the nearest is Darwin, a nine hour bus ride away in the other direction.  Sharon offered to fly to Darwin and then drive to Timber Creek with my spare bike, but I don’t want to go to such extreme measures, which don’t really fit with the “solo and unsupported” theme of the record.  I called the Kununurra Cycle Club, Kununurra being the next town I go through (225km ahead), to see if they had any ideas, but they said they order their bike gear in from Darwin and there is no bike shop in town.  I started out this trip by saying that I would keep going round Australia, even if I had no chance of breaking the record.  But, now it has come to this point, and I‘ve invested so much effort and energy into putting myself into a good position to break the record, I really can’t find the motivation to continue after a bicycle repair which I think will cost me at least four days in time.  I could get a bus to Darwin tomorrow (Saturday), get the bike fixed (hopefully) on Monday, then return here on Tuesday in time to resume riding on Wednesday, but there is no way I could make up the lost time.  As an alternative, I’m thinking of catching the bus to Darwin tomorrow and then flying home from there on Sunday (embarrassed, with my tail between my legsJ).  I’ll sleep on it, but it seems to me at the moment that I’ve made three serious attempts on the record that have cost money, time and effort, and it’s time to move on.  There are other, perhaps less demanding, adventures on my list.

 

Round Australia by bike - Day 018 - Katherine

 

Day:	018
Date:	Thursday, 13 August 2009
Start:	Katherine
Finish:	Katherine
Daily Kilometres:	0
Total Kilometres:
Podcasts:
Journal:	I got 9.5 hours sleep and could have slept for longer, but had a long list of chores including washing, shopping, bike maintenance and much other stuff.  It was nice wandering around the busy town in the very warm sunshine ticking off my chores. It will be hard getting back on the bike tomorrow.  However, I feel like it is a fresh start and think I have a reasonable chance of staying on my now-51 day schedule without struggling every day, which seems to have been the way so far.  Always playing catch-up and just hanging on.  If I’m going well in the last two weeks, there will be some opportunity to gain some time.  Of course, I now have less buffer if any significant problems arise with bike or body.

Round Australia by bike - Day 017 - Day Waters to Katherine

 

Day:	017
Date:	Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Start:	Daly Waters
Finish:	Katherine
Daily Kilometres:	274
Total Kilometres:	5167
Podcasts:	Here & here
Journal:	I let myself have 5.5 hours sleep after two tough days and got up at 5am and was on the road at 6am from the rapidly stirring, but still dark, Daly Waters Roadhouse.  There were a lot of construction personnel and truckies staying at the place and having an early breakfast in the before heading off to their work locations.  I decided to eat later and set off northwards along the quiet Stuart Highway, the main north-south route through central Australia.  It was cool and, unfortunately, the forecast north-easterly breeze was already blowing.  Although the road was relatively flat and the surface good, my average speed rarely went above 20kph and I knew I was in for a long day.  It confirmed in my mind the wisdom of having a day off tomorrow in Katherine to allow for some extra sleep and various chores.  The countryside was typical straw grass savannah with scraggly olive green eucalypts.  Here and there was evidence of controlled burning to reduce the undergrowth.  By the time I reached the small settlement of Larrimah in late morning it had become very warm with clear skies and a blazing sun.  I stopped in at a small somewhat oddball bakery/teahouse run by Fran for brunch and demolished two delicious pies and two vanilla milkshakes.  A woman at an adjacent table began talking to me and it turned out she was a member of my sister’s former church congregation in Adelaide.  Small world.  After lunch I laboured on to Mataranka, which seems quite tropical and exotic, with a large indigenous population, wide streets, large fig trees and grassy parkland.  The dry and hot headwind had given me a parched mouth and throat and I went into the small supermarket for a drink and ice-cream, emerging with a one litre container of premium vanilla.  It went down so well and I savoured it as I watched the local comings and goings before setting off reluctantly for the last 106km to Katherine.  The road was quieter and it was cooler, but I had more than had enough and just wanted the day to be over.  I am sick of starting out in darkness and finishing long after sunset.  I eventually arrived in Katherine, a large provincial town in the tropics and checked into the central motel I had booked earlier.  After buying some fish and chips at a nearby roadhouse I got to bed at 11pm, looking very forward to a long night’s sleep.

Round Australia by bike - Day 016 - Cape Crawford to Daly Waters

 

Day:	016
Date:	Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Start:	50km short of Cape Crawford
Finish:	Daly Waters
Daily Kilometres:	320
Total Kilometres:
Podcasts:	Here & here
Journal:	I got on the road around 4am, still very tired and rode the 50km to Cape Crawford, arriving around 6:30am and had to wait for them to open at 7am.  It’s a pleasant shady campground and roadhouse with nice lawns in the middle of the outback.  I bought breakfast and some sandwiches for later in the day and set off westwards for the 270km to Daly Waters where I had already booked a motel room.  I was much later than expected, having planned to have an early start from Cape Crawford originally.  It became a very warm day as the road climbed on to a forested plateau and decided early on not to force the pace because of fatigue and the heat.  I’m seriously thinking about having a couple of easy days in the next week to catch up on some sleep and switch to a 51 day schedule.  Around 4pm with 140km to go the road became easier and the wind shifted to an easterly and I made fast progress to Daly Waters, although it was still 9:30pm by the time I arrived.  I bought some dinner and supplies for tomorrow and will see whether or not I continue at this pace or have the easier days.