Bairnsdale to Sydney - Part 2

Right then. Here's a bit more. It might take a couple of posts to get to the end, due to time/motivational constraints.

We left Merimbula after a very cruisy day of breakfast at the rivermouth, swimming and watching the Australians attempt to play cricket. 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
Headed into Mimosa Rocks National Park which was beautiful scenery and roads, and as per usual, the now familiar routine of the epic hill to get out of town. This one wasn't quite of the standard of the ones in and out of Eden, but was a quick reminder of what it's all about. We made it 60km's along the road before deciding to take a dirt road down to to a beach and campsite called Arragunna. It was a 3km dirt road that was really steep and really sketchy rock and gravel down to the beach / campsite. We got down the bottom and did our best to put it out of our minds that we would have to somehow get back up to the road the next day, despite having less than a litre of water between us to get through the night and the next morning.
It was a pretty spot, with a massive Goanna wandering around the campsite, and a good swimming beach to go with it. A swim, a nap on the beach, red curry and rice for dinner from the Trangia then bed, not much wrong with it.

A snapshot of the inevitable unpacking each night. Arragunna campsite:

And here's a little romantic walk we took out to Mimosa Rocks.

We left the next morning up the hill after chatting with a sympathetic family who filled up our water bottles, and ended up having to walk large sections. It was way too steep and unstable to ride up. Pushing 38 odd kg's of bike and gear up a steep unstable road was pretty hard and it was pretty hot to go with it, but in hindsight, it was pretty much just as hard work getting down it - albeit in a different way.
Anyways, we reached the top after about 45mins of walking/riding, took a few moments, smashed a bottle of water each and proceeded on a largely downhill 60km expedition towards Narooma, where we went straight to the 'million dollar view' bar for a well earned beer.

I had hoped these two photo's would show how ragged, hot and sweaty we felt at the top of the dirt road, but it seems not. Good story that one.

We were happily enjoying a couple of Schooner's at the Million Dollar View bar, when a guy that AJ had previously had a brief chat to came up to our table and said "I know i'm wearing a Hawaiian shirt, but i'm not a psycho, I just wanted to offer you a feed and a bed for the night" and so we ended up spending the night with the most awesomely accommodating family you could ever hope to meet. Podge and Jane, and their three kids took us into their home overlooking Narooma for the night, showered us, fed us, (AJ the biggest T-Bone steak you'd ever want to eat, and while they mercilessly called me a lesbian for not eating meat, but bought me some fish on their way home anyway) and plied us with booze, then gave us a bed for the evening.
The kids woke us up pretty early the next morning with the paper and a breakfast order (well trained kids) and then we went off to a secluded beach for a swim before breakfast. We set off into the heat with pretty epic hangovers and a total lack of motivation, but massively thankful for the previous night. Legends (them, not us).

It was pretty hard work most of the day into a sometimes savage headwind, but we ended up at a place called Tomakin, which had a fantastic beach, but not much else besides the filthiest RSL complex you'd ever hope to see. 

Here's what a hangover and a headwind does for riding (moderate language warning?!)

The next day, we set off on what we thought would be a cruisy flat ride into Batemans bay, which turned out to be a rather hilly, at times exceptionally rainy 22km's. After seeing the forecast for solid rain for the rest of the day, and possibly the following five days, we made the decision that we would set up camp and hope the rain would pass by the next day. A rainy Sunday in Bateman's bay wasn't really something we'd planned, but we ate the dodgiest fish and chips i've ever eaten, went to the movies and played Uno, so there you have it...

Fish and chips in the rain. Bad memories of that fish.

Set out the next day in the pouring rain, AJ starting to doubt the level of enjoyment that could be provided by five days of solid rain and riding. It pretty much rained for the entire 52km from Batemans Bay to Ulladulla. I felt good, AJ not so much. The afternoon cleared into a 'burn the crap out of your shoulder's if you're me and you're wearing a bluey while riding' kind of day. But we smashed out 108km's to Huskisson near Jervis Bay and again felt that a cold beverage was the order of the evening. We decided given the distance we'd covered that we could afford a couple of days off in Huskisson to relax.


More to come...

Bairnsdale to Sydney - Part 1

Hi there...

Thought i'd post a brief little update from the road.

We left Melbourne on the train to Bairnsdale at lunchtime on New Years Day, feeling rather special from the night before. Arrived around 4pm and set out along the gippsland rail trail, an old railway line that has been turned into a walking/cycling path for 100km through to Orbost. Did a quiet little 40km and settled in at Bruthen, all in all a cruisy start.

Set out the next day back on the rail trail, which was pretty rough going at times, but the bikes stood up well and we put in 70km to Orbost before lunch. Pretty sore and numb hands after rocky trail riding. Made a small stop into the hospital to get my leg checked out; I got bitten by a spider (i think) in the park on New Years Eve and my leg swelled up pretty badly, couldn't really tell calf from ankle. They call that a cankle... Anyways, all good, got on the antihistamines and that settled it down. Rode off from there out to a place called Cabbage Tree Creek, and camped by the river. Did 100km's for the day which was AJ's first century. Strong work.

Left the next morning from Cabbage Tree heading as far as we thought we could. Ended up in Genoa, about 20km's from the NSW border, through Cann River and some decent hills most of the day. Another 100km's for the day, and a quiet beer at the Genoa pub to finish.

If we thought the previous day had some hills, it was nothing compared to yesterday. Went from Genoa to Merimbula (where we are now) through some moderately hilly sections, up until just out of Eden, where it all turned decidedly nasty, especially given we were already pretty sore and tired. Some of the steepest hills i've ever ridden. Another 90km's for the day and now enjoying a rest day in Merimbula. All in all, epic win...

Will post some photos and/or video when I get the chance.

The Great Ocean Road Trial Run

The pin was pulled the weekend before due to the weather, which was disappointing, but was massively vindicated by the f*#cking outrageously good weather we experienced over the next weekend. Sometimes overcast, but mostly awesomely sunny, and no real wind to speak of. Warm days, cool nights. Perfect.

Left Fairhaven about 7pm on thursday night, and originally the plan was to ride to Cumberland river (awesome place to camp) but we decided to stay in Lorne so we could get some food and setup camp before complete darkness. AJ got setup much quicker than I did, due to the scenario of tent vs fly vs poles vs idiocy. I had it sorted by the 3rd night. There might have been a massive amount of inappropriate language in the process. Anyways, fish and chips and a pint or two in Lorne and then off to bed. Sleeping on my bruised or cracked or broken ribs (I haven't figured which yet) proved interesting, though as I write this a week later they have gotten worse. Seems that a thermarest does more than a 'comfy' spring bed. 5 to 6 week recovery they say. Aarrghh... But I digest. 

 Left Lorne in the morning heading to Apollo bay, and got to about the first hill outside of Cumberland River when AJ's back tire punctured. Here's a video of the moment. This could be a long post...

And then the drama continued. 1st puncture, sure, you throw a new tube in and off you go, until you discover that you've lost the little bit on your pump that seals it properly on the the tube. We pumped it up as much as we could (not much) and hoped we could get to Apollo Bay (about 40km away) and set off. 5 mins later, another blown tube. Second tube replacement not so much fun, and no more spare tubes. I started to think maybe AJ's modified trailer /  pannier rack wasn't really up to it. Turns out it was, but there are easier ways to do it...

The back story: AJ built a bike out of an 80's racing frame I gave him, built a trailer out of a carbon fibre frame he had, only to find that it didn't turn corners very well, so then modified it to make a glorified back pannier rack about an hour before we left. I had my doubts about it holding the weight, going on the size of his rims (tiny little racing ones), but really it was all about the broken pump.

So we set off, ran into trouble with tire pressure (AJ riding on the rims instead of the tubes) and stopped to try and put all four hands into sealing the pump on.

Luckily, after about ten minutes a guy rode past with the exact same pump I had (with the bit mine was missing) so we pumped up the tire and made it to Apollo Bay and bought some more tubes. There was a moment there where we thought we might be stuck in in Wye River for the weekend at the pub. Ordinarily not so bad, but not exactly what we planned.

So, sun shining we headed off into the Otways. I kinda knew the road headed up out of Apollo bay, but had never ridden it, and with 25kgs worth of bike and luggage, and the persistent flies it was pretty hard work there for a while. On my Surly Long Haul Trucker http://www.surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker_complete I had gears for days, AJ not so much. Massive effort on his behalf.

Riding down to Cape Otway was equal parts joy and pain. It was all up and down, and knowing we had to ride back the same way the next day left a thought in the mind that every descent was an ascent and vice versa. It was an awesome ride though, riding at 60km/h down some of these hills with all that weight made me think massive props to my bike. That thing just doesn't ride any differently no matter how much weight or speed is involved. Built like a truck. Brilliant.

Given what we'd heard about the roads to the campsite, we decided we'd camp at Bimbi Park, about two thirds of the way to the lighthouse, which also made sense given AJ's lack of gears, the 80km we'd covered and our energy levels. Beautiful spot with lots of Koala's. We'd bought some Shellite for the Trangia which kinda set the thing (and everything around it) alight, and was totally unnecessary given there was a communal kitchen, but it was another thing we 'learnt'. They say use metho for a reason.

Beautiful roads in and out though...

 

Set off in the morning to blue skies, feeling great, though a little nervous about them there hills. We were both a bit spent from the previous days ride. As it turns out, it was much harder getting there than back.

Here's a nice little happy snap of the top from the Apollo Bay Hill and the start of the Otways. Glorious Day!

We rode back into Apollo Bay feeling fantastic and stopped for some lunch. We then headed back up the Great Ocean Ride to Wye River and camped there. The weather stayed beautiful, played some frisbee in the caravan park until I jumped and realised just how much that didn't agree with my ribs. Running not so good either. Riding = good!

A partial swim for AJ, and even less for me given the lack of movement, then dinner and a couple of well earned beers at the Wye River Pub (good spot if you're ever there), a game of Canasta (for old times sakes) and then off to bed.

Woke up next morning a little hungover, may have taken about an hour longer to pack up than it should have, but got on the road again to glorious weather, and some beautiful roads along the way. 

Made it back to Fairhaven about lunchtime. The only downer on the whole thing was I started to feel pretty sore in my Achilles tendon, which I read is common (Tendinitis or RSI). I rode the next couple of days (to work and back) feeling like it was a bad idea, so took two days off, then rode again. Strangely, it was getting more sore, until I rode again after the two days, and about an hour after I got off the bike on Friday, it almost felt fully recovered. Back on the horse!

T-15 minutes

It's on.

Leaving in 15 minutes to head down the coast for our 'trial run'. A quiet little 25km's this evening just to get rolling before it gets dark, then 75 odd km's tomorrow into the Otway's national park.

The weather looks OK, though fairly windy today.

In other news, I came off my bike in some dirt and sand the other day, and have some pretty bruised ribs, so don't think i'll be in the best riding form. Upwards and onwards.

Will post some photos of the results when we get back.

All packed up and nowhere to go - further

Everyone i've spoken to shares the view that it's the right decision to not go riding. They're probably right. I feel cheated out of a weekend down the coast and a weekend riding. F#*k'n AJ. It was just like that time when he got Dengue Fever in Mexico and ruined our trip. He's always trying to ruin the buzz. So what if I also had Typhoid at the time. Irrelevant.

Tangents then?
Here's a video that sums up what we did in that state. It could have lasted the five seconds it took AJ to document it, but it could have been five days. I'm pretty sure it was five days. To be honest, I couldn't tell you if it was 3 days or 8. Typhoid is awesome. In hindsight. We went from there to Tulum to recover. I'll chuck a photo of Tulum in to rebalance the equation of suffering vs it's not so bad.

Myself in the depths of Typhoid. AJ might have been on the mend. He's not in bed. AJ WIN!

And finally, as mentioned, where we went to recover, in Tulum.

Enough rambling...

All packed up and nowhere to go...

Turns out not going riding this weekend. AJ decided with the predicted weather (flood warnings for the Otway catchments), and a DIY carbon fibre (as of this morning unfinished) trailer decided to pull the pin. Non waterproof bags to boot... Can't say I blame him, but a little disappointed not to be out on the road. Rescheduled for next weekend is the good news.

Rode the bike to and from work today though, it really is a joy, rides exactly the same with weight or not. Go the Long Haul Trucker!

Instead, I think i'll spend the weekend practicing up for Folk Rhythm & Life Festival - Seems all sold out, but check out http://www.bilyana.com/

Playing with TNG - trumpet, didgeridoo, percussion, bass, flute, the odd bit of vocals and me pushing the buttons on Ableton Live. Always a great festival, and great fun playing.

Interesting weekend then...

So AJ and I are heading off on a 'trial run' for our ride to Sydney this weekend.

The plan is to ride from Airey's Inlet to Cape Otway and back (about 160km) fully loaded with tents, stove, food and all the necessary bits. The idea is to see if there's anything we mightn't have thought of for the big ride.

The weather bureau predicts 100mm of rain for the weekend. Might need to take a cup...