cycling sections
Another long cycling day ahead. Everyone is ready to get on the road, however not without a good breakfast, which is still minutes away …
Daily routine:
Breakfast at 5:45am. But first tents were broken down as earky as 3:30am!!! End of the sleep for the rest of us, as the noise of moving zips, folding poles and packing bags runs through the whole camp in the otherwise quiet night.
| Mataranka to Daly Waters | |||||
| Date: | 10-28-2014 | Time: | 06:41 h | Σ Time: | 301:11 h |
| Distance: | 169 km | Σ km: | 6151 km | Temp: | 15/45°C |
| Up: | 250 m | Σ Up: | 69508 m | Down: | 155 m |
| Calories: | 2912 kcal | Σ kcal: | 138969 kcal | ||
| Conditions: | The longest ride in Australia. The Pink Panther Roadhouse was a highlight, besides the pub at the Daly Water camp. | ||||
169 km to go today. Almost impossible to finish it before the midday heat and strong wind sets in. So I decided to ride on my own and go a comfortable pace that allows me to stop here and there and still get into camp early enough to enjoy the pool and bar. The morning was very cool, but the heat turned on during the day. Actually it was the first night, that I had to unroll my sleeping back. There was a first and only Coke Stop at the Larrimah Hotel / Pink Panther Roadhouse 20km before lunch. A real oasis, with a little zoo. 
Parrots and other birds in the trees and a tame wallaby. I could have spent more time, but the schedule to finish 169km was tight. Lunch at 95km and a refreshment with apple and iced water at 130km where the only major stops thereafter. The wind was turning into the face for the last 50 km, but I was still able to keep a 25km/h average for the whole day. Today the number of dead wallabies, cows and birds increased. The road side was full of bones and carcasses. Birds of prey in the air and on the road indicated fresh victims. I arrived at 2:30pm in the camp, quickly setup tent and jumped into the refreshing pool. Tomorrow is another long day, 153 km.
There was some confusion with the camp spots we used. I setup min tent next to a power outlet to charge my laptop and gadgets. However, soon after dinner I got a visit from the pub owner, who asked for 14$, if I want to continue to use power for the laptop. I could probably charge it the whole months and not even use energy worth 14$, thus I decided to get of the power line and work on battery. Australia is a very expensive place. They seem to make money with everything, because the have the monopole in these remote locations. Maybe I have better luck to upload more photos in the next campsite, otherwise I have to continue to recharge my equipment in the toilet or laundry, where you can always find power outlets. Not very comfortable, but the only choice …
Today I was cruising along after lunch, when I heard a bird above me and a shadow flying by low several times. I turned around and saw the bird above me. It was somehow attracted by my helmet and inspecting the little bug zoo I carry since Darwin. I got my GoPro ready just in time to film the bird’s last attempt to checkout the prey. Thereafter he gave up and rested in a branch. Although I turned around to give him another chance, he didn’t return again …
a short video sequence
| Katherine to Mataranka | |||||
| Date: | 10-27-2014 | Time: | 04:17 h | Σ Time: | 294:30 h |
| Distance: | 104 km | Σ km: | 5982 km | Temp: | 19/41°C |
| Up: | 207 m | Σ Up: | 69258 m | Down: | 184 m |
| Calories: | 1927 kcal | Σ kcal: | 136057 kcal | ||
| Conditions: | Deeper into the Outback, away from ‘civilization. | ||||
No need to say it was again hot and dry and windy and not much of a change to previous days. Strategy: get to camp before the wind blows you of the road! Luckily the road direction changed from east to south-south-east, turning the headwind into a less annoying crosswind. Lunch was at a ‘termite mount plantation’, a place that was sometimes cleaned from bushes and trees, but then occupied by hundredth of termite colonies. After lunch I was attacked by a bird. I was cycling along, when I heard a bird’s cry and a shadow following me. I turned around and I saw a bird flying over my head, obviously investigating the bugs on my helmet. The bird tried several times to get one of these. I got my GoPro ready and luckily got the last attempt recorded before the bird gave up. All day no wallabies to see, only the smell of them. However those you can smell, you don’t want to see - too many road kills. And usually next to the dead ‘roo’ is a dead bird. I wanted to see some caves along our route, but unfortunately the park was still closed when I arrived, and not to open for another 70 minutes – too long too wait for. Later I stopped at a world war II heritage site, with a Stirling Mill steam engine. A wallaby as hiding in the engine body, but jumped into the bushes when I get off my bike. Mataranka is a small settlement. Highlight is the nearby fresh water spring in a National Park. Unbelievable to find a river in the middle of nowhere with crystal clear water at 33°C. Even at that temperature a real refreshment. Many of us did the extra 3 km from camp to the river to go for a swim. Tomorrow is another long cycling day. 169km and only one coke stop en route. We will further change direction to go straight south, thus hoping that this will slightly enhance to wind situation.
Chilling out at the last Billabong (waterhole) – the pool at the camp ground – before we go on a 5 days / 660 km trip further south into the dry Aussie interior
Unfortunately the rental car companies were closed on Sundays, thus we were trapped in the town and could not go to see the Gorge …
At least the restaurant at camp is open today and we don’t have to taxi into town again.
Some statistical numbers from the 4 sections we cycled in Indonesia on 7 different islands and Timor-Leste.
| Cycling Days: | 48 days |
| Distance: | 5545 km |
| Climbs: | 67649 m |
| Average per day: | 116 km with 1409 m of vertical climbs |
| Cycling Days: | 17 days |
| Distance: | 2130 km |
| Climbs: | 21357 m |
| Average per day: | 125 km with 1256 m of vertical climbs |
| Cycling Days: | 17 days |
| Distance: | 1845 km |
| Climbs: | 28484 m |
| Average per day: | 109 km with 1676 m of vertical climbs |
| Cycling Days: | 2 days |
| Distance: | 216 km |
| Climbs: | 2278 m |
| Average per day: | 108 km with 1139 m of vertical climbs |
| Cycling Days: | 2 days |
| Distance: | 198 km |
| Climbs: | 1276 m |
| Average per day: | 99 km with 638 m of vertical climbs |
| Cycling Days: | 3 days |
| Distance: | 391 km (longest distance a day: 192 km) |
| Climbs: | 2953 m |
| Average per day: | 130 km with 985 m of vertical climbs |
| Cycling Days: | 3 days |
| Distance: | 393 km |
| Climbs: | 6646 m (longest climb a day: 3283 m) |
| Average per day: | 131 km with 2215 m of vertical climbs |
| Cycling Days: | 4 days |
| Distance: | 410 km |
| Climbs: | 4530 m |
| Average per day: | 103 km with 1133 m of vertical climbs |
Bromo Crater desert
The sunrise in the outback is very spectacular. I’ll will a photo or two a day from our current location to this gallery, if I am lucky enough to catch is with my camera …
| Pine Creek to Katherine | |||||
| Date: | 10-25-2014 | Time: | 03:55 h | Σ Time: | 290:13 h |
| Distance: | 94 km | Σ km: | 5878 km | Temp: | 18/39°C |
| Up: | 306 m | Σ Up: | 69051 m | Down: | 399 m |
| Calories: | 1622 kcal | Σ kcal: | 134130 kcal | ||
| Conditions: | A short and fast day into Katherine for another rest day. Same conditions as last two days … | ||||
Now that we know that the gusty south-east wind is freshen up at around 10am when the temperatures raise above 30°C, everyone wants to make as much of the days distance in the early morning, to avoid going into the wind and heat for too long. Since there is almost no change in landscape and country site and no Coke Stops, there are almost no time lost stopping too often. Katherine is a little town, in the middle of nowhere, and the birthplace of Cadel Evans, an Australian professional racing cyclist and winner of the 2011 Tour de France. Not much to do in town, but some opportunities in the closer surroundings, like a canyon or the Kakadu National Park. Camp is on the Ibis Hotel, however little to no shade, so most of the riders booked a room. I am camping, however there is again little privacy as later arriving cyclists tend to setup their tents right in the space left between 2 others, although there is space available in the size of a large soccer field. Hope this is going to change soon and the craziness of camping like fish in a tin ends. There are certain things happening during such trips, I‘ll never understand. Humans are sometimes a strange species.
| Adelaide River to Pine Creek | |||||
| Date: | 10-24-2014 | Time: | 06:13 h | Σ Time: | 286:18 h |
| Distance: | 131 km | Σ km: | 5784 km | Temp: | 19/44°C |
| Up: | 786 m | Σ Up: | 68745 m | Down: | 609 m |
| Calories: | 2577 kcal | Σ kcal: | 132508 kcal | ||
| Conditions: | All day increasing head or crosswind making the second part of the day a real tough one in the increasing heat. Roads perfect, traffic considerably respectful on Stuart HWY. | ||||
The 50th cycling day!
You know you are in Australia when a less than 100m ‘climb’ is mentioned as the days ‘challenge’ on the whiteboard!
We took a scenic route out of camp, which extended the ride by an extra 20km. However it was really worth it. The red morning sun turned the landscape into a colorful painting; changing with every minute and the rising sun. Some of the creeks were actually running water and created occasional oases with palm trees and small lakes. No chance for a swim, as signs posted the message of crocs in the rivers and lakes. At one point there were bush fires next to the road, with birds flying low and diving onto the road to catch the fleeing insects. The morning was astonishingly cool, just 19°C and the still low sun and trees produced enough shade on the roads for a while. The full heat was on after lunch. And with the heat the wind sets in, getting stronger with every minute and always from SE. As we are heading east, southeast and finally south we will probably never have a supporting tailwind, on the whole section down to Adelaide. Road-Trains were passing us, most of them with a respectful distance. Some of the 55m length, weighting 168t on 27 axels driving 104 wheels. Even if the pass you in a controlled manner, their impact on the wind requires you to be very cautious at any time. The Lazy Lizard camp is in town, therefore no hike into the wilderness today.
Today a car stopped next to me on the Stuart Highway. It was Craig a TdA2008 fellow from Australia, who was on his way home from Darwin and made it a quick reunion before he headed away in his car to find Chris, leaving me alone in the heat and headwind.
