132 km doesn’t sound much to cover on a flat land like the Australian outback. However, if the wind is blowing right into your face all day, it makes cycling a real workout. Keeping the average at about 20km/h was hard work. No way to stretch and relax the legs, always pedaling to not go backwards. I was going the first 45 kilometers on my own, before a group of 4 closed up with me and I joined them to share efforts to break the wind for the rest of the day. At 104km we passed the Tropic of Capricorn and had a short photo and refreshment stop. The last 20 km to town brought a bit of a relief, as it was a slight descend from the highest elevation point on the Stuart Highway to Alice Springs, and the wind direction seemed to have changed.

Camp is at a nice, green and shady place just a kilometer out of town and the starting point for my tour to Uluru and around, during the 3 rest days. I also need to do some shopping, maybe a new camera, as my old D70 is eventually ‘falling apart’, after 10 years of service in the most unreal areas and situations, brought to us by TdA and my other adventure travels.

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It was a quick start from Barrow Springs. I guess nobody wanted to stay there longer as necessary. For the first 30 km we were actually heading west, so we got good tailwind that let us cruise at 30km/h or higher. Conditions changed once we turned back into southern direction. The tailwind turned into a nasty crosswind slowing us down substantial. Right after camp I took some sunrise photos with riders passing by the rising sun, thus I lost contact to all riding groups as they were flying by to fast. Therefore I was on my own again for most of the day. Unfortunately my DLR stopped working after a few more photos – the shutter did not open anymore. I tried to reset the camera several times to correct the error, but no success. Thus I was left with my GoPro and Samsung phone for the rest of the day. There wasn’t much to see anyhow this day, except once in camp, thus not a big problem. I already planned to buy a new body in Alice Spring the next day to have  a good camera for the Uluru (Ayers Rock) trip. Surprisingly the cam worked again in camp. Must have been one of the bumps when riding over the cattle grates that cleared the malfunction. The highlight of the day was definitely the mango ice cream at the mango farm at 104 km (TdA must add this stop to their ‘bible’ for future tours – however, the farm is on sale, hope the new owner will continue the business). Todays camp is a paradise compared to last nights. There is an art gallery associated with it, with two huge human sculptures on the ground and the hill, next to it (photos to follow). A not very happy locking kangaroo is in one of the paddocks with some sheep, with a strange name (‘phuku’ or alike). Some riders told me they have seen 2 wild camels as well. I decided to climb the nearby hill with the ‘Big Man’ sculpture, after stopping at the ‘Big Women with child and lizard’. Their size is impressive. Unfortunately the gallery was closed, so I need to find out later what the meaning of the giants is.

Tomorrow is the final riding day to Alice Springs. Three rest days allow us to visit the Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kings Canyon and other sites, for which I have signed in.

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The group decided on a 50 km time trial on this ‘shorter’ cycling day, whereas I decided to return to the Devils Marbles for a sunrise photo opportunity. This added 22 extra kilometers to my day and a late arrival in the next camp, Which wasn’t too bad, as the Barrow Creek caravan park is not the first address in the outback. It is the most basic campsite so far in Australia, everything rundown, broken or not yet finished, except the pub, which is one of a kind. No pool to refresh and relax after a long cycling day, but enough cold drinks in the pub.

Since I wasn’t ‘racing’ I had all time of the world to finish the day. I was behind everyone the whole day, including the sweep. The lunch-van paid me a surprise visit, to ‘search’ for me and deliver water and food. Although I ‘signed out’ for the day, a TdA official was a bit concerned about my wellbeing, because I left camp at 5:30am and wasn’t seen thereafter, and there was no mobile signal to keep in touch. I received a lunch packet from Chelsea to survive the final 70km, which I took slower than usual, to save energy for the next two long distance cycling days to Alice Springs.

The  ‘Ufo Capital of Australia’ was my breakfast stop at 18 km. The racers missed this unique location, as they couldn’t afford to stop their race. I was ‘hijacked’ by the aliens and only released after I bought a sticker for my bicycle and a pin for my Australian pin collection, which is the substitution for bracelets I collected in Indonesia.

At the Barrow Creek pub I got another animal for my travelling bike helmet zoo, which Doug mounted to my already crowded helmet.

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The weather changed during the rest day. Wind direction turned again to blow strong from south and the skies were totally covered. It rained during the night, and continued to slightly drizzle in the morning, which was a welcome refreshment for the riders. Unfortunate for my ‘a sunrise photo a day’ project there was no sun. So I took the first and only chance to take a photo, when the sun rays briefly broke through the otherwise dense clouds. For cycling the covered sky was a treat. With temperatures at least 10°C lower than on previous days, it was more like cycling in the  European summer. The landscape was not very different to previous days. Only the darker red soil/sand from rain and the smell of the rain made a difference. The first 100 km was just cycling the distance, no other remarkable sights, that would force a stop. I cycled the first 45 km on my own, but joint a peloton that caught up to me for the rest of the day, sharing to break the wind and rotate for recovery. At 104 km the giant  boulders of the place named “Devil’s Marbles” came into view. Time for a photo stop and for exploring the area. Impressive how nature built this setup. All formed by weather and erosion. At sunrise or sunset even more impressive – thus I decided to return to the place the next morning for sunrise, if the skies will clear over night.

The other riders will have a kind of cycling competition the next day– a ‘handicapped race’ – on the first 50 km, which probably allows me to return into the group by lunch and not stay too far behind. Going back to the marbles will add another 20 km to the total distance, which is no problem, because the official distance is only 100 km, early camp arrival guaranteed.

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I never had such a fast, long solo ride on my mountain bike. I was last out of Renner Springs camp, because I wanted to take a  sunrise photo at camp. Thereafter I went shopping for cold drinks and off I was, at least 15 minutes after the sweep and half an hour after the first rider. No problem at all, I was flying with the wind, average > 30 km/h. A few photo stops in the morning and by the time I reached the first refreshment station at 59km, I was no longer last. The tailwind carried me on to lunch and further towards Tennant Creek. I would have arrived at the new campsite at around 1pm, if I hadn’t decided to deviate from the original route. At 149km a sign indicated a sacred Aboriginal site ‘The Pebbles’ which I read about in my book and wanted to see at the rest day. It was still early in the day, but already in full midday heat. I checked to have enough water left to allow me for a 2 hours detour and exploration of the site. The site was only accessible via a red & dusty sand and gravel road. More then once I almost got stuck in deep sand, however I didn’t want to release air from my tires, as there was still more ride on pavement. I was sure I would be the one and only visitor at this time of the day – and it turned out to be true. No human soul to be seen, no animals, just the plain, hot rocks that form the place along a marked gravel path. After returning from the dusty 13 km detour I continued the original track into town. Campsite was mostly deserted at my arrival, as everyone was already gone to town having cold beers in one of the bars or booked a room somewhere. Tennant Creek hasn’t got a good reputation. My book says: ‘If it makes it into the news, then mostly because of alcoholism or vandalism issues’. It was Halloween night and the pubs were full and scary figures all around. We had dinner in the Memorial Club, which offers a free shuttle between camp and pub.

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We deserved a shorter cycling day, after the 2 long ones. Cycling was fast and lunch at 70 km reached before 9am. Only 23km more to go after lunch with favorable wind, which blow me into camp at 9:55am. Renner Springs is just a gas station with a caravan park in the ‘desert’, no mobile phone signal, no internet. The camp ground has almost no shade for our tents. So we all escaped from the heat into the bar, restaurant or the pool and did not return until the sun was low enough and the outside air much cooler. The landscape turned into a lower bushes and much flatter. However it still looks very green, although there is no rain – evergreen bushes and perfect tar roads, thus no dust. Tomorrow is another 160 km ride to the next rest day location.

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Strategy today: Try to avoid the heat in the afternoon and get into camp as early as possible. Well said, however the first detour was a visit the old airfield at Daly Waters. The hangar and the small museum was not so interesting and very run down. But the ride into the rising sun was worth the little deviation from the original track. The Wallabies were probably not so amused with the early morning intruder.  It took me a while to close up with Henry and Nellie, and  pass them, so I wasn’t last on the road anymore. The coke stop at 52 km was very welcome as the heat was already building up. Lunch at 89 km or shortly thereafter was the end of cycling for most of the riders. The heat was almost unbearable as the vegetation started to change into low bushes, thus there was hardly any shade to find. A rest place at 130 km with water tanks was used to cool down for the final 25km to Elliott. Andreas came with the truck to offer water refills and apples to the remaining riders on the road. The road was turning south-east again, which means directly into the strong headwind. I managed to stay below 6 hours for the 154 km and at 1:30 am I was cooling down in the refreshing camp pool, enjoying a delicious and expensive ice cream.

Dinner was again very delicious. Tofu, with mangos, rice and vegetables in coconut sauce.  Mark is doing an excellent job to prepare vegetarian variations for me, as the only veggie on the tour.

Today I had my first encounter of the so-called ‘Australian No-Brainer’, a subspecies of the ‘No-Brainers’ found in other parts of the so-called civilized world. Whereas the road train and other motor vehicle drivers were really respectful with us cyclists in the past days, this road train driver passed me with the minimum space left, not to crash into me. It was on a long straight road, no other traffic in both directions, and this (I don’t use the proper word here) driver did not even consider to pull over the middle line of the road, but hooted on me and almost knocked me off the road. I don’t know what causes these guys to be so reckless and risk other’s lives, without reason. Obviously, no brain, no way to think about the consequences! Luckily it is a minority who reacts like this, but they manage to spoil the reputation of a wonderful country.

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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 …

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