A blog about cycling...especially the long distance stuff

Saturday 15 April 2017

Perth to Adelaide - Day 1 - Perth to Mandurah

Well here we go! No more thinking about doing it...time to actually do it! The day started with a tough farewell  to my wife and our pets. My wife was a rock at the airport whilst I was a bundle of nerves...not helped by 10/10 on the Faff scale from airport staff with the bike.

The bike turned out way to big for their boxes...which I guess I should have expected. She's  not called 'Beatrice' for nothing...Anyway after a lot more disassembly she fit in the box eventually...albeit not padded as well as before, it turned out.


On the plane I calmed down a bit. I got out some pen and paper and jotted down a few ground rules to myself:

  • Don't think too far ahead.
  • Start slow
  • It doesn't  matter how far youvride today, its how far you can still ride tomorrow.
  • Eat well
  • Payback peoples kindness and charity


If i can stick to those I should be fine!

The highlight on the flight was the clouds breaking at a perfect spot above Cape Arid...probably  the hardest bit on the trip. It looked very wild...cant wait to get there in a couple of weeks!


Upon landing it was time to put Beatrice back  together. The bad news was the front axel was severly bent at the end! The wheel would attach but I did not fancy being out in remote lands with a ton of weight on it....so plans to exit Perth quickly went on ice while I tracked  down a bike shop. They were awesome and had her fixed nicely but this all took a while and was quite a detour, but so glad to have it sorted before leaving town.



The plus to this was a peek at Perth and the cycle paths are top quality. Even saw dolphins swimming a few meters offshore.

After hooking up with the bike path running parallel  with the freeway running south I made fast time to Mandurah into a headwind but the sun out and great riding conditions. The delayed start meant I arrived well after dark. Campgrounds all full so I ended up in the luxury of a motel for the first night...and have spent the evening fixing up other bits of gear. A connector on the hub dynamo was loose and I was getting no power generating...so fixed that and a few other small things.

I am hoping that is it for mechanicals. But it is nice to be moving...darn tired now...

Total distance today:110 I think
'Where are you going on that'? Questions: 4


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