A Journey To the Centre

I begin today by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land on which I will be passing through on this adventure, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. 

Uluru is an incredibly sacred site for First Nations people, whose presence in the area can be dated back a staggering 60,000 years. Over this time many people both lived here, and travelled to the area for ceremonies. There are more than 500 indigenous nations across Australia, and in the Uluru region the Anangu people call this home. Uluru and its neighbour Kata Tjuta aren’t just rocks, they are living, breathing, cultural landscapes that are incredibly sacred. Known as being the resting place for the past ancient spirits of the region.

Since living in Australia I have dreamt of visiting this place, and what better way to do it than an epic journey by bicycle? So, I will soon set off on an ambitious challenge to try and ride from my house in Melbourne, to Uluru. As usual, I plan to do this solo and unsupported, but I will be taking some safety precautions, of course.

I plan to do this trip as much "off grid" as possible. By that I mean, I will avoid plugging into any power. I'm not sure how achievable this will be, but I will carry a single portable solar panel and I also generate a small amount of power from a Hub Dynamo on the front wheel. 

Intended Route

My plan is to ride an inland route. I have ridden the Great Ocean road coastline before from Adelaide back to Mebourne, so this time heading in the opposite drirect I intend to head into the interior:

• I'll head to Ballarat, over the big hill at Halls Gap through the Grampians, veer north to Horsham, then just west of the Little Desert National Park before crossing the border into South Australia.
• Once across the border it's North, over the Murray River towards Peterborough and into the Flinders Ranges. I'll then join a few bits of the Mawson Trail but only briefly, before the last settlement of Maree and the challenging Oonadatta track which will be the hardest part of the trip.
• All going well I then join the Stuart Highway for just a few days before turning West to Yulara, and Uluru at the finish. I'll fly home from there if I can. (The logistics are complicated, I may have to fly back from Alice Springs).

The total distance will be at least 2600km with a significant part of this being off road, especially on the 620Km long Oonadatta Track.

The Bike

I will need to be totally self sufficient, and that means that I will need to carry enough water, food and camping gear to get between supply points, and so that means quite a heavy load. Therefor, I decided against doing this "Bikepacking" style, although it is possible I'm too risk averse to do that in hot outback conditions.  

The good news is, I have Beatrice:

Beatrice

This bike served me beautifully well cycling acorss the Nullarbor plane. She is an absolute beast, can take a lot of punishment, can carry a heavy load and is a wonderful ride, if a bit slow. She is also very low maintenance.  The photo above was from a test ride today "fully loaded" to check my packing. This includes a 10 litre waterbag strapped onto the back.

Bagelnotonabike

What Are My Chances?

Its a long way and I'm not young anymore, but I have ridden many multi day tours before and know what I'm in for. Once I get used to the weight of the bike, the body should adjust OK. I have a few health niggles with dodgy knees and an ankle that did not 100% recover from a cycling prang last year. Hopefully those hold up...but both are manageable.

I did not do any specific training for this, but, this year I have cycled over 7000km already so have had plenty of time turning the pedals.

But the main thing here is the unknowns like weather and motorists. The Oonadatta track is unpassable if it rains, so I don't want to get caught out on that. Its also late in the season for this ride and it could get hot. It can also get very windy out there, and a will be a mental battle with its remote nature.

If things go severely wrong, I have a spot tracker with SOS functionality as an absolute last resort.

But on the whole I'm confident I've got a good chance. I cant wait to see the outback, and to do so in a way that connects me back to nature, and respects the area by minimising my impact. And I'm also very much looking forward to the isolation, and to totally get away from work life.

I will update the blog as I go, if possible, so thanks for tuning in!