Saturday 29 August 2015

Fat Betty and The Scarp

29/08/15 Dwellingup to Boddington

After our first day of riding, we were both tired, but feeling like the first of our two hard days was a success. I was knackered, and Will was feeling good. We did our homework, and went to bed to read. It was cold, so we had the heater on and an extra blanket. It's good to be started.


    
Haven't we been here before?


We woke up after an iffy sleep, (my body was complaining a bit during the night), and made ourselves some porridge and hot drinks. Planning on getting going by 8:30am, we got underway by 9am. Ok, not too bad. A 90% chance of rain in Dwellingup and 55% chance in Boddington, made us want to get as close to Boddington as we could before it came.


    
Not much shoulder going up these hills, where is Will? Way up there!



Great idea, but gees Louise, I didn't think there was this many hills heading to Boddington. We've driven this road so many times, and knew of a few good climbs, but after our initial downhill out of Dwelly, it was majorly uphill for the rest of the day. Black Betty was feeling very heavy and I told her so. Come on Fat Betty, get up this bloody hill.


    
On and on up the hills we go. But doesn't the bush look amazing?



Poor Will, he was pushing up the hills really well, and leaving me behind. He had to stop and wait heaps. I needed quite a few rest stops, and on one I asked him to check out my pedals, as they were squeaking a bit. (Probably due to fat Jenny). Just after that stop, at about 11am, the rain started. Light at first, but it got pretty heavy, and I was surprised that I really didn't seem to mind it. It wasn't cold, mainly because we were working pretty hard, and all the cars were great. We tried to get off onto the dirt, as there was no shoulder, and they all gave as much room as they could. Especially the three BIS road trains that went by us two times each today. Second passing saw us getting big waves. Great work guys.


    
So glad we got these chairs. My poor Fat Betty needed some help from Wiil.


    
I'm still coming Will, please don't go without me?


    
Will! Will! Wait Will, I'm coming, very slowly, but still coming!


    
No shoulder, we're off in the dirt, but they still give as much as they can..thank you BIS drivers.



The heavy rain lasted about an hour, and we were pretty wet, but by the time we finally got here, we were dry. The last five kilometres were so frickin hard, I had absolutely no energy, and there was a really long climb, for about two Kay's, that I finally had to stop and do a bit of walking. My legs were shattered. We hadn't eaten anything, so stopped for a couple of corn thins to get me over the hill, before the glorious down hill into town. The really bad news, was the pub stopped serving food at 2pm, and it was ten passed when we got there. Shit, poop, bugger!


    
Boddington Bauxite Mine, not far now....just up that long long hill.


    
Halfway up the last big hill, neat little cemetery.


    
Bacon and eggs anyone? Wild flowers coming out already. Pretty.


Aarhuh, what to do? Chat to the barmaid, order a couple of reviving drinks, and find somewhere to stay. The caravan park has no onsite accomodation, so the Motel was it. It's going to rain tonight, so we'd like a nice dry room. Just means we have to camp a bit over the next couple of days. More bad news, we can't check in until 6pm, as Karen won't be back in town until then, so nothing for it but to hunt out some food before I faint, apparently there is not sufficient blubber on my body, I need to eat too. 


    
Downtown Boddington. Clean, neat and tidy.


    
You reckon we can wait it out here Will?

   
After a reasonable hamburger from the deli, we ducked into IGA for some things for tomorrow's lunch, then checked out the tourist information centre/TAFE, and found a nice comfy spot to sit and use free wifi, and wait it out. Just a couple of dodgey Aussie hobos, bludging the free Wifi. Can't wait for dinner, I am still really hungry.


    
Just some cool sculptures at "The Old School", or Information Centre.


    
Oh, that's a ripper, me and all my shit could fit in the front.


    
Nice little area to check out, and steal Wifi...he he he. The whole town has free Wifi.



Friday 28 August 2015

Are You Bloody Serious?

28/08/15 39kms

After a great deal of hoopla and big talking, we made no more excuses and had everything packed and ready for our departure today, come rain, hail or shine (not likely). My bike shorts never showed up, so I suppose they'll be there to welcome me home in a couple of months. Just means I will have to be onto washing my pants and coming up with some genius ways to dry them in the rain.


    
               So, here we go again. Check out the new shiny Ortlieb front bags.


So, up and atom this morning, early, and out of the house almost on time, just waiting for a light rain shower to finish. The bikes felt heavy, seems like Will and I weren't the only ones to have put on some weight. We pedalled our way out of South Yunderup and into Pinjarra, with only one Transperth bus not giving us any room. Two empty lanes and they didn't give us an inch. But we arrived at my mums' house just as it started to rain again, so we put the kettle on and enjoyed a last taste of her famous home made Anzac cookies. The rain was getting heavier, so another cuppa and put a couple more bits of the jigsaw in, and it cleared up.


    
          Heading out of South Yundie on the cycle path, and drizzle.


 
Our route takes us up that bloody Dwellingup hill again, and I have not forgotten how it nearly killed me on our Mundabiddi trip. The screaming thighs, the lack of oxygen, and almost vomiting from exhaustion. So if we are seriously going to ride to Dwellingup again, surely we can cheat? What if we do it unloaded? I've lost my fitness, I've found my fat, and I don't want to feel like that again. Of course we can, Mum can drive our gear up, and we'll still ride, compromise. Nice.

So after unloading the bikes, we cruised around to Wills' dads (Bonza), to do one last job for him and say see ya. Then as the sun was shining, we took off out of town.


    
             See ya Bonza, take care and play on that IPad.



The road is pretty busy these days, and doesn't really have much shoulder. A couple of Harley Davidson riders came past loudly, one gave us space, the other, being a total tool, passed so close I could have pick pocketed his wallet. Dickhead! Tosser! A-Hole!


    
          The flats before the hills, you can just see them in the distance.



The rain looked like staying away, and before I knew it, we came to hill number one. It's not so bad, third gear all the way, (last time I got up it, just, but stopped to get some desperately needed oxygen, and swore many times, probably even spat on myself accidentally) then carried on up the next one. Wow, it is amazing how the Swiss Alps has helped my hill attitude. I just talked to my legs, and told them to just keep going and we would get over the hill eventually. And we did. No walking, and no swearing, and only the slightest bit of huffing. But a break for drinks and a small celebration was allowed.



    
           Made it up the first two ok, I know what is around that bend....ugh!



I was feeling a bit tired, and the next hill was the killer last time. It is steep and windy, and dangerous with not much shoulder, and guard railing. I got half way up it, but needed to catch my breath, then carried on to the top. Woo hoo, thank god that is done. But from there, it is a steady climb for about 5kms. Will was doing a great job, and was quite a way ahead of me, pumping up the slope. I was running out of steam already. This is without gear? Are you serious? Bloody hell, I need to just keep riding, no more parking up at home, even my dodgey knee was complaining.



    
    If you squint, you can just see Jenny coming up that hill. Come on girl, I'm waiting.



    
        Almost there Jen, you can do it! Breath, pedal, breath, pedal.....



About 5kms from Dwellingup, Mum passed us, my Dad waving out the window, and we reached the top of the climb. Hallelujah! So we found a bit of energy, and pushed it out to find our support vehicle parked up at the town entry. We made our way to the caravan park, chucked our gear in the chalet, and went to the Blue Wren Cafe for food. I was really hungry. 



    
       Yay, we made it again. There is our support vehicle, waiting. Good one!



    
                            There they are, Mum and Dad, with all our crap! 



I was dreading that ride, knowing it would be raining, the hills, and my lack of fitness, but we got here again, had a great steak burger, last good chat with my folks, then said the farewells. Thanks support crew, you got me through it. For tomorrow, we're gonna get wet. But, hopefully we can get away early and get to Boddington before the big rains in the early arvo. Fingers crossed people, and we're on our way at last.

Thursday 13 August 2015

Lazy Dayz.

OOThe Exitement Continues. Thursday 13/08/15.

Today, bit of drizzle in South Yunderup, not to cold.

By Will.
Not to much action over the last week for Jenny and I. The semi-retired life at home is pretty cruisey, we do wake up at a reasonable time, usually around 7am. Then we "work" for about an hour and a half in bed, well we call researching our future trips & reading other people's blogs working.

Last Sunday we did a 34km training ride, here's Jenny riding along Old Mandurah Rd.

Short cut over the Suspension Bridge, Pinjarra WA.

The planning for the Nullarbor Cycle trip is coming along nicely, we have a route mapped out & tonight Barry is staying over so we can discuss the support vehicle section from Hyden to Norseman over dinner and few drinks. Barry & his wife Nicole have recently moved to Norseman, so that should work out nicely for us all.

Baz has arrived, house hand over successful he heads home to Norseman tomorrow.

Barry & I head down to the Ravenswood Hotel, while we were gone Jenny sold my  old "Shark Lure" (surfboard). I'd had it for about 22 years, don't use it anymore, $150 will come in handy for our cycling trip. Our new motto "if you don't use it, sell it"'

A couple of other positives, I have made a start on my Home Brew Beer. Haven't done one of these in years. I use to make a pretty good beer so hoping it turns out ok. When we arrive back home in 3 months it should be nicely matured & ready for drinking.

Home Brew. Cleaning bottles isn't much fun !

Have purchased a Gopro 4, made myself sort of familiar with it & installed it on Jenny's bike. We are going to take some video footage of our ride & try out a few still shots like time lapse, night skies, etc. Jen did well and managed to get the salesman at JB Hifi Mandurah to knock an extra $80 off the RRP by using her smartphone to show him that Dick Smith Electronics were cheaper. 

Gopro Hero4, should capture some good downhill runs, video with this.

Now to just figure out how it works 

Gopro mounted onto Jenny's bike "Black Betty" 

On our Cycle Tour we have 3 options for charging our phones & other gadgets, Schimdt 28 Son Dynamo, hooked up to a Cinq5 plug3 charging device, then chained to a Goal Zero battery pack. Then just plug in your Gizmo ! Easy isn't it ! Solar & 240v mains are our other 2 options.

For the first time in nearly 20 years we have purchased 2 new camp chairs !!! They are from Helinox and are called the Chair One. They are amazing and only weigh 850gms. You can check out the site if you like.
www.helinox.com.au they cost $124 each.

From newest to oldest camp chairs, purchased 2015 from Helinox, 1996 bought in Karratha WA  & 1989 (green one) our very first original from the hardware store, Broome.
The new Helinox Chair One on the left only weighs 850 grams !

Steve & Heidi at runrideroam.com who we met cycling through Europe have them & we also spoke with a Dutch cyclist couple with some similar light weight camp chairs. They all swore by them & said the extra little bit of weight was worth the comfort at the camp site.

 Steve & Heidi's runrideroam.com ,camp chairs in action, England, June 2015. It didn't take much to convince us. The other chairs in the picture we borrowed from Brad & Sue.

We are waiting for a couple of other purchases to arrive that we hope will improve our trip, the most exciting one is the Spot Gen3 Tracker. It's 3 items in one, an emergency rescue beacon, a GPS tracker so friends, family & blog followers can see where we are & a check in, I'm ok button. Cool, Jen & I will keep you updated about this and let you know if it's worthwhile or not.

Spot Gen3 Tracker, should arrive soon.

The count down is now on, we leave in about 2 weeks, in that time I'm getting my dodgey right eye checked out (all seems ok to me) by the Ophthalmologist & I have a visit with the dreaded Dentist tomorrow.  

Friday 7 August 2015

Cabin Fever

3 Weeks since we arrived Home.

Blog entry by Will.


Ozzie, our neighbours dog, comes out to greet us, the morning after we got home.


Right now it's raining outside, cold & dreary. Jenny is sewing & has an acute case of "Cabin Fever" she is keen to hit the road again. Who's idea was it to come home in the middle of winter ?

Jenny is so bored, she has decided to do some sewing !

The main reason for letting our Europe trip come to an end and coming back to Oz was so we could sort out unfinished business. It feels like we have not done anything over the past 3 weeks, but that isn't the case.
We have:
Caught up with Family & Friends.
Been on a couple of long bicycle rides.
Submitted all out tax info to our accountant for processing.
Sold many items laying around the house, that we no longer use.
Been on a couple of motor bike rides.
Continued with the VW Kombi repairs and ordered new interior cabinets.
Had many lazy mornings in bed.
Helped my Dad clean and advertise his F100 truck for sale.
Tidied up around the house.
Sorted out various business obligations.

During our first week home, we decided it would be a good idea to go for a 20km ride along the Kwinana Fwy cycle path on a very wet day.

Jenny with her bike "Little Bubby" near Serpentine Dam.

It was a cold day for a bike ride.

We weren't the only ones out for a ride. Riders crossing the Dam wall headed for Jarrahdale.

Lazy morning in the winter sunshine.

Dixie Van, I started removing the side windows but found a small amount of rust that required some repair work.

Rust isn't to bad for a 40 year old Kombi.

Sliding door window removed, rust repair begins.

Neutralise it with some rust inhibitor paint.

New flooring, fridge & interior cabinets still to be fitted.

It should look some thing like this when completed, except the floor will be wood look.
(Photo from Kombi Cabinets, Queensland, who are making our new ones, thanks Tony)

Selling stuff....Kombi stove & old cabinet. Sold.

3rd row Landcruiser seats, could be hard to find a buyer.

Surfboards no longer used, get rid of them...sell...sell...sell.

The "Old Man's" ute....Sell, took me all day to clean it ! 

So I guess we both haven't been too slack. Now what ? Well some of the plans we discussed while touring Europe are going to take a bit longer to achieve then we hoped for.
We have investigated a North America cycle trip along the west coast from Vancover, Canada to either San Diego, USA or maybe even further south into Mexico. The weather window departure date for this trip has to be June 2016 & if the Australian dollar slides much lower against the Greenback then it might become to expensive. Jenny & I will make the call on whether to book our flights or not, early 2016.

So what about the here & now ? Like all good adventures, the inspiration came after a few drinks. The next morning we discussed the sanity of it and if we were both still keen.....YES we are ! So Jenny & I are going to tackle the Nullarbor, which from memory is Latin for "plain with no trees".  We also want to focus on South Australia, particularly, Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula and Kangaroo Island as we have never visited any of these areas.

It gets pretty windy out there on the Nullarbor, so to make sure you get a majority of Westerly tail winds you need to be on the road by the beginning of September at the latest. It will be cold at times but I don't mind so long as we have tail winds. If you leave the departure for to late in the year, you cop savage easterly winds, hot weather & heaps of annoying flies !

The preparations have already begun, new front Ortlieb Panniers have been ordered to replace the ripped & damaged cheap Chinese ones we chucked out in the UK. Spot gen3 Tracker (with SOS & HELP functions) has been ordered, Maps down loaded to DavoGPS, routes selected and much more.

The plan is for us initially is to be on the road for 3 months, then either drive a Campervan Relocation or fly home for December. Then after 4 to 6 weeks at home do the reverse to where we "paused" the cycle tour and continue onwards to the East-coast  then hopefully New Zealand...So that's the rough plan. Departure date is before the 31st of August.

Proposed cycle route for next cycling adventure, via, Hyden, Norseman, Nullarbor, Eyre & Yorke Peninsula's, Kangaroo Is. Adelaide. September to December 2015. 2500kms+.