It’s travelling day

March 16, 2024

Bungendore to Perth

I left everything to the last minute as per usual so packing the bike was a frenzied effort along with mowing the lawn, sorting out my gear, cleaning the pool and collecting my first ever purchase from the respected online retailer Timu.
The wild ducks have taken to our pool area like ducks to water, so for a bargain price of $36.42 I’ve purchased an ultrasonic motion sensing duck repeller that will let me rest easy whilst cycling in WA. And best of all it was reduced from $146.28.

It was a 41/2 hour direct flight to Perth from Canberra. That gave me enough time to ponder the challenges of this trip. The heat is definitely a factor. It was 34 degrees on landing and will be around 30 for the first week at least. There’s a lot of pea gravel and sand to ride through that will be taxing and as always there is my questionable sense of direction. I have added some extra arsenal to help me stay on course but ultimately will that help? Time will tell.

If I know what direction I need to go surely nothing will go wrong?

We also have bought a drone to along with us which seems simple enough to use. With a total weight of 300 grams and more computing power than Apollo XI it should provide some interesting footage.

An unashamed plug for our official beer sponsor ‘Bloke’ beer.

Re-assembling a bike is not one of my strong suits. My family will never let me forget the tantrum I threw in a car park in Bath where I completely lost it trying to pack my bike into a travel case that ended up taking several hours, yelling and screaming and almost ended up in divorce. In my defence Nico and Cherie were mercilessly taking the piss out of me whilst providing a running commentary.

The hotel let us use an empty function room right next door to Sharon’s upcoming Barbie themed 40th Birthday party later tonight. I took a deep calming breathe, convinced myself that this time all will be fine, and proceeded to wrangle my bike into shape. All went pretty well until I managed to jam the back wheel somehow. With perspiration starting to form on my brow, I wiped my grease laden fingers across my forehead and from there it descended into the all too familiar chaos I’ve experienced so many times before. Meanwhile Pete’s bike is fully assembled.

Just as I’ve convinced myself that I’ve brought the wrong back wheel with me it miraculously falls into place and all is suddenly good with the world.
We decide to give Sharon’s party a miss and head out for a bowl of Pasta and tuck in for an early night before we start riding tomorrow.

Can you find the ant carrying a nut fragment I dropped on my last practice ride. How are they so strong?

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	15
Comment on this entry	Comment	1

Greg RobertsI've heard from many experts that the Langley compass has a magnetic deviation of up to 90 degrees to the east. Mr P Cox can confirm however my sources claim the confirmation already exists...
Reply to this comment
1 month ago