There’s a Plan

Where and When?

Wind can play havoc with one’s feathers and cycling

It is a simple plan
The plan is to start riding west from Canberra in SE Australia until I get to Perth in Western Australia. It's about 4000 km. I've called it the Against The Wind cycle tour for a few reasons.

The ride start will be late March or early April 2020 which is one month into Australia's autumn. Ride finish should be by mid-May.

The return trip might be on the famous Indian-Pacific Railway if my wife Jane can meet me in Perth.
Plan B is to fly or bus home.

East to West. Canberra to Perth starting in early April. That’s the plan.

Audax Australia has developed a Trans Oz route which I'll modify slightly by doing in reverse. The Against The Wind and start in Canberra rather than Sydney. In 1937, the legendary Oppy cycled from Perth to Sydney in 14 days. With better equipment, doing a slightly shorter route and on much better roads than Oppy bounced along, I will probably take at least 35 days.

The Route
Some of the centres en-route from Canberra will likely include Yass, Tumbarumba, Wagga Wagga, Hay, Euston, Mildura, Renmark, Burra, Port Augusta, Minnipa, Nundroo, Border Village, Cocklebiddy, Fraser Range, Coolgardie, Merriden and then Perth.

The ride will pass through the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia and will cross three time-zones, and at least 4000 km. The ride will include the crossing of the Nullarbor, a vast, treeless region with famously long, straight stretches of road and a reputation for relentless winds.

What will the ride be like?
From the Audax Australia Website:
"Trans Oz is a 4000 km transcontinental unsupported randonnée from the Indian Ocean in the west to the Pacific in the east, commencing in Fremantle in Western Australia, finishing at Bondi Beach in New South Wales. Be prepared to suffer long daily distances, endless flat and straight roads, boredom, loneliness, cold, rain, headwinds, tailwinds, road trains, wandering cattle, camels, emus, wombats, and kangaroos, overpriced accommodation, average food, and sometimes questionable water quality"

Hmmh... sounds like fun.

For the greater good of regional, rural and remote Australia
This ride will also be a fundraising ride for The Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (ARLF). I'm hoping to raise $40,000 toward a scholarship for the Australian Rural Leadership Program which the ARLF runs.

The ARLF is a not-for-profit, non-commercial, 30 year old NGO which has a remarkable track record of helping rural, regional and remote Australian communities develop leadership.
More here about The Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and the good work it does.

And if you'd like to help me help the ARLF, click here:

https://rural-leaders.org.au/against-the-wind/

This book was a gift from my 89 year old mother, and it inspired me to attempt a Canberra to Perth ride. Unlike Rupert’s, my ride won’t be epic, and it won’t be a race. And I’ll be riding to east to west.

Transient or Settled? Individualism or Community?
This type of journey, riding several thousand kilometres across sparsely populated Australia, has me thinking about the tension between individualism and community.

With apologies to Bruce Spingsteen, the following lines are slightly modified from his words introducing his concert movie “Western Stars”. I saw this movie recently, and quite a few of Springsteen’s reflective observations made a lot of sense to me.

This is an Australianised version of what Bruce Springsteen said at the start of the concert:
“The struggle between individual freedom and communal life. There are two sides of the Australian character. One is transient, restless, solitary.
But the other is collective and communal, in search of family, deep roots, and a home for the heart to reside. These two sides rub up against one another, always and forever, in everyday Australian life.”

Can this long cycle tour be both transient and communal?

Let’s see. Part of the ride plan is to meet alumni of the ARLP along the route. If this works out, then perhaps the Against the Wind ride will be less about individualism and more about community.

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Victa CalvoGraham, when you get to WA consider taking the back road from Norsman to Hyden and then all the great dirt roads through the wheatbelt all the way into Perth... The main Great Eastern Hiway from Norsman to Perth scares the weebies out of me, even in a car.
And of course, if its raining you'll have no choice but the scary option.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if you get a majority of tailwinds on this ride, too.

Good luck!
Reply to this comment
4 years ago

Graham SmithThanks Victa. That is very helpful advice. I am hoping to get advice from local cyclists, and local maps en-route once I get out of my own patch in S.E. NSW. The roadies and Audax riders usually know the good roads.
I don't have a detailed route plan, and the Thorn Sherpa is good on dirt roads. So that Norseman to Hyden back road will be a good option. Thanks again.
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4 years ago