Round Australia by bike - Day 015 - Mount Isa to Camooweal

Day:	015
Date:	31 May 2008
Start	Mount Isa
Finish	Camooweal
Daily Distance:	192km
Daily Speed:	25kph
Relative to Schedule:	-592km
Daily Podcasts:	Here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I got up at 3am and was on the road by 3:45am.  Despite the slack day yesterday and eight hours sleep my motivation was still low and I almost dreaded wheeling the bike out of the motel door to begin riding.  I guess it’s a combination of fatigue, missed objectives and the immensity of the task ahead.  I’m not daunted by the distances I have to ride, but dislike doing it when I’m not getting enough sleep.  On some nights, particularly when roadside camping, I feel like I have barely stopped riding from the day before when I have to start riding again.  One of my running heroes in the 1970s was Dave Bedford, the great and ground-breaking English distance runner.  He experimented with running vast distances in training and also, at one point, with running as many as five times a day.  When asked what this was like, he said that sometimes, as he completed one training run, he met himself leaving for the next one.  That’s how I feel some days.  Anyway, I feel the need to regroup and reassess and have decided to switch to the mode I used in last year’s attempt where I endeavoured not to camp and was prepared to have some very long days, and some quite short days, depending on where the towns are.  When camping, I tend to ride late and don’t sleep as well.  At present, I am two days behind a 50 day schedule.  I’m not going to bother trying to make up any time in the short-term.  Instead, I’ll stick to the daily targets as best I can and hope no bad days (headwinds or bike or body trouble) intervene to put me further behind schedule.  That’s the plan, anyway….we’ll see what happens. Once I got riding today, it wasn’t too bad.  The first three hours were in darkness, beneath a brilliantly starlit sky along a mostly flat road with barely any traffic.  I listened to the Test Cricket on my radio and around 6am thought of my friends back at Terrigal setting out on the monthly 10km running time trial.  It was cold in the shallow valleys but I resisted the temptation to put on more clothes.  There was a slight following breeze which gradually strengthened as the sun rose.  The countryside was most savannah lightly-timbered with scraggly trees and mostly covered with long brown grass.  Cattle could be seen here and there and I disturbed a number of eagles feeding on kangaroo road kill as I whizzed along making good time. After about 100km I stopped in a half-completed rest area and enjoyed some sandwiches for breakfast while warming myself in the emerging sunlight.  I guy driving in the other direction stopped and came over for a chat.  He was on his way from Darwin to Brisbane but was hoping to pick up some work in Mount Isa.  He told me that there was a Camp Draft (like a rodeo) on in Camooweal, my target for the day, and that the small town was very busy, making it unlikely I would find any accommodation.  Oh well, maybe I would be roadside camping after all, since the next habitation was 272km further on. I continued on to Camooweal, arriving at 12:30pm and tried the first place advertising cabins, but they were booked out.  However, at the second roadhouse, they had one basic cabin left and I took it.  First I had a big brekky and then had a shower and did my chores.  The little town is certainly busy with the Camp Draft.  On the way in I could see a large gathering of trucks, horse trailers and caravans off to the left, along with penned cattle and some horsemen, and the wafting sounds of a loudspeaker system.  In town, which is just a main street with two roadhouses, a butcher’s and a pub, there was quite a lot of noise emanating from the pub and various stockmen, many of them aboriginal, lounging around town in the required dress of boots, jeans, big buckles and beaten up hats.  There were also a number of young kids, some similarly dressed, patronizing the roadhouses, presumably on a rare trip into town.  I imagine it will be quite noisy here tonight. I plan to go to bed very early tonight and leave before 2am for the 272km ride to Barkly Homestead roadhouse, and then make a similarly early start the next day for the very long and challenging haul (374km) to Cape Crawford across the Barkly Tablelands along a minor road with no facilities whatsoever.

Round Australia by bike - Day 014 - Cloncurry to Mount Isa

Day:	014
Date:	30 May 2008
Start	Cloncurry
Finish	Mount Isa
Daily Distance:	121km
Daily Speed:	23kph
Relative to Schedule:	-464km
Daily Podcasts:	n.a.
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I slept in to 4am and got up feeling particularly grotty, not having washed for two days and having toiled into the dusty wind all yesterday in very warm conditions.  I quickly packed up and was on the road soon after 4:30am.  The highway was busier, with many road trains, but it was wide enough to make riding relatively safe.  The road was quite hilly, passing through a mountain range and, despite the following wind, I found myself fading on the hills with legs tired from yesterday. The low mountain scenery made for some good views and there were a number of long downhill rolls to enjoy, but I still struggled to make good time.  I reached Mount Isa, a major mining centre, dominated by smelters and smokestacks, around 10:30am and went to McDonalds for breakfast before picking up my mail from the Post Office.  By now it was around 11:30am and I needed to make a decision about whether to continue on to Camooweal (191km), which I would probably not reach until about 9pm, probably too late to buy supplies for an early start the next day.  I decided that I needed some body recovery time and booked into a motel on the northern side of Mount Isa with plans for an early start tomorrow.

Round Australia by bike - Day 013 - Burke & Wills Roadhouse to Cloncurry

Day:	013
Date:	29 May 2008
Start	Burke & Wills Roadhouse  - 90km
Finish	Cloncurry
Daily Distance:	271km
Daily Speed:	n.a.
Relative to Schedule:	-313km
Daily Podcasts:	Here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I woke soon after 3am and was on the road by 3:45am, feeling very tired.  Unfortunately, the southerly wind had got stronger during the night and it was an effort to make reasonable speed.  Around 5:30am, as always seems to happen to me, I got very sleepy but managed to keep myself going until the sun rose and my motivation rose. I reached Burke & Wills Roadhouse around 9am and enjoyed a hearty breakfast while watching their TV and the passing clientele.  It was turning into a sunny, warm and windy day and I restocked with fluids and snacks as it was becoming increasingly apparent to me that I wouldn’t reach Cloncurry (181km) at an hour when I could buy food.  I therefore needed enough to get me to Mount Isa, the next town. The afternoon turned into a great trial.  The road gradually climbed into higher country capped with occasional rocky tors and the headwind became ferocious.  At times I could barely manage to keep my speed above 10kph and I remember another time where I had to weave to dodge tumbleweeds roaring down the road towards me.  It was very tiring riding, with no respite, and I began taking a break every 20 kilometres to recover. Around 6pm I reached to isolated bush pub at Quamby and decided to stop for a meal and cold drinks.  It was a very authentic pub, with very few patrons (who had a few jokes about the wind at my expense), and the barman said I could camp in the grounds for free if I wanted.  I declined, saying I wanted to get at least to Cloncurry for the night   I ordered the only food on the menu, rissoles and vegetables, and sat on the pub’s front verandah watching the sun set while it was prepared. I then continued riding southwards into the wind towards Cloncurry, reaching the major road junction just to the west of the town around 9:30pm, completely spent.  It was too late to bother with a motel, so I found a bare patch of ground near the junction, spread out my swag and quickly went to sleep.  I should have the wind with me tomorrow as I head for Mount Isa, but have 313km to Camooweal, my target town for the night and have to make a call into the Post Office in Mount Isa to collect some things Sharon has mailed, including a spare tyre.  It could be a long day.

Round Australia by bike - Day 012 - Croydon to Burke & Wills Roadhouse

Day:	012
Date:	28 May 2008
Start	Croydon
Finish	Burke & Wills Roadhouse  - 90km
Daily Distance:	244km
Daily Speed:	n.a.
Relative to Schedule:	-271km
Daily Podcasts:	Here & here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I got up at 6:30am and wandered across to the nearby café for breakfast once I was packed and ready to go.  Croydon seemed like a neat and tidy outback town and I watched everybody getting ready for their day while I ate my breakfast at an outside table.  I then went into the grocery section of the small store and purchased enough food and fluid to get me to the next store, Burke & Wills Roadhouse, 347km away. I left town shortly before 9am and spent the next 155km cycling along a perfectly flat road through the timbered savannah with a slight following wind.  There were a few cattle amongst the trees and I actually saw a herd of about 100 cattle being driven by authentic drovers who gave me a wave as I passed.  The road also paralleled a railway line used by the Gulflander motor train once or twice a week and I actually saw the two-carriage train trundling along with tourists hanging out of the window through the trees. I reached a road junction just south of Normanton around 3pm and turned south.  I decided I didn’t want to detour into Normanton, 7km from the junction, and set out towards the Burke and Wills Roadhouse, 200km to the south.  The breeze became a headwind and my speed slowed.  The countryside became more undulating and the road descended to cross a few rivers.  The trees gradually cleared so the land became vast brown paddocks with occasional Brahmin cattle.  I was treated to a beautiful red sunset and continued riding until just before 9pm when I reached a roadside rest stop where quite a number of caravans and campers were stopped for the night.  I found a sheltered concrete picnic table and spread out my swag on the concrete floor and was quickly asleep.  My hope for tomorrow was to get to Cloncurry at a good hour so that I could get a shower and have a good sleep.

Round Australia by bike - Day 011 - Mount Garnet to Croydon

Day:	011
Date:	27 May 2008
Start	Mount Garnet + 67km
Finish	Croydon
Daily Distance:	294km
Daily Speed:	24.9km
Relative to Schedule:	-197km
Daily Podcasts:	Here & here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I woke up at 3am and was on the road by 3:30am, feeling like I was still riding from yesterday.  By 5:30am I was weaving all over the road and too tired to continue.  I found a sandy spot off the road, put down my tent as a groundsheet, and instantly went to sleep, not waking until the sun rose around 7am.  I was still very tired but knew I had to get going. Thirty minutes later I reached the very small settlement of Mount Surprise, just as everything was opening up and got a big brekky at the quaint roadhouse café. I was still very tired, my right Achilles was very painful and my mood was low as I headed west across the savannah towards Georgetown, 91km away.  I worked out that if I continued on from Georgetown to Croydon (another 148km) I would probably get there too late to buy food, including for the next day, when I would pass no stores.  I was extremely tempted to stay in Georgetown and get a good nights sleep.  Staying there would have put me exactly a day behind schedule, but still on target to equal or beat the new record of 51 days.  However, a nice hamburger and chips for lunch along with the chatter and admiration of some tourists, decided me to continue on to Croydon.  I called the pub there to book a room and set off.  The rest of the afternoon was a real test.  I was exhausted, my Achilles hurt a lot, and I couldn’t deal with the thought of another very short night’s sleep followed by another very early start and another long day.  The country continued to be brown-grassed, lightly-timbered savannah with some low mountain ranges to cross. I now don’t think I have any chance of maintaining a 300km per day schedule.  It’s just beyond me, especially after losing time with the punctures.  I will stay in Croydon until the shops open in the morning, and get breakfast and supplied for the next 24 hours.  That will give me a reasonable night’s sleep tonight and hopefully my mood will be better tomorrow.

Round Australia by bike - Day 010 - Cairns to Mount Garnet

Day:	010
Date:	26 May 2008
Start	Cairns
Finish	Mount Garnet + 67km
Daily Distance:	259km
Daily Speed:	n.a.
Relative to Schedule:	-146km
Daily Podcasts:	Here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I was late getting away despite rising at 3am because the internet connection that wasn’t working the previous evening now was.  I did my internet chores and left about 4:30am quickly cycling through the sleeping Cairns out to where Highway 1 turns inland to begin the climb to the Atherton Tableland.  It was dark, lightly drizzling and busy, but I made reasonable progress on the winding narrow road as it climbed through the dark rainforest. Near Kuranda there was a spectacular view over the darkened Cairns with the first daylight appearing through the offshore clouds.  The road then leveled out a bit although it was always climbing as it crossed the Tableland, with the odd frustrating descent (because you knew you would have to recover any lost elevation).  The Tableland is a very fertile area with many different kinds of fruit and vegetables grown, not to mention coffee, tea and nuts, all available at frequent farm gate stalls.  There was also lush dairy pasture and, in pockets, dense rainforest which lined the road like an impenetrable green wall, but through which, you could glimpse vines, deep leafy floors and all manner of trees and shrubs. I stopped in the busy little town of Atherton and had a big brekky as well as buying a couple more tyre tubes and a new rear vision mirror (the last just dropped off for no reason),  The road continued to climb higher and higher across the Tableland and the headwind and rain became stronger.  It got cold. I finally reached the huge wind turbines that mark the southern edge of the Tableland and turned westwards, looking forward to some downhill along with warmth and dryness as I headed to The Outback.  I reached Mount Garnet around 4pm and had an early dinner of sausages and masses of baked vegetables at a roadhouse, fitted my mirror and headed into road train country.  I had been hoping to get 300km up today, but there was too much climbing and headwind to have any hope of that. I decided to ride until about 9pm and then camp by the road, which I did.  I wore quite a few clothes and wrapped myself in a space blanket in my one-man tent and it was OK, although a bit cool.

Round Australia by bike - Day 009 - Ingham to Cairns

Day:	009
Date:	25 May 2008
Start	Ingham +10km
Finish	Cairns
Daily Distance:	223km
Daily Speed:	25.4kph
Relative to Schedule:	-96km
Daily Podcasts:	n.a.
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	Although I was comfortable enough sleeping on my picnic table, my sleep disturbed by a huge truck which parked next to my table and left his engine idling in my ear.  I eventually got up a little before 4am and quickly packed up and left.  It wasn‘t raining and I listened to the Test Cricket from the West Indies on my radio as I headed north to see how much time I could make up on my schedule.  I passed through the beautiful Cardwell on the ocean just before dawn and continued north.  I was still very tired and was dozing while riding as I approached Tully where I ate a much-needed Big Brekky.  It had been raining for the last hour and now looked to have set in for the day.  This is the wettest part of Australia and looked it.  Dense tropical growth gave way to cane fields and banana plantations in places.  Everything was very green, including the jungle clad mountains nearby, some of which rose to about 1,000m. I decided to make Cairns and a good night’s sleep my target for the day, hoping to arrive early enough to do a load of washing and catch up with my cousin, Phil, and wife, Denise.  There were quite a few hills in the afternoon, but I tried to maintain a good speed despite continuing rain, narrow roads and lots of traffic.  My right Achilles became increasingly painful and I ended up stopping and lowering my seat a centimeter, which seemed to ease the pain a little.  Hopefully that will help resolve what was becoming a worsening problem. I found a motel on the way into the centre of Cairns, got my washing done, and met Phil and family for a hasty early dinner.  I have a solid climb over the Great Dividing Range first thing tomorrow, so it is unlikely I will make up any time on my schedule deficit.

Round Australia by bike - Day 008 - Proserpine to Ingham

Day:	008
Date:	24 May 2008
Start	Proserpine
Finish	Ingham +10km
Daily Distance:	392km
Daily Speed:	25.4kph
Relative to Schedule:	-41km
Daily Podcasts:	Here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I woke several times during the night to the sound of torrential rain outside and anticipated a wet start, but it wasn’t raining although the roads were very wet.  There was a slight following breeze and low rain clouds with stars visible through some cloud breaks. I didn’t know how far I would go for the day, but had decided that, if I felt OK, I would ride through the night in an effort to regain the time I had lost.  I made good time through mainly flat scrubby cattle country although there tended to be cane fields around the towns.  Lots of palms and other tropical vegetation around many of the Queenslander-style homesteads (houses built on stilts with wrap-around verandahs) making them very shady, cool and inviting.  In the distance there were always green-clad mountains rising up at the edge of the flat plain and occasionally closer. The wind was mostly following and I made good time, although dealing with the long-distance cycling ailments of a sore butt, feet and hands, the contact points.  My right Achilles is also gradually becoming more painful.  I have some anti-inflammatories I can take if it gets too bad. In the late afternoon I passed through Townsville and at the town of Deeragun, 15km later, bought some fish and chips for dinner and decided to ride through the night rather than look for accommodation.  It was a decision I regretted not too much later.  I headed north towards the next town, Ingham, 89km away in the darkness.  There was quite a lot of traffic on a relatively narrow road and, when it began to rain steadily, life became miserable.  As I neared Ingham around 10pm I began to feel really tired, wet and cold and decided to get a motel room if I could.  They were all booked up and there were a lot of hoons driving around town so I didn’t feel comfortable trying to sleep in a park shelter.  I had something to eat at Mcdonalds and continued on into the night.  The road climbed steeply through a mountain range and it began raining heavily again.  I had to sit on the brakes all through the winding descent because I could barely where the road was going.  At the bottom of the hill there was a truck parking bay and I noticed a concrete picnic table with a small roof over it.  It was midnight, the table was dry and I wasted no time in climbing into my one-man tent, using it as a sleeping bag, on top of my self-inflating mattress.  Although I was wet through, it was warm enough, and I soon went to sleep with the intention of getting up around 3am.

Round Australia by bike - Day 007 - Sarina to Proserpine

Day:	007
Date:	23 May 2008
Start	Sarina
Finish	Properpine
Daily Distance:	162km
Daily Speed:	26.1kph
Relative to Schedule:	-138km
Daily Podcasts:	n.a.
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I ended up screwing around with my computer trying to get the modem working last night until nearly 1:00am, so getting up at 6:30am didn’t really amount to any extra sleep.  Amazingly, the modem worked first thing in the morning, so I spent an extra 30 minutes doing my telco chores and didn’t leave to read the 37km into Mackay until about 8:00am.  On the plus side, the rain which had been falling when I woke up had stopped by the time I left.  The ride to Mackay was flat and fast through endless cane fields and I found a bike shop (I carry a list with me of at least one bike shop in every town where there is one….and one motel).  Their mechanic wasn’t on-site so I rode a short distance to a second bike shop, Bicycle Connection, where, after I explained my predicament, they dropped everything and replaced the broken gear cable and re-fitted the errant tyre from yesterday after a careful inspection revealed no problems (I had also closely examined it last night and couldn’t find a problem either).  I was very grateful for their friendly help. On the way out of town I found a fast food place for a belated breakfast (10:30am) and began heading north to Proserpine, 125km away, where I planned to stay the night.  After only 5km, and still in the outer suburbs of Mackay, the rear tyre went flat again!  This time I found the hole in the tube and carefully matched it to the tyre (much easier in daylight with a concrete footpath to spread out on).  After a microscopic and painstaking examination, I saw a faint metallic glimmer and found a 3mm long piece of wire about half the breadth of a staple, which I eventually managed to pull out.  I  put in a new tube pumped up the tyre and haven’t had another problem (touch wood!). I then continued on gently climbing through a pretty mix of forested low craggy and steep mountains and carefully laid out sugar cane fields.  It was overcast and mild, but there was rain visible in some directions and the clouds covered some of the higher peaks.  I enjoyed a moderate tailwind and made good time.  There was less traffic and I occasionally found myself flying along at better than 30kph listening to the hum of the tyres and the rustling of the wind in the three metre high cane fields which are divided by mysterious looking mown grass pathways wending their way out into the fields. I made good time to Proserpine, enjoying the last 20km across a flat plain surrounded by silhouetted mountains and backlit ran clouds as the sun set.  I almost made it to Proserpine before being hit by one of the rain patches and arrived at the motel I had previously booked, somewhat wet, but in good spirits an d looking forward to a good night’s sleep, having had a mild headache all day. I’m now 138km behind schedule and will see how tomorrow goes before deciding how quickly I should try to catch up again.  Following winds are forecast for the next two days.

Round Australia by bike - Day 006 - Rockhampton to Sarina

Day:	006
Date:	22 May 2008
Start	Rockhampton
Finish	Sarina
Daily Distance:	297km
Daily Speed:	23.6kph
Relative to Schedule:	On schedule
Daily Podcasts:	n.a.
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I got up at the usual time, but seemed to take longer to get ready to leave.  The brain wasn’t working properly!  I planned to ride the 105km to Marlborough for breakfast but decided I needed a snack first and pulled into an all night roadhouse in Rockhampton as I passed through and bought myself a pie and some Coke to keep me going.  I then headed out through the sleeping town and was riding through grazing country by moonlight.  It wasn’t as cold as yesterday and I shortly had to stop and strip off some of the extra clothing I was wearing.  There was still a fair bit of truck traffic, but less than yesterday.  After an hour I was exceptionally sleepy and nodded off a few times just catching myself  before taking a dive…..not good procedure with trucks whizzing past every minute or so.  I was contemplating stopping for a quick nap but, as the sun rose, I felt better. At Marlborough I went to the BP Roadhouse and introduced myself to the proprietors, parents of Kath who is a regular with my Thursday morning track group.  I had a delicious big brekky and lime milkshake which they refused to accept payment for. From Marlborough I continued north into more sparsely settled country, crossing the occasional low mountain range, with higher mountains visible in the distance to the east and west.  It got warmer and warmer as I neared my next objective, Clairview, where I planned to have some lunch/dinner.  However, about 10km before getting there, my rear derailleur cable snapped and I was left with just two gears.  I carried onto Clairview where there was nowhere obvious to eat without venturing off the road, and I didn’t want to do that.  I called Dan from the bike shop back home and got a quick lesson on how to replace the cable (I have a spare) but, since there was nowhere good to do bike maintenance, I decided to continue onto Sarina, another 90km, my target for the night, from where I would call Dan again and make the repair.  At Cl;airview, I could see the ocean again, briefly, the first time since leaving the Gold Coast. About 20km later, I found a roadhouse and had fish and chips for dinner as the sun gradually set, and then set out for the last 70km to Sarina in looming darkness.  After about 5km, I got a strange feeling about my rear tyre and, sure enough, I had a puncture.  The first I have ever had with a Schwalbe tyre in about 15,000km of riding.  I just couldn’t believe it.  It was a bad place to make a repair, with little grass verge and, as I soon found out, a population of voracious mosquitoes, with trucks whizzing past a few metres away.  In darkness, with the help of my helmet lamp, I changed the tube after spending time trying to detect what had caused the puncture.  I found nothing.  Im pumped up the tyre and set out, only to get that sickening feeling again after 5km and sure enough the tyre was flat again.  I contemplated suicide and would certainly have hopped on any bus to Brisbane that might come past.  I couldn‘t believe my luck.  The trip so far had been dogged by minor problems, each conspiring to make the journey harder.  I lost my iPod on the first day, I dropped my phone the second day, and it only now works effectively when I have it plugged into a large antenna I brought for my wireless modem.  Also during the first days I had constant time-expensive problems with my laptop and, to top it off, have a persistent cough hanging over from a recent cold and a sore right Achilles tendon that you can practically hear squelch as I walk.  Of course, forecast tailwinds have turned out to be headwinds instead. Anyway, after feeling sorry for myself for a few minutes, I set about changing the tube again and, when I still couldn’t find the puncture cause, decided I needed to change the tyre as well, using my spare which is foldable and not as durable or protected as my primary tyres.  To my great relief, it stayed up as I continued riding until I reached another roadhouse (where some truckie made some comment about idiots riding bikes on the highway at night….I smiled and said nothing) where there was a telephone box.  Did I mention my mobile phone battery had died!  I called the motel in Sarina to tell them I was still coming and continued on, getting there at 10pm (grunting up the hills in my two gear bike).  The motel was connected to a pub and there was one girl left working there who was settling the tills for the day.  She couldn’t do enough for me, and insisted on giving me a large bottle of Fanta for nothing when I asked whether I could buy something to drink. Mackay, 37km away, has several bike shops, so I will leave here about 7:30am and ride to a bike shop where I will get them to look at the suspect tyre and change the gear cable.  It will potentially cost me half a day riding, which is very frustrating after working so hard to keep to schedule.  I’ll just have to make it up later.  My mood has improved, but I’m still very tired.

Round Australia by bike - Day 005 - Childers to Rockhampton

Day:	005
Date:	21 May 2008
Start	Childers
Finish	Rockhampton
Daily Distance:	327km
Daily Speed:	23.0kph
Relative to Schedule:	On schedule
Daily Podcasts:	Here & here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	A day of constants.  The country was undulating, lightly timbered, grazing country.  There was always a range of mountains in the distance off to the left.  Large trucks were always going past, in both directions.  A light headwind blew nearly all day.  I was tired all day.  And I was constantly asking myself what I was doing out here. I was tired when I started cycling at 3:45am, and a lot more tired when I eventually reached Rockhampton at 9pm.  Apart from the constants mentioned above, it was very cold early and I was underdressed, but didn’t want to stop in the dark to find extra clothes so soldiered on.  I waited too long to stop for breakfast.  It was either at Gin Gin (56km) or Miriam Vale (140km) and I chose the latter, by which time I was running on empty.  However, the girl took pity on me and there was so much food on the plate it was literally brimming over the edges. I had a mechanical problem during the afternoon when part of a shredded truck tyre (wire and rubber) flicked up and got caught in my rear derailleur and wrapped itself tightly around my rear sprocket.  I had to remove the rear wheel to untangle it and got very greasy, but there was no damage done.  (I forgot to mention yesterday that I was stung on the shoulder by a bee which flew into me at high speed.) I stopped for an early dinner of chicken and chips at Mount Larcom and then rode the last 75km to Rockhampton in darkness listening to the State of Origin Rugby League game and dodging trucks.  Hopefully, past Rockhampton there won’t be so many trucks.  And hopefully tomorrow the forecast southerly winds will blow and I can finish a little earlier.

Round Australia by bike - Day 004 - Mount Gravatt to Childers

Day:	004
Date:	20 May 2008
Start	Mount Gravatt
Finish	Childers
Daily Distance:	317km
Daily Speed:	24.9kph
Relative to Schedule:	On schedule
Daily Podcasts:	Here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	The best laid plans…..  I didn’t get to bed until nearly 10:30pm after struggling to get my laptop functioning with the wireless modem and a tired phone call with Sharon who was trying to talk me through a resolution. Regardless of bed time, I stuck to my rising time of 3am, knowing I had a big day’s riding.  I got on the road about 3:45am and was pleased to see a runner out for his morning run.  The traffic was extremely light and most traffic lights were green, making for a relatively quick passage through the sleeping southern suburbs and then across the Storey Bridge with great views of the burgeoning city.  Traffic was building as I headed north out of the city, but not in my direction.  After about 15km the main road became a freeway which prohibits cyclists and I had to carefully navigate an alternative route which actually adds about an extra 10km.  The sun rose in a clear sky, although it was still quite cold as I neared the precipitous and impressive green-clad Glasshouse Mountains which jut out of the countryside, almost like tombstones.  I passed Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo before stopping in Landsborough for a big brekky.  The staff were very interested in my ride and came out to talk with me. I continued on, worried that I still had many kilometers to go, having lost time going through the city and being too leisurely over breakfast.  I joined the Bruce Highway northwards, which although a freeway no longer prohibits cyclists.  The road was fast traveling, although there were many long climbs and descents through low forested mountain ranges.  As the road left the hills, the land became agricultural, mainly grazing, but some sugar cane.  It was still demandingly undulating and it was warm and hard work.  I reached Gympie soon after noon and stopped for a salad sandwich in a bakery.  I still had over 140km to go and decided to ride the 81km to Maryborough where I knew there was a big service station where I could get an early dinner before riding the last 62km to Childers.  The ride to Maryborough continued undulating through agricultural country with the obligatory mountain ranges to cross every so often.  I stopped for a very nice Chicken a la King with rice, the restaurant special, at 5pm and sat outside watching the world finish its working day. I then rigged for night riding and rode the relatively flat and straight, but very busy with trucks, road to Childers where I checked into the motel.  Another long day tomorrow, although hopefully a little quicker traveling.

Round Australia by bike - Day 003 - Maclean to Mount Gravatt

Day:	003
Date:	19 May 2008
Start	Maclean
Finish	Mount Gravatt
Daily Distance:	284km
Daily Speed:	24.35kph
Relative to Schedule:	On schedule
Daily Podcasts:	Here & here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I got up at 3 and was on the road by 3:45.  The first hour was most enjoyable, riding across the Clarence River Valley with a setting moon behind to my left and a clear sky with many stars visible.  I passed through a mixture of grazing country and cane fields, casting a moonshadow on the road and with little traffic to worry about.  Magic!  However, after an hour the road moved into forested country, the temperature dropped and I became conscious of how hungry I was.  After 93km, I finally reached my breakfast target town of Ballina, close to the coast again, and wolfed down a big brekky and lime milkshake. From Ballina the road turned north and there was a long climb through verdant country including citrus trees.  From the top of the climb , there were sweeping views to the north towards the Gold Coast and to the east, Byron Bay.  There were three colours, a rich deep green of the forests and plantations, the brilliant blue of the ocean and the yellow of the long stretch of beach.  I had a fast descent, hitting 70kph and having to brake a few times to avoid catching the car in front of me.  Then there was a long stretch of freeway with a following breeze paralleling the coast along which I made good time before reaching Coolangatta on the southern edge of the Gold Coast, about 30kms of resort, culminating the residential towers of Surfers Paradise. I stopped for a tuna sub in Coolangatta, and then rode north to Southport where I met, Phil, and long-time marathon-running acquaintance who now lives up here.  Phil rode with me for about 30km as we navigated our way northwards towards Brisbane and we had a good chat. After Phil left, I continued onto my target for the day, Mt Gravatt, in the southern suburbs of Brisbane after a fairly boring and tiring ride through the hilly and sometimes industrial southern Brisbane region.  I got a pizza for dinner nearby and then grappled with computer problems before another late night.  Incidentally, Erik Straarup finished his lap of Australia in Perth this morning in just under 51 days, a great effort of whichj I am very envious.

Round Australia by bike - Day 002 - Kew to Maclean

Day:	002
Date:	18 May 2008
Start	Kew
Finish	Maclean
Daily Distance:	315km
Daily Speed:	24.52kph
Relative to Schedule:	+15km
Daily Podcasts:	Here & here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	I got up at 3:30am after about 5.5 hours sleep.  I ended up going to bed later than planned because I couldn’t get my files e-mailed to Sharon.  I think there may be an incompatibility between my very small notebook and the wireless modem I use which seems to time out the connection when I try to send large files.  Very frustrating. Anyway, I got onto the road about 4:15am in cool conditions with a light tailwind.  It was very dark, of course, as the road wound through hilly timbered country, but there was less traffic, which was good.  I made reasonable time and as dawn broke I reached Kempsey (76km) aided speedwise by a large farm dog that burst out of the underbrush and had two good attempts at my let ankle.  Rather than stop at Kempsey on continued on through what was now river-flats grazing country to Macksville (120km) where I had a “big brekky.  I’m trying to be very disciplined in my approach this time, especially in the more settled areas where there are lots of enticing opportunities for snack stops.  I’m telling myself that every minute wasted on the road is a minute less sleep.  I plan to cover about 100km before breakfast and another 100km before lunch, each limited to 30 minutes.  In between, I’ll stop every 30km or so (less frequently early in the day) for a 5-10 minute break and a drink and snack from what I am carrying,  So far so good.  It’s amazing how much time you can lose looking for a better bakery in town if you don’t see what you like on the highway. After breakfast I continued on through mostly forested hilly country on a narrow winding and busy road which made life interesting.  The short sharp hills also took a toll on my tired body, but I just kept plodding along.  I reached Coffs Harbour soon after noon.  It’s a large resort town and business centre, fringed by steep green hills, some covered with banana plantations.  I resolved that, if I could see a store likely to sell iPods, I would buy one, but I wasn’t going to leave the highway.  As fortune would have it, I spied a very large electrical retailer (Harvey Norman) as I left town, parked my unlocked bike out the front and raced in and bought an iPod from a bemused sales girl.  A short hilly ride, some of which gave great views over a sparkling blue ocean, the first time I had seen the sea since starting, brought me to Woolgoolga where I stopped for a salad sandwich (yes, you heard correctly!) and a milkshake for lunch.  The road then turned northwards away from the coast for the 56km to Grafton, which proved to be a challenge.  A strong westerly wind was often a headwind, and the hills were large and the legs tired.  I made slow progress.  On the plus side, it was beautiful lightly timbered country and later in the day, the sun shone through the trees dappling the road on a lovely late afternoon. I reached Grafton at dusk and the road flattened, as it followed the wide slow moving Clarence River eastwards, and my speed picked up as the sun set and a full moon shone on a still very busy road, often with little room for cyclists.  I reached Tyndale, my target for the day around 6pm, but didn’t like the look of the very large, but almost totally dark motel devoid of any sign of habitation or guests.  The clincher was that there didn’t seem to be anywhere to get food.  I decided to continue on another 15km to Maclean.  As I reached the outskirts I passed an isolated service station and decided to buy a few snacks, just in case there was no food available in town.  Just as well, because there wasn’t although the motel was very nice and cheaply priced.  My dinner comprised chocolate and some flavoured milk.  I’ll ride the 93km to Ballina first thing and get a big brekky.

Round Australia by bike - Day 001 - Terrigal to Kew

Day:	001
Date:	17 May 2008
Start	Terrigal
Finish	Kew
Daily Distance:	283km
Daily Speed:	24.97kph
Relative to Schedule:	On track
Daily Podcasts:	Here & here
GPS Track	Here
Journal:	Up at 4am.  Drove with Sharon and her kids to the Terrigal Surf Club where our running club, Terrigal Trotters, meets every Saturday morning at 6am for a run…..all 100+ of them. They gave me a rousing send-off as well as some other friends who attended and I headed off into the early dawn.  Shortly after the start, Dan Cleary, the proprietor of the Pushy Galore bike store who has helped me immensely with preparations for the ride drove up beside me to wish me well.  At 10km, cycling friend, Marg, joined me for 30km and we headed to Tuggerah and onto the F3 freeway northwards.  The k’s passed quickly as we chatted.  After Marg left I continued to make good time northwards with the Watagan Mountains, where I enjoy running and mountain biking, to my left.  Later on, friend, Mark, a teaching colleague of Sharon’s, drove up to also wish me well.  It felt great to know I have so much support, but also a little daunting given the size of the task ahead. Given the relatively late start, I was determined not to dally, if I wanted to reach my target, Kew, 283km away, before too late.  There was also bad weather forecast with a storm system supposed to move through late in the day. I passed to the north of Newcastle and stopped for a second breakfast at McDonalds at around 10am.  The continued north on the freeway, through country which became relatively more hilly, crossing numerous small mountain ranges.  It was pleasant riding, although rarely flat.  The weather stayed sunny and mild. This was the pattern for the remainder of the day, although I could see storm clouds building behind me and, after dusk, saw them illuminated with lightning within.  It became dark about 5:15pm but I still made good progress despite a strengthening headwind.  The last 30km in the dark wasn’t much fun as it was almost continuous roadworks, very narrow and hard to see because of the headlights of the oncoming traffic.  More than once I found myself suddenly negotiating piles of gravel or dodging potholes. I eventually reached Kew about 7:15pm, quite tired, but otherwise OK apart from confirming that sometime during the day I had managed to lose my iPod.  I won’t get much sleep tonight, about 5 hours, but hope to finish a bit earlier tomorrow and also hope that the storm system, which is still coming, delivers the promised southerly winds.