Monday, May 7, 2007

Townsville to Gold Coast Capricorn Classic - Oct 2004

The plan was to cover the 2,000k from Townsville to my home at the gold Coast in twelve days of riding. This involved initially going inland to Charter's Towers, then turning south for several hundred kilometre's before heading east again to link up with the South Burnett Highway that
would take me to the deep south of Queensland, then into New South Wales to Kyogle and home through the tough hill country of the Border Ranges, thus just making the 2000k. Still with my trusty old Apollo hybrid, I landed in Townsville and stayed the night with John Stewart (Julie's brother) and his family, and headed west early next morning. I underestimated the heat! The 140k to Charter's Towers would not normally have fazed me, but after 60k I was struggling. It was very hot; I had to battle the Mingela Range and found myself suffering by 90k. I had to stop and lie down at a Roadhouse
in the shade before struggling on to Charter's Towers. The land was parched, being in the dry season anyway but also in the grip of drought. This is the once beautiful Burdekin River, now just a few puddles at the bottom. It was a great relief to finally get in to town and have a nice shower. It was very hot, but took time to enjoy a stroll through this beautifully cared for country town steeped in history. I decided that due to the oppressive heat, I had to be on the road every day at or before dawn, so no more sleeping in! It was 400k to the next town, but I was headed for a Roadhouse at belyando Crossing, a long 205k on a bike in this
burning caldron called the outback. Loaded with massive bottles of water that looked like turbo boosters strapped to my bike, I headed off into the rising dawn next day. It was a huge day, desperately hot, dozens of road trains, virtually no shade trees, but I made it in, screaming out the k count over the last ten kilometres! The following day was a repeat performance, with no life but a few brahman bulls to talk to, until I finally made the other 200k into Clermont, where the pub owner refused me to pay for my accommodation and steak dinner. Some people are just so good! There would be no repeat of these high miles and punishing conditions for the remiander of the trip. From Clermont I went further south to the mining town of Emerald where I was glad to be inside, out of the harsh heat and hot wind. The bike had several broken spokes, and a severely buckled wheel, which the bike shop said was 'shot'. I nursed it home though. Still leaving before dawn, I got away from Emerald in the dark, now turning east into a blinding sunrise, praying that cars coming from behind me weren't as blinded by the sun as I was! It was 160k to the truck stop at Duraringa, via Blackwater where I was passed by the longest train loaded with coal in my lifetime! I typically stopped for coffee and toast at stores like this, this one at Dululu on the way toBiloela. Since Duaringa I was facing a new phenomenon on this trip called hills! I was now on and off the Great Dividing Range, and looked forward to the next thousand kilometres of this until home. I was now on the South Burnett Highway, the landscape had changed from dry arid desert and mining country to lush farmlands of orchards and vast paddocks filled with stock. It was good to see 'green' again, and to see water in dams. I passed a most distressing sight - a large kangaroo was lying on his back in a ditch on the side of the road. He had been hit by a truck, but was not dead. He was slowly dying. It distressed me to have to leave him. Some will wonder why I couldn't have terminated his ebbing life, but the only means available to me were too primitive and barbaric. From Biloela (160k) I went to Monto, but over the toughest climbing I think I
have ever done (the Coominglah Range), where I chanced to meet Jenny Babbibgton, a girl I hadn't seen or heard from since school days. We had our photo taken for the local paper. On seriously screaming knees and lacerated backside, I ambled away from Monto at dawn for Gayndah (150k), then the peanut capital of Queensland at Kingaroy. I thought you might like to see the view I get from the bike all day long. I cautiously passed these beef cattle which were straying on the road. Nice cow, nice cow I kept saying as I passed. I was also excelling as a self photographer, here taking a brief rest
under a most beautiful Queensland Fig. I left Gayndah before
dawn, and soon was greeted by the blinding dawn. I love the morning coffee stops - this one at Ban Ban Springs. The shop owners stare in amazement when I tell them I have covered a thousand k's, and only another thousand to go! I eventually left the Burnett for the Bunya Highway at Murgon, the home of many of our great Rugby League players of indigenous heritage, and was closing in on Kingaroy. This was now pig country, evidenced by the smell and the incessant squealing of pigs kept in crammed and
terrible conditions in piggeries. We enjoy the bacon, but we should
do something about the way these pigs are reared for our dinner
tables. Numerous trucks passed laden with squealing pigs packed in like sardines. The smell was overpowering. Several massive climbs greeted me on the long approach before Kingaroy, making me work for my supper that night, until finally I crested Redhill, aptly named to reflect the soil so distinctive to this peanut dominated economy, giving glorious views of the fields of red soil and peanut crops. Another 150k day, but my knees have
improved, and my undercarriage was now doing a lot better, thanks to ample amounts of paw paw cream since Emerald. Next day I faced the Bunya Range, heading west again to Dalby, passing through the beautiful village of Kumbria before facing the range. A new phenomenon today as I left at dawn - goosebumps on my bare arms. I had forgotten what cold felt like. I had to get used to it rather quickly! I hit the range, but the legs were so good now I cruised up until seeing the sign 'Porter Pass', surprised that it was all over without a fight. The road then descended onto the start of the Darling Downs, and I don't think I pedalled at all for the next 8k! After the little township of Bell, it was table flat for the final 47k to Dalby, the final 17k being dead flat and straight, with vast views to the horizon across ploughed and fallow fields. Give me hills anyday! I stayed at Mary Berry's pub. Mary is 85 yrs old at least, and one of those enduring Aussie characters. I dined with her at night. I left Dalby just after 5:30am on the road to Toowoomba, then to Warwick for the evening. The road out of Dalby was shocking, but with a slight tale wind and strong legs, the bike broke all trip records and I cruised into Toowoomba in very impressive time. Turning then to Warwick, I was into that same wind which now felt like a gale, and it was the most miserable leg of the entire trip. I struggled and suffered, even losing my vision at one point in a massive dust storm that left red dirt in my ears until shower time, after a massive 173k day! Next morning was my last day on Queensland soil. I was up and on the bike at 5:45am, and for the next hour cycled in near freezing conditions, in stark contrast to earlier days where I was suffering sunstroke!

My frozen misery lasted until Killarney, one of Australia's most beautiful country towns near the New South Wales border, nestled at the end of a glorious valley and surrounded on east and south by the majesty of the Border Ranges National park. This photo was taken on departure, looking back over the valley to the east. The road then toughened up and climbed through the Border Range until Woodenbong, having crossed into New South Wales on the dirt road mountain section. From Woodenbong, the road went straight up for the next 5k, which is hard on the legs after 90k,
from where it was another 60k gently down to Kyogle, where I would spend my final night in an Aussie pub. The final day arrived, and I headed away from Kyogle on the Murwillumbah road. I had a date with Julie and our daughter Kathryn at 10am for coffee at Murwillumbah. Then the fun started. These were the mountains at the rear of Mt Warning. I climbed, and climbed and climbed for over 30k. The hills were so steep that I was concerned that the chain would snap, at times having to 'zig-zag' to take the strain off the chain. These were the mother of all hills, certainly my 'hillus
horribillus' on this trip. I passed through the villages of Wadeville, Kunghur and then Uki, with Mt Warning standing guard over me at all times. Murwillumbah was a most welcome sight, as were Julie and Kathryn and the Cafe Late! The final run home via Tweed Heads passed all too smoothly, and I made one more stop at Kirra Beach for the final photo, before joining the very roads that I had done hundreds and hundreds of miles in training for this and all my other cycling journeys. The bike knew the way home!




Our Mallee (Vic) Cycle classic - Sept 2003

We headed for St Arnaud in central Victoria, Australia to begin a two week adventure to circumnavigate the 'Mallee' district, basically the north western sector of Victoria. We stayed overnight at the Commonwealth Hotel, a decision we regretted. The owner basically had a thing about customers. His customer relations were very poor! We survived, and woke to a rainy and cold Victorian day, with a wind that was fine if it was behind you! The countryside was however beautiful, with flat fields of canola and also vast sheep pastures. It is technically Northern Grampians country. We headed to Charlton to the north east, with the strong wind pushing us along. You can see from the photo how strong the wind was blowing - note the handkerchief in my hand! Cruising past one of the many sheep paddocks, we noticed the entire flock looked distressed, gathering in one spot. On closer inspection, I saw that a big old fat ram was on his back and couldn't get enough traction to get up on his feet. The things that cyclists do! I entered the paddock, heaved him up (he weighed a ton!) and the entire flock were once again relieved. Charlton is a very small town, with beautiful old buildings, very wide streets and divided by a river. The old pub we had pre-booked was adamant they not only didn't take our booking, they weren't licensed anymore for guests! The old Aussie pubs have dozens of rooms, but many we found to be fire traps. We found a much more expensive room at the 'Vale of Avoca', a lovely B&B in a former pub, but now a 'Not a Pub'! It was luxury - the breakfast was excellent. We then headed for Pyramid Hill, an even smaller town, some 90k further north and east. The land was flat except for a hill that resembled one of the Egyptian pyramids! A town of 500 people, it was built on a railway crossing. We stayed at the pub, where the owners had gone to great trouble just for us. When the owner found out we were Salvationists, he insisted we use his family lounge room, saying the bar was far too 'rough' for Julie to spend the evening! They were lovely to us.

Next day we headed for Cahuna, then Barham for the night, finally crossing the great Murray River and actually into New South Wales but just for the night. Next day we crossed back into Victoria, and turned to follow the Murray River toward Swan Hill. The land is very flat, being river country. The farms are wonderfully irrigated by an intricate system of water courses reminiscent of Holland. We didn't like it, but decided to take a 'short cut' via dirt country roads in order to cut down some miles. The day looked nice, but the wind never left us until the ride was over. Today was into the wind all day long! The photo is just north of Benjeroop, a small rural community along the Murray River. Julie's first experience of draughting today, the wind was so strong. It helped a bit. We struggled all day into the wind, eventually coming into Lake Bogo, a Catalina Base for the RAAF during WW2. It was the longest 20k then into Swan Hill, a beautiful and famous river town known for its River boats. It was a welcome Motel that night, and a rest day that followed - we explored the shops, the river and the beautiful historic river paddle steamers. We then headed for the famous northern Victorian town of Manangatang. I had to slow Julie down today! The landscape suddenly changed, looking more like the red centre. It was dry, red soil with scrub replacing the beautiful canola fields. We passed through Chillingollan and lunched at Chinkapook, two non famous Victorian towns, but enchanting nevertheless. It was great to eventually arrive at Manangatang, another small town built on a railway and crossroads on the way to South Australia. A friendly kangaroo chose to bound the final few kilometres with us on the road toward town! The few hundred residents were celebrating, having won their local footy Grand Final. The weather was cold, but for non-drinkers, we found the pub hospitality always warm, the food outstanding for hungry cyclists. Next day we headed
south to Sea Lake (miles away from the sea, possibly mis-named). The weather by now was really cold and miserable, we were glad to arrive and get in out of the cold. Sea Lake was also steeped in history, with lovely old buildings and a pub that again hosted us with warm hospitality. We woke next day to an even more miserably cold day. The wind never blew from the same direction for two days running! after all, this is Victoria! We headed further south to the reasonably sized town of Hopetoun, and then next day on to Warracknabeal, where Julie's Dad lived as a boy. It is always great to see the wheat silos on the distant approach to these distant Victorian towns - they stand like silent sentinels and serve as an indication that the town is not that far away. We really liked Warracknabeal, and chose to stay an extra day to explore and enjoy the community. It is a town full of beautiful old Aussie homes. This was as far west as we were going, and next morning we headed east for Donald, another lovely locality. We were now back in lovely farming country, well irrigated again by the quaint system of canals, with lovely fields of canola (literally acres of beautiful yellow flowers) sheep, and grain. Today we saw a bull, our first for the journey, and took the photo of this one and only 'Mallee Bull'! The final day arrived, and we headed off in the direction of St Arnaud to complete our 750k circumnavigation of the Mallee. We didn't return to our cranky Publican, but instead were wonderfully looked after by Daryl Talty, owner of the Botanical Hotel, who was also graciousness enough to look after our car for the previous two weeks (quite a contrast!). This was a great experience, and just a warmup compared to the great adventure planned for 2007.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Melbourne to Gold Coast Ride - September 2002

While Julie (my wife) was away overseas for three weeks in September 2002, I decided to fly to Melbourne with my bike and ride home again to the Gold Coast. It was a massive undertaking - some 2200k with a 19 day plan, including 2 days rest in Canberra while visiting my mother. I decided to train for this one. So for 6 weeks prior, I put in some 300k's each week, including a 100k ride for each of those weeks. I landed in Melbourne, and as with most plans like this, I had to ride irrespective of the weather conditions. It just happened to be a day with 90k overnight winds that unroofed many Melbourne houses, with torrential rain to welcome me. I had to ride anyway. I headed in to Melbourne, then to Koo Wee Rup for the night. I was drenched and muddied, but in bright spirits. The Motel owner said I was 'mad'. Next day was a huge leg to Port Albert (170k), the south eastern tip of Victoria, and stayed at the local Hotel - see photo. I don't drink, but had a 90k 'draught' pushing me all day long! Glad to get in.

Next day I headed for Paynesville - another 170k day. The weather was 'wicked', and despite gear problems, I made it by days end despite being literally blown off the road into the rough on the approach to Paynesville. Then came my biggest day - the climbs started - the Alpine Way which went to Bruthen, then back to the Pacific Highway to CannRiver over some very steep climbing. The 180k was the longest for the trip, and I crawled into the Cann River Hotel after dark, glad to see the lights of Cann River.

I then turned up the Monaro Highway, which was a beautiful ride but always with solid climbing, being on the Snowy Range now. My gear cluster had fallen apart, and with a flat tyre to boot, it meant I was out after dark for 2 hours while pressing on ever upward with grit and determination for the little Alpine village of Nimitabel. Being on the road at night is unnerving, especially when a big roo bounds across your path in the darkness.

After some great country town hospitality, I headed to Cooma the next day. I had a tube protubing through a burst tyre and no spare until Cooma. I hadn't gone far before I came on the sign that said I was on top of the Great Diviiding Range, and could see the snow on the Kosciusko range in the background. I made it to Cooma, then to Canberra for a rest, and then headed to Sydney and took the infamous Puttey Road (everyone said I was again, 'mad' - the Puttey Road is famous for car accidents). The photo is
my first attempt at 'self photography' while on top of the climb out of Colo just north of the Hawkesbury.

I actually fell in love with the Puttey Road. It is 200k of remote wilderness, but some really lovely landscape (a pity that people use it as a rubbish tip!). I stayed at a farm B&B, then headed for Bulga where my dad was born, then turned up the Hunter Valley and over the Liverpool Range. I cruised through Quirindi to Tamworth, and then up and over the 'mother' of all hill climbs on a bike - the "Moonbi Range" - 8k of incessant climbing where the semi's pass you at about 3k faster than the 8kph that you are doing. I talked to many drivers, but refused the offer of a 'tow'! I tucked in at Bendemeer on top of the range (or so I thought), one of the lovliest little towns in NSW, cut off by the highway.

The climbing continued next day to Armidale, where I thought it was all down hill to Grafton. I was rudely disappointed. On the way to Ebor the following day, I thought it would all be a downhill coast. It was the opposite. Ebor is higher than Armidale, a lovely spot made famous by the falls. I met the Bike for Bibles group here who were most impressed I could climb 'Moonbi' in my tight cluster with saddle bags and back pack (I didn't tell them about the granny gear!).
There are always quaint sights along the way. Here is an example of the ingenuity of country people who feel it is a waste of money to buy a normal mailbox!

The road from Ebor was finally downhill (mostly). There was a 7k section of dirt that involved numerous hairpin turns. It was too late for me to see it - the first turn I didn't realise it was all deep 'bulldust' (powdery dust) and I lost control of the bike. I ended up in the bulldust, and couldn't get it off me or the bike until the shower that night. The photo tells the story. I couldn't resist the photo of the sign.
The timber trucks coming off the mountain on the Grafton approach are motorised killers. Twice I had to dive off the road into the rough, otherwise the galloping timber trucks would have taken me out. It was a pleasure the next morning on the Casino road after Grafton, I saw one of the returning timber trucks (now empty of timber) pulled over and being booked by the Grafton police. I resisted saying anything. Justice was indeed served.

We live in a great country. I love bike travel. It is the only form of transport where the 'engine' gets fitter and more efficient the more
miles it does. Sadly, too many of 'my fellow Australians' use our
country as a garbage tip. Most of the 2200k I travelled was lined with the rubbish that is thrown from cars. I do not exaggerate.

Sadly also, the roads are strewn with dead wildlife, especially our kangaroos.
The road from Grafton to Casino was hot and into a hot wind all the way. Casino came into view eventually - the 'Beef Capital of Australia'. I thought I had lost a lot of beef along the way from Melbourne - actually about 6kg by the time I got home.

From Casino it was 135k home to the Gold Coast. I had battled the mud of Moonee Ponds, the best the Great Dividing Range could dish out; I even managed to dodge killer timber trucks at Nimboida - but crossing the Sundale bridge into Southport where I lived, I was all but taken out by a tourist bus! It makes me sound weird, but as I approached our street, after 2200k of tough cycling, I had tears in my eyes that the great adventure was all but over. A crowd would have been great to welcome me home into my street, but as I turned into the street I was taken by how deserted it was. I bumped the bike into the driveway as I did on any normal ride, and sat on the lawn all alone, amazed that the dream had been realised. Then I heard "Dad's home". My daughter Kathryn was inside, and rushed outside to give me all the welcome I needed. I was indeed 'home'.

My Blog Advisor

I want to give a big plug for my Blog advisor. He is 15 year old Anthony Eden of Winston Hills. Anthony is one of those young guys who was born for cyberspace. He has helped me set this Blog site up, a first experience for me. Anthony has already accepted a small contract with a local Radio station to prepare and manage the radio station website. If you need him, he is clever and will do your web work for a very reasonable fee. He is worth more. Check out his personal website - www.way2web.net

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Our Touring Bikes

The Bikes - my bike is evidence that you don't have have to spend a fortune to get a reasonable touring bike. I purchased mine second hand about 7 years ago from a Scandinavian trekker. He sold me the bike, the rear panniers, helmet, tools and pump for a mere $300. It is an Apollo Hybrid, and over the past 7 years has done meritorious service for me from Paris to London, Melbourne to Gold Coast, Townsville to Gold Coast, a circumnavigation of the Mallee in Victoria, plus hundreds of kilometres over various smaller trips.
There is nothing special or expensive about the bike, except it has been faithful and it works. It has needed a number of routine repairs and replacement parts, but that is normal wear and tear. I have always travelled with aero bars on as well, but for the sake of weight I will be leaving them at home this time. The aero bars just add one more option for hand position. It is a standard steel frame, a good 'granny' on the front and a 7 speed cluster on the rear. I have put a narrow racing seat on this time because I found I get massive carnage to the backside on the tourer, but never on my racing bike. The seat is now similar to the racing bike. I am equipped this time with both front and rear panniers - I have never toured with front panniers before, so this will be a new experience for me. The bike has handlegrip shifters, and bar ends for more hand options.

Julie's bike is brand new for this trip. It is a 'SUB' - a Sarah Ullman Brand (a female Kiwi Olympic cyclist) especially designed to fit the finer forms of the female frame. It is manufactured by Avanti. I saw it first in the Australian Cyclist magazine, and then asked my local bike shop to get it in for me. Julie fell in love with it. Julie is not a regular road cyclist, but is nevertheless a very fit bike rider, especially in view of her relatively limited miles on the road. For a bike that cost a smiggen over $1000, it is superbly equipped with relatively high quality equipment. It is designed for touring, so all the lugs are in the right places. Julie will carry her fair share of the load, but will only have rear panniers (which are slightly larger than mine, she keeps reminding me! Both bikes are equipped with 700c wheels and 25c tubes so that we don't have to carry double the spares.

We each carry backpacks, but lay them down on the rear panniers, on the principal that weight should be carried as low as possible. It is certainly not wise to wear back packs while cycle touring. However, this time we will be also carrying a tent which will also sit on the back. We have yet to work out how all this will carry.

My Paris to London Journey Jan 2000

My interest in cycle touring began in January 2000 when, instead of flying all the way to London for business, I decided to take my old bike on the plane and ride from Paris across Normandy into southern England and then up into London. The timing wasn't the greatest - it was winter, but it made for some very challenging circumstances.


This is my photo as I was leaving Charles de Gaulle airport on the first day. It was dark and cold, but I was very optimistic. My aim was to head across Normandy for the beautiful Omaha cemetery on the DDay landing beaches which was featured in the movie 'Saving Private Ryan'.

Incredibly, France had just been flattened by the biggest storm in over 100 years, so all the rivers were flooded, included the beautiful Seine, which I basically followed on and off most of the way. This photo is one of the many villages along the way, the river being a tributary to the Seine.

The days were short because of the season, and extremely cold. I really had to keep riding to stay warm. My first day was a shock because I couldn't find accommodation. It was raining. I was freezing and wet, and had to keep riding into the night in order to get to a village with a Hotel. I was bordering on hypothermia on arrival, but a warm shower made all the difference.

Having tracked across country to Rouen, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, I made it to the English Channel, and crossed Pegasus Bridge, the first bridge taken by the British paratoopers in the early hours of DDay. I rode on to Arromanches for the night, where the British had created a floating harbour to unload their millions of tons of equipment to support the DDay landings. The next day I was very excited because I would finally reach Omaha Cemetery. It was a very moving experience to finally ride into the 170 acres of beautifully maintained cemetery where over 8,000 American lives are honoured.


I moved on to the village of Bayeux, famous for the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. I visted the British War cemetery, where there were 17 Aussies buried amongst the 4,000 British graves. I only found two. This photo is of FJ Knight, shot down on DDay. The head stone was marked "Our only son". I knelt on the
wet ground, tears in my eyes, as I pushed my little Aussie flag into

the soil, the flag that I had brought all the way from Australia, and flown from the back of my bike. It was still there many months later when I made a return visit. FJ Knight was only 21 years of age.

I crossed the Channel by ferry, landing at Portsmouth where I traced the history of Lord Nelson. It was then on to Winchester for the Cathedral, then a 2 day trek in the intense cold toward Seven Oaks before the final climb into London.

At Oxted I met these three 'old' characters out on their bikes. They invited me to the pub for lunch. They failed to 'shout' but we had a great time, before I left for London. I had to be there by nightfall. The final big surprise was Biggin Hill, the southern entry to London. Several kilometres long, it was a very tough climb after 2 weeks. Biggin Hill was the famous WW2 RAAF airfield where many Spitfires would have taken off and landed during the Battle of Britain. I made it to my destination - the International College for Salvation Army Officers. In its fifty year history, I am the only delegate in the world to ever arrive by bike!!

Friday, May 4, 2007

Itinerary - Paris to Scotland June/July 2007


Itinerary - it has been fun preparing the itinerary. We worked on about 80k days, depending on locations of camping grounds. The net was a great source of useful information. The days are long. We are not in a hurry, and if anything goes wrong there is always the train! We want to do this though, and claim the T Shirt at the end! This will be the longest 'Land's End to John O'Groats' in the history of cycling!
By the way, this is Jack our fantastic grandson, and our precious daughter Kathryn.

ITINERARY - Cycling Paris to Stirling, Scotland
2 June Paris to Cergy Pontoise 60k Literally from the airport
3 June Cergy Pontoise to Breteuil 95k This is now DDay WW2 country
4 June Breteuill to Falaise 95k Birthplace - William the Conqueror
5 June Falaise to St Lo 84k As above
6 June St Lo to Cherbourg 80k This is DDay! (via St Mere Eglise)
7 June Cherbourg to Poole/Weymouth 50k Cross Atlantic by Ferry
8 June Weymouth to Kennford/Exeter 90k Dorset
9 June Kennford to Launceston 80k Devon - Dartmoor Forests
10 June Launceston to St Austell 82k Cornwall
11 June St Austell to St Just 90k Touch the Atlantic/Irish Sea
12 June St Just/Lands End to Newquay 90k Finally Land's End - Photo!
13 June Newquay to Bude 100k Tough but beautiful coastline
14 June Bude to Lynton/Lynmouth 90k British Cycle Museum
15 June Lynton/Lynmouth to Glastonbury 100k Very Steep Hills!!
16 June Glastonbury to Bath 42k Home of Sir Arthur Philip
17 June Bath Rest Day Burial - King Arthur/Genevieve
18 June Bath to Charlbury 105k Julie's Birthday tomorrow!
19 June Charlbury to Olney 75k John Newton (Amazing Grace)
20 June Olney (via Cambridge) to Ely 115k Home of Oliver Cromwell
21 June Ely to Kings Lynn 75k
22 June Kings Lynn to Lincoln 100k via Boston
23 June Lincoln to Scunthorpe 80k
24 June Scunthorpe to York 90k
25 June York Rest Day
26 June York to Great Broughton 105k
27 June Great Broughton to Durham 65k Kelvin's Ancestral Home
28 June Durham to Bellingham 90k Finally Hadrian's Wall
29 June Bellingham to Melrose 90k Bonny Wee Scotland - at last!!
30 June Melrose to Edinburgh 80k
01 July Edinburgh Rest Day
02 July Edinburgh Rest Day
03 July Edinburgh to St Andrews 105k
04 July St Andrews Rest Day
05 July St Andrews to Brechin 70k 32nd Wedding Anniversary!
06 July Montrose to Inverurie 90k 14th Century Castle Accomm!
07 July Inverurie to Buckie 80k
08 July Buckie to Croy/Inverness 70k Culloden Battlefield.
09 July Croy(via Inverness) to Evanton 80k
10 July Evanton to Lairg 80k
11 July Lairg to Bettyhill 80k
12 July Bettyhill to John O'Groats 80k THE Photo and a T Shirt!!
13 july John O'Groats to Helmsdale 90k
14 July Helmsdale to Evanton 80k
15 July Evanton to Fort Augustus 80k All the way along Loch Ness
16 July Fort Augustus to Fort William 45k
17 July Fort William to Resipole 80k
18 July Resipole to Kilchoan 35k Julie's Ancestry home!
19 July Kilchoan to Glencoe 80k
20 July Glencoe to Crianlarich 64k
21 July Crianlarich to Stirling 84k Final Cycling Day!
22 July Stirling Rest Day
23 July Stirling to Barnsley Hire Car - stay with friends
24 July Barnsley to Heathrow Final Night
25 July Heathrow En Route Sydney
26 July En Route Sydney
27 July Land Sydney 7am
28 July Home
29 July Home
30 July Hit the Office!! Conference at Wollongong

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Welcome - About Us - About the Big Adventure


Welcome - to my new blogsite. My wife (Julie) and I are cycling from Paris to Scotland from 1 June 2007, and we want you to be able to keep up with us as we journey. Hopefully, you will be able to drop your own messages of encouragement. The journey covers about 60 days, and will complete a journey of some 3,500k's. We leave Charles De Gaulle airport on Saturday 2 June 2007, and hope to arrive in Stirling Scotland on Saturday 21 July 2007, having also completed the "Lands End to John O'Groats" the long way.

This is a great adventure for us, and we trust you can enjoy something of the challenge with us. We have planned this for quite some time. It is not a charity ride - simply a well deserved holiday together, and I hope to make enough notes along the way to see if there is a book in it in the end.

Hop on board, and you'll cover the ground with us. I'll do my best to describe what we see, and articultae our experiences so it makes you feel like you are actually doing it with us.

With kind regards.......kelvin