Home after my greatest accomplishment on the bike :)

[just us]

Well I am just home after completing my challenge for the year - I rode my
pushie home from Moura in Central Qld. It was 1600kms over 18 days with one
days rest in Charters Towers. I rode with a lady (59yrs) and myself (49)
which just goes to prove anyone can do anything :)

We camped all the way and had some very unique campspots, ranging from long
grass in paddocks, to front lawns of friendly stations that offered us a bit
of grass and a hot shower (thank you wonderful people), we carried our bikes
over fences to hide them in long grass before carting our bags down into dry
creek beds just to get of the road for the night, slept under bridges, we
washed in puddles that used to be rivers, we cooked on open fires, boiled
the billy for smokos, got tangled up in a bullfight (they were having this
huge head banging thing happening where we had hidden our bikes for the
night LOL) - oh I can just go on and on :)

We ran over snakes, got chased by brumbies, saw emus, dingoes, wedgetail
eagles, mobs of cattle and the most amazing displays of bird life - the
parrots out west are just spectacular.

We had posted dry food supplies to 3 different locations which enabled us to
do the long hauls without worry about food. Overall I only lost a couple of
kgs so the dry stuff was of top quality (home made in my dehydrator)

We waved to every truckie that does the inland route - they are wonderful
drivers who gave us as much room as they could and when there was no room we
got off into the gutter of the road and stood beside the bikes. Some of
these Road Trains were 4 dogs long, so the wind off them was just amazing.
Overall the truckies got our vote as the safest vehicles to share the road
with - they were very courteous. The caravans were the scarey ones, followed
by small cars going fast!

We were offered chairs in caravan parks, glasses of wine and beer, soap
powder for the washing machines (we must have stunk LOL). Our days started
at 4am, on the road before 5am and put in a good 20kms before sunrise when
the heat started.

I just cant believe that we actually did it with no dramas at all. At the
end of each day the old bum was ready to get off the saddle, but neither of
us had any chaffing - ended up posting the cream home along with other
extras we were not using. I had 2 flat tyres, she had 3. I fell off once
simply because I was stuffed and forgot to put my foot down and over I went
ROFL.... lost skin and a lot of bruises but hey it wasnt the end of the
world.

My Trek 7500 was just awesome - even on the 200kms of dirt
roads/corrugations/sand with full panniers. To anyone who wants to go give
the touring a go - I say "go for it - get outside the comfort zone and you
realise that the zone is way bigger than you thought".
Kathy

[Peter]

What a fantastic story. Congratuations!

just us > wrote:

> Well I am just home after completing my challenge for the year - I rode my
> pushie home from Moura in Central Qld. It was 1600kms over 18 days with one
> days rest in Charters Towers. I rode with a lady (59yrs) and myself (49)
> which just goes to prove anyone can do anything :)
>
> We camped all the way and had some very unique campspots, ranging from long
> grass in paddocks, to front lawns of friendly stations that offered us a bit
> of grass and a hot shower (thank you wonderful people), we carried our bikes
> over fences to hide them in long grass before carting our bags down into dry
> creek beds just to get of the road for the night, slept under bridges, we
> washed in puddles that used to be rivers, we cooked on open fires, boiled
> the billy for smokos, got tangled up in a bullfight (they were having this
> huge head banging thing happening where we had hidden our bikes for the
> night LOL) - oh I can just go on and on :)
>
> We ran over snakes, got chased by brumbies, saw emus, dingoes, wedgetail
> eagles, mobs of cattle and the most amazing displays of bird life - the
> parrots out west are just spectacular.
>
> We had posted dry food supplies to 3 different locations which enabled us to
> do the long hauls without worry about food. Overall I only lost a couple of
> kgs so the dry stuff was of top quality (home made in my dehydrator)
>
> We waved to every truckie that does the inland route - they are wonderful
> drivers who gave us as much room as they could and when there was no room we
> got off into the gutter of the road and stood beside the bikes. Some of
> these Road Trains were 4 dogs long, so the wind off them was just amazing.
> Overall the truckies got our vote as the safest vehicles to share the road
> with - they were very courteous. The caravans were the scarey ones, followed
> by small cars going fast!
>
> We were offered chairs in caravan parks, glasses of wine and beer, soap
> powder for the washing machines (we must have stunk LOL). Our days started
> at 4am, on the road before 5am and put in a good 20kms before sunrise when
> the heat started.
>
> I just cant believe that we actually did it with no dramas at all. At the
> end of each day the old bum was ready to get off the saddle, but neither of
> us had any chaffing - ended up posting the cream home along with other
> extras we were not using. I had 2 flat tyres, she had 3. I fell off once
> simply because I was stuffed and forgot to put my foot down and over I went
> ROFL.... lost skin and a lot of bruises but hey it wasnt the end of the
> world.
>
> My Trek 7500 was just awesome - even on the 200kms of dirt
> roads/corrugations/sand with full panniers. To anyone who wants to go give
> the touring a go - I say "go for it - get outside the comfort zone and you
> realise that the zone is way bigger than you thought".
> Kathy

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 13 May 2007 11:50:17 +1000
just us > wrote:
> We had posted dry food supplies to 3 different locations which enabled us to
> do the long hauls without worry about food. Overall I only lost a couple of
> kgs so the dry stuff was of top quality (home made in my dehydrator)

What do you dry, how long for, do you marinate?

I have a dehydrator, but haven't experimented with much beyond jerky.
Love to know what you do and how you do it.

Zebee

[AndrewJ]

On May 13, 1:43 pm, Zebee Johnstone > wrote:
> In aus.bicycle on Sun, 13 May 2007 11:50:17 +1000
>
> just us > wrote:
> > We had posted dry food supplies to 3 different locations which enabled us to
> > do the long hauls without worry about food. Overall I only lost a couple of
> > kgs so the dry stuff was of top quality (home made in my dehydrator)
>
> What do you dry, how long for, do you marinate?
>
> I have a dehydrator, but haven't experimented with much beyond jerky.
> Love to know what you do and how you do it.
>
> Zebee


Great to hear it went well. Great trip !

When you get time, put the path you travelled on http://www.bikely.com
--- I would love to do a central Qld tour and it will help me in
planning.

[BT Humble]

*STANDING OVATION!*


BTH

[Bean Long]

BT Humble wrote:
> *STANDING OVATION!*

Yes! Bravo!!

--
Bean

Remove "yourfinger" before replying

[warrwych[_43_]]

just us Wrote:
> Well I am just home after completing my challenge for the year - I rode
> my
> pushie home from Moura in Central Qld. It was 1600kms over 18 days with
> one
> days rest in Charters Towers. I rode with a lady (59yrs) and myself
> (49)
> which just goes to prove anyone can do anything :)
>
> We camped all the way and had some very unique campspots, ranging from
> long
> grass in paddocks, to front lawns of friendly stations that offered us
> a bit
> of grass and a hot shower (thank you wonderful people), we carried our
> bikes
> over fences to hide them in long grass before carting our bags down
> into dry
> creek beds just to get of the road for the night, slept under bridges,
> we
> washed in puddles that used to be rivers, we cooked on open fires,
> boiled
> the billy for smokos, got tangled up in a bullfight (they were having
> this
> huge head banging thing happening where we had hidden our bikes for
> the
> night LOL) - oh I can just go on and on :)
>
> We ran over snakes, got chased by brumbies, saw emus, dingoes,
> wedgetail
> eagles, mobs of cattle and the most amazing displays of bird life -
> the
> parrots out west are just spectacular.
>
> We had posted dry food supplies to 3 different locations which enabled
> us to
> do the long hauls without worry about food. Overall I only lost a
> couple of
> kgs so the dry stuff was of top quality (home made in my dehydrator)
>
> We waved to every truckie that does the inland route - they are
> wonderful
> drivers who gave us as much room as they could and when there was no
> room we
> got off into the gutter of the road and stood beside the bikes. Some
> of
> these Road Trains were 4 dogs long, so the wind off them was just
> amazing.
> Overall the truckies got our vote as the safest vehicles to share the
> road
> with - they were very courteous. The caravans were the scarey ones,
> followed
> by small cars going fast!
>
> We were offered chairs in caravan parks, glasses of wine and beer,
> soap
> powder for the washing machines (we must have stunk LOL). Our days
> started
> at 4am, on the road before 5am and put in a good 20kms before sunrise
> when
> the heat started.
>
> I just cant believe that we actually did it with no dramas at all. At
> the
> end of each day the old bum was ready to get off the saddle, but
> neither of
> us had any chaffing - ended up posting the cream home along with other
> extras we were not using. I had 2 flat tyres, she had 3. I fell off
> once
> simply because I was stuffed and forgot to put my foot down and over I
> went
> ROFL.... lost skin and a lot of bruises but hey it wasnt the end of
> the
> world.
>
> My Trek 7500 was just awesome - even on the 200kms of dirt
> roads/corrugations/sand with full panniers. To anyone who wants to go
> give
> the touring a go - I say "go for it - get outside the comfort zone and
> you
> realise that the zone is way bigger than you thought".
> Kathy


Awesome stuff Just Us!!! You will be buzzing for a long time to come
yet. :D
Fantastic trip and very glad to hear all went very successfully.


--
warrwych

[Bleve]

On May 13, 11:50 am, "just us" > wrote:
> Well I am just home after completing my challenge for the year - I rode my

[chomp]

Tops! What's the next trip?

[Plodder]

"just us" > wrote in message
...
> Well I am just home after completing my challenge for the year - I rode my
> pushie home from Moura in Central Qld. It was 1600kms over 18 days with
> one days rest in Charters Towers. I rode with a lady (59yrs) and myself
> (49) which just goes to prove anyone can do anything :)
>
> We camped all the way and had some very unique campspots, ranging from
> long grass in paddocks, to front lawns of friendly stations that offered
> us a bit of grass and a hot shower (thank you wonderful people), we
> carried our bikes over fences to hide them in long grass before carting
> our bags down into dry creek beds just to get of the road for the night,
> slept under bridges, we washed in puddles that used to be rivers, we
> cooked on open fires, boiled the billy for smokos, got tangled up in a
> bullfight (they were having this huge head banging thing happening where
> we had hidden our bikes for the night LOL) - oh I can just go on and on :)
>
> We ran over snakes, got chased by brumbies, saw emus, dingoes, wedgetail
> eagles, mobs of cattle and the most amazing displays of bird life - the
> parrots out west are just spectacular.
>
> We had posted dry food supplies to 3 different locations which enabled us
> to do the long hauls without worry about food. Overall I only lost a
> couple of kgs so the dry stuff was of top quality (home made in my
> dehydrator)
>
> We waved to every truckie that does the inland route - they are wonderful
> drivers who gave us as much room as they could and when there was no room
> we got off into the gutter of the road and stood beside the bikes. Some of
> these Road Trains were 4 dogs long, so the wind off them was just amazing.
> Overall the truckies got our vote as the safest vehicles to share the road
> with - they were very courteous. The caravans were the scarey ones,
> followed by small cars going fast!
>
> We were offered chairs in caravan parks, glasses of wine and beer, soap
> powder for the washing machines (we must have stunk LOL). Our days started
> at 4am, on the road before 5am and put in a good 20kms before sunrise when
> the heat started.
>
> I just cant believe that we actually did it with no dramas at all. At the
> end of each day the old bum was ready to get off the saddle, but neither
> of us had any chaffing - ended up posting the cream home along with other
> extras we were not using. I had 2 flat tyres, she had 3. I fell off once
> simply because I was stuffed and forgot to put my foot down and over I
> went ROFL.... lost skin and a lot of bruises but hey it wasnt the end of
> the world.
>
> My Trek 7500 was just awesome - even on the 200kms of dirt
> roads/corrugations/sand with full panniers. To anyone who wants to go give
> the touring a go - I say "go for it - get outside the comfort zone and you
> realise that the zone is way bigger than you thought".
> Kathy

ONYA!

MUCHO APPLAUSE!!

AIN'T LIFE GRAND ;-)

Frank

[MikeyOz[_63_]]

Awesome stuff and congratulations, great story too although I am sure it
could have been longer :)


--
MikeyOz

[hippy[_36_]]

just us Wrote:
> Well I am just home after completing my challenge for the year - I rode
> my pushie home from Moura in Central Qld. It was 1600kms over 18 days
> with one days rest in Charters Towers. I rode with a lady (59yrs) and
> myself (49) which just goes to prove anyone can do anything :)
>

Awesome!! You sound well chuffed!!
Planning to do more now - have you been bitten by an 'ardcore touring
bug?

hippy


--
hippy