Inspiration & The Long Goodbye 4 weeks until my departure !

This last week while traveling through rural Victoria on work related matters. I was provided with the ideal opportunity to visit and say farewell to my Mother and Brother, whom I most likely won’t see again until my return.

Over the coming weeks, in between finishing up projects at work, tweaking the bike and finalising my packing, I hope to be catching up with friends while receiving their well wishes over a therapeutic cup of tea.

In moments of doubt I seek inspiration from others. My bicycling heroes who have cycled the road before me: Barbara Savage’s inspirational around the world ride as told in her book “Miles from Nowhere” is a remarkable tale , while famed adventure cyclist Ian Hibell’s record breaking expeditions are wonderfully recounted in his collection of stories “Into the remote Places”. However the quote that stands out most for me comes from Paul Elwood’s guide “Around Australia By Bicycle- The Complete Guide”.

“It is not necessary to be very young to travel long distances by bicycle around Australia” Bob Beer (I like that name!) from Walcha NSW, rode around Australia in 1999 at 58 years of age. In the first 42 days from Adelaide he traveled 6000km via Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin, and Port Headland to Carnavon. He maintained an average of 1000km a week-145 km every day, through the most remote highways in Australia. His maximum distance in one day was 300km. This was with full touring equipment, no support vehicle or backup and on an average quality bike.