Preparation + advice for a long distance touring newbie

[b_S]

Have done a few searches, and this thread (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=37959) was a great read...
Right now I'm in the middle of a quarter life crisis (lol :)), will be quitting my job in 4-6 weeks and haven't found anything else yet. So what do I want to do? Get on a bike and ride... a lot.
The idea of riding from Sydney to Melbourne sprung up but since I have no time constraints and the urge to do something a bit more adventurous I thought maybe travelling from Brisbane to Melbourne would be interesting.
Unfortunately there's not much I know about to prepare for such a journey. I am pretty unfit right now but my body's pretty tough and can take some punishment, this ride is partly intended to be a base to build serious fitness on to get back in to racing later in the year. I think I could cope with aiming to do 80-120km a day, with a rest day planned every 3-4 days. Would be tempted to push it up to 150-180km a day but that's some serious riding and would probably burn myself out doing so.
Camping would be planned for maybe half the nights on the road, which means I have to pack smart there as it's something I'm not experienced with.

What I'm after is feedback on the idea, in regards to everything from bike set up to routes to use/avoid.
There's little things I plan to make life easier, such as catching a train to the outskirts of Brisbane to depart from, travelling accross greater Sydney via train to avoid the traffic as well as minimise the temptation to stop by home and give up and also catching a train in to Melbourne again to avoid traffic. Obviously I'd prefer to stay on the coast, as going inland really doesn't seem that appealing at all.
Equipment is something that's easy to take care of - my father is building a nice touring bike right now and conveniently it's my size, so I'll have a good steed to ride as well as all his camping gear to use as well... I just have to learn what will be vital and what isn't necessary.

So to help me with base research, what would be some good books to read about doing the east coast, and what route would be best to take to avoid the traffic but not too painfully meandering either. I'll give myself 20-30 days to do it, and would like to keep the budget under control but not skimp doing so. Planned time to do it is in 6-8 weeks depending what else happens between now and then.

All help is appreciated, I hope this thread can be as useful to others as CD's thread above was to me.

[Cave Dweller]

Im a bit busy to write a big post at the moment, but if you have any specific questions not covered in my thread feel free to ask!

[Cave Dweller]

ahhhh... what the hell. Here is my 2 cents.

180km is waaayyyy too much on a touring bike packed with camping gear.

Our biggest day was 135km and that flogged us, and we were both reasonably fit. But we hugged the coast and went over dividing range == hilly and windy. On a few days we had really bad head winds. Plus we rode mtb's with slicks, with panniers == not the most effective for road riding.

We packed light, adding a tent and cooking stuff is going to push your bikes weight up, every extra gram you pack will be felt.

We averaged about 22km/hr from memory.

As for books, i think lonely planet do one. I have a book that shows rides around Australia along with height profiles. I will find the title tonight, i think it was mentioned in my thread actually.

Budget, we got away with under $100 a day including food, drinks and accommodation.

[Binaural]

Hey, I did the ride you mentioned with Cave Dweller so I figured I'd try and add something to this thread too :) Sorry for any redundancies!

1. Stay in youth hostels whenever you get the chance. Some will let you bring a bike inside and there's usually a good crew of people to have a drink with if you've got any energy left from the day. Also, there's usually some utensils and pans etc in Aussie/NZ hostels something and that's always a good way to keep costs down and gives you something to do in the evening - important for dull towns!

2. By the same token, staying near the coast = higher population density and usually much more varied scenery. Don't go over the hume from Sydney to Melbourne unless you're the sort of person who reads the financial review for the pictures.

3. Have plenty of emergency food laid by in your bag. There's nothing worse than being in the middle of nowhere, suddenly out of energy and still 20km to the nearest town with the light fading.... Likewise, always take more water and/or sports drink than you think you'll need, especially for the first few days where you will still be figuring things out. I was doing about 5L a day easy, but I do sweat quite a bit.

4. It's usually worth the extra distance to see something interesting, but beware of getting caught on a really narrow local road where cars may hassle you. The princess' highway and the roads near it are generally spacious. Don't worry too much about timber trucks etc as they will usually spend as much time on the other side of the road as is necessary to keep you feeling comfortable :)

5. If you want somewhere really awesome, consider the south island of NZ. I did a car trip with my girlfriend there recently and it was as beautiful as you could hope! Just make sure you stay on the dry side of the island and be prepared for more rain than you'd get in Australia, but for scenery and great hostels you could not do better (flights are cheap too).

6. Having a schedule with at least a couple of slack days that lets you wait out rainy days rather than flog yourself through them is not a bad idea. Riding in rain sucks nuts, you don't want to do it unless you must.

7. If you are flying home afterwards go with Virgin Blue (search to see why they are the best option for flying with bikes) and get a flexible ticket. It's easy to get held up a day if you break your cranks or something. If you're doing a really long run then you might want to do some sections via bus (not recommended) or train (ace!)

8. Your first estimate of distance per day is the best, the second one is OK if you're unloaded and on a road bike and also bored by the scenery. My advice is to plan daily distances according to what you want to see and preferably follow a long day with a short one when you can.

9. Strip and rebuild your bike as far as you can to get confident with the bike you're taking. The heavy loading and long distances you put on your bike will cause trouble, from loose spokes to flat tyres and creaking bits. Having the confidence to repair most things yourself will also keep you out of shops (and they may be few and far between if you are well away from regional centres, like on the border between NSW and VIC). Make sure your toolkit includes a good selection of "nurse it to the nearest town" features, such as a small roll of cloth tape, large and small zip ties, and some spare chain links and bolts etc.

10. There's a nice symetry to riding from the center of a city to the center of another, but I agree that it's much less hassle to leave from the outskirts (which is what Matty and I did)

11. Given the amount of time you have, you could vist the high country on the way. Roads are quiet, scenery is beautiful, air will be pleasantly cold this time of year, could be well worth your while. I wish I'd done this!

Best of luck mate!!

[TysonRomero]

You're a lucky chap getting to head off on a tour. The east coast is a fun place to ride. You might find the following book useful when planning your trip.

Title: Around Australia by Bicycle: The Complete Guide
Author: Paul Elwood
Date: 2003
ISBN:0958112908

It contains detailed, yet concise notes for riding all the way around Australia (clockwise from memory). Despite what the title might suggest it's not the size of a phone book, so you can happily stuff it in a pannier. Useful stuff you might not find in other guides includes locations of places suitable for roadside 'bush' camping, where you can find water along the way, what food and bike shops you'll find in small towns etc etc. Also contains approach routes that suit cycling for major cities along the way - gets you off the main roads.

The first section of the book has some detailed information on preparing for a long tour, bike set up, what to take and all the rest. I'd certainly recommend this section to someone who hasn't previously done much long distance touring.

With time up your sleeve and a bit of planning there's stacks of options for getting off the main road all the way down the coast. It's tops.

Have fun!

[b_S]

Just ordered that book, thanks for the info.
I haven't made any plans yet but am now thinking of flying to Adelaide and riding east then north from there. Might make a bit more sense given that the weather's only going to get cooler from now on and I don't think I'll be on the road for at least a month.

[b_S]

Here's some reading to be done...
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o42/Bitsmasher/Random%20shit/touringbooks.jpg
(shame the internet's destroyed my attention span and literacy)


So... the plan is, umm, I dunno. Wanting to be on the road by first week of May, but there's an awesome gig in Sydney I'll probably want to stay and see - talk about borked priorities. Oh well. Have 2 more days of work left, the next 2 weeks will be spent selling off heaps of excess stuff to recoup some cash as well as (hopefully) getting some riding done to work out just how unfit I am.

Apart from knowing that I'll be riding a bike a long way, it'll hurt, and it's a dumb idea, I don't know what I'm up for and don't really care. The proposed route is to fly to ADL then follow the coast anti-clockwise as far as I can. Will start off slow and use it as a learning experience, hopefully after a week I'll be in the swing of things and should be able to chug along for at least another week, but who knows. I'll be living off credit with no plans or schedule, and can forsee a lot of "interesting" experiences such as eating cold tinned beans for dinner out in the middle of nowhere happening more often than I'd like. But hey, that's why I'm doing it, to challenge myself and learn something too.

The thought of taking my mini laptop with a GPS unit seems to be making sense, then again maps are a lot simpler and less of a liability. It would be good to have technology guide me but it might be going against the spirit of what I'm doing.

[bdstorer]

Look for Anthony Mann's blog "Aus by bike".. don't have the time to find it now but he had never ridden a bike then one day he walked into a bike shop, bought a tourer and rode out the door and around Australia.. just like that! Awesome blog.. Cyclist Vs Crocs in the top end.. Read it!

[hugh0147]

Personally, I wouldnt worry about the GPS stuff, unless you really enjoy playing computy games, and recording the trip via GPS, its not worth the weight or risk of breakage, or loss. Use a map instead, and there is generally road signs with distances marked. Just plan a few days in advance, maybe write a list of towns on your route, then just follow the signs to the next town on the list.

For some local knowledge-

Coming out of Adelaide, theres a good bike track you can use. In fact, if you dont want to play with traffic, and dont mid a bit of extra distance, you can follow the river Torrens bike path, to the sea, then take a left. Follow another bike path to glenelg, then theres some back roads (marked with signs 'Glenelg to Marino bikeway'). You can then link up to the Veloway that runs along the Southern Expressway and follow that until McLaren Vale. Nice caravan park to stay, visit cellar doors, visit Oxygen cycles (shop I work at).


If you're riding your XC bike, then hit up the Prospect Hill race track in Kuitpo Forest- ask at the shop for directions, (hell i'll take you out there if im free, or try to find someone who can) or check out the Adelaide MTB club website for more details.

Then take back roads across the Fleurieu Penninsula to Strathalbyn and head towards the Coorong.

If you want to go coastal from there, easy. I've ridden to Melbourne before, and took a route roughly between the main highway and the coast, to use the smaller highways and avoid traffic. So i'm not that familiar with the Great Ocean Road.

Screw it being tough. Enjoy it. You ride because you want to. Ride as hard/much as you want and enjoy the freedom. Bike touring is life on wheels.

[bdstorer]

http://www.ozbybike.com/

Check out Anthony's route! Awesome!!

Makes ya wanna ride dont it?

[S!C!E!R!]

http://www.ozbybike.com/

Check out Anthony's route! Awesome!!

Makes ya wanna ride dont it?

FUCK! :eek:


How many killometers is that?

[bdstorer]

FUCK! :eek:How many killometers is that?

27,147 kms... and seriously, it was Ant's first EVER time on a bike (other than when he was a little kid) ...he literally bought the bike a rode out the door and around Australia!! So impressive.. The guy is a dead set legend..

Spend some time and read his blog.. I love the posts about hiding from the sun in drains under the road out in the desert and crocs hassling him up north..

Best touring story ever... makes me wanna hit the road sooo bad..

[b_S]

really enjoy playing computy games, and recording the trip via GPSyes and yes :o

Mini laptop isn't too much of a burden, want to keep friends+family updated with pics and stories from the road every few days too. yay internet addiction.