Cycling from Adelaide to Perth
| This page gives a glimpse of my experience cycling across Australia, from Adelaide to Perth in December 2016. This was a unique experience given the remoteness of the areas I traveled through. I sticked to (the only) sealed road in this part of the country, so I got to meet people in towns and gas stations. They would usually come up with the same three questions:
Where's your luggage ? |
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- The numbers: 2811 km in 11 days
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Port Augusta Wudinna Ceduna Nullarbor rdh. Eucla Cocklebiddy Balladonia Norseman Yellowdine Quairading Fremantle 336 km 260 km 211 km 297 km 196 km 273 km 246 km 191 km 321 km 268 km 212 km - The route had 3 distinct sections.
From Adelaide, to Port Augusta and across the Eyre peninsula. With the occasional small town every 50 to 100km, it's fairly easy to resupply and/or make mistakes without too many consequences (i.e. falling short on supplies).
The Nullarbor desert: about 1000 km of nothingness. Not a single town, not a farm or a field, no fences or electric lines on the horizon. Only a roadhouse (a gas station combined with a motel or caravan park) every 100-200 km. It takes careful planning to bring enough water/food between every stop, and a lot of mental energy to keep going knowing you won't have any surprises for many, many hours. This part includes the "famous" longest straight section of road: 146 km without a single turn. In reality, the whole 1000 km didn't seem like having many turns at all.
Crossing western Australia, between Norseman and Perth. First you're in an area of mines and gold fields, hence with a bit more traffic of road trains (3-trailer trucks). Then you cross the "wheat belt", with golden fields extending to the horizon in all directions. When approaching Perth by 300-400km, you start seeing civilization again. There are some farms and the occasional tiny one-street town. This section feels like crossing the American countryside in 1955 (in a good retro way !). 
- How was the weather ?
Mostly hot. Or very hot. Some days above 40 deg. It made the carrying of sufficient water a real challenge. I would carry up to 5 liters at times, which was all the space I had. The "plan B" was to ask drivers to top up my bottles, which I did a few times when encountering people on rest areas. I kept a high daily mileage by riding at night. I usually got up between 2 and 4 in the morning, and started riding in the dark: no sun, no wind, no traffic, and a myriad stars to look at ! Those times turned out to be the most enjoyable of all. 
I started this trip knowing the dominant wind pattern would blow on my back. But I still got my share of head winds, which made a few days some of the hardest I've ever experienced on a bicycle. The lack of vegetation and the straight roads mean there's no hiding from the wind: if it starts blowing in your face, you know it will keep going for hours and hours.
The coldest night was 8-9 degrees. I had a day of rain in ~12deg, which is chilly when you get soaked to the bone. I'm glad I packed a wool hat, gloves, a fleece and a waterproof jacket.
- The most memorable places ?
The most iconic sight was the cliffs of the Nullarbor plain falling straight into the Great Australian bight. Unfortunately you only get to see them at 3 lookouts, pretty close to the road, but distant enough that you ride for hundreds of kilometers without suspecting there is such a sight close by !
The overall allure of this journey is to find yourself in the middle of nowhere, literally. This feeling is like no other when you actually got there on your own (leg) power. It is hard to describe, and even harder to convey through pictures. Finding yourself with no sign of any other human being for hours on end is something we rarely (if ever) get to experience during normal life.
- What was the biggest challenge ?
The physical effort of spending 10, 12, up to 16 hours on the bike (for my longest day) "just" takes preparation. Months and years of training will make anyone able to do it. Then the rest is, again "just" about coping with the conditions, especially the heat (40 deg or more some days), the scorching sun that burns every bit of skin left unprotected, the swarms of flies that try to get in your ears and nose whenever you decide to slow down or take a break, the loneliness on stretches of road of 100s of kms without a sight of any distraction, etc.
Finally, it takes a bit of practice to manage the day-to-day recovery. The goal every day is not that much to ride 200 or 300 kms, but rather to be able to do it again the next day ! That's all about pacing oneself, and managing all the little details (nutrition, sleep, hygiene, taking care of the gear) that could otherwise degenerate after a few days.
- What did you eat ?
I consumed (and burned) about 8000-8500 kcal a day. That's huge, and it's a challenge by itself to digest that much. I never stop to get a "real" meal, which would take hours to digest. I rather eat continuously on the bike. In "civilized" areas (just the first day on this trip) I bring low-carb/high protein bars. Later I have to rely on whatever I find in gas stations: I tried the whole range of Arnotts cookies and biscuits, Tim Tams, dried ramen noodles, ... Whenever I found a supermarket, I usually got a pint or tub of ice cream. It's an easy way to get down a good 1000 calories in less than 20 minutes, and which are still easy to digest (just pick the low-fat kind !). 
- What did you bring ?
I packed the bare minimum to be safe and comfortable. I have very little space on my bike (it's a time-trial frame: no bolts for racks or panniers !). Moreover, the heavier your are, the slower you move, which means you'll have to carry even more supplies... it's a vicious circle !
- Cycling clothes (sunproof shirt and arm sleeves, shorts, gloves). An extra shirt and shorts, just to have something to wear during the daily laundry. Also: fleece, hat, waterproof jacket.
- A minimal sleeping kit (mat, fleece bag and waterproof bivy). "Just-in-case": I never used it, I could find a room in a motel or roadhouse every night.
- Tools: everything I could need to keep going (unless I had a major failure): allen keys, chain tool, spoke wrench, spare tubes/pump/patch kit, spare derailleur hanger.
- 3 iPods loaded with podcasts and audiobooks: my main trick to keep some sanity in though times.
- Any mechanical problems ? The bike held up perfectly, without a creak or any rattling noises ! I took pretty much the whole bike apart and put it back together before the trip (which probably helped), and I left with fresh tyres and drivetrain (new chain, cassette, chain rings). I had one incident one week into the trip: a wind gust blew the bike over, right onto a big rock (bad luck !) as I had stopped to take pictures. The rock bent the rear derailleur. I had the tools and a spare derailleur hanger to fix it, but preferred to leave it that way. I then couldn't use half of the (smaller) gears for the rest of the trip, but I had no big climbs so I didn't need them anyway. After inspection upon returning from the trip, the derailleur hanger was indeed well bent and the threads of the holding screws ripped up.