Winterval

My Mother has been nagging me to post on here...

There is a sprinkling of snow on the Scottish soil outside. I'm wearing two jumpers, two pairs of socks and slippers - earlier I even donned my woolly hat - indoors. Soon, I will be only dressed in shorts, T shirts and flip flops (or thongs as the Ozzies call them) for a whole two months. Oh, and a cycle helmet. I leave on March 1st for warmer climes. In the winter it's hard to remember what hot sunshine feels like and I also can't imagine having feet that aren't permanently tingling.

Part of the reason I haven't posted is because there hasn't been anything to say. People ask if I'm excited. I'm not the exciteable type. Apart from buying the plane tickets (769 pounds with China Eastern stopping over in Shanghai) I haven't done a whole lot in the way of organization. Unlike my ride across the USA in 2008 there will be no Scrabble component (well maybe someone might be game for a game) so that takes the heat off somewhat. All I have to do is find accommodation plotted along a path of my own choosing, which can meander as much as I like, as long as it starts in Melbourne and finishes in Cairns. I certinly won't stick to the coast, although this will probably prove a necessity in much of Queensland.

I won't train very much. I now have a girlfriend who lives in Edinburgh. The shortest route between Glasgow and Edinburgh excluding the motorway is 45 miles. Usually I visit Laura alernate weekends and I almost always cycle. The most direct roads soon became monotonous, when I embarked on this not-so-long-distance relationship a year ago, so I vary it and there are plenty of quiet byways connecting these two largest cities in Scotland. Sometimes I take a roundabout route of 70 miles; other times, especially going back home when the wind is mainly against me, I opt for the 45 miler. If Laura ever finishes with me I will try to find someone else to go out with who lives a similar distance away - not in Edinburgh though - as I'm a bit bored with those roads now. These journeys keep me in some sort of shape and I really can't be bothered to go out for any other rides - especially at this, the coldest, dampest time of year. Apparently 2011 was the wettest Scottish year on record. Don't I know it!

I rode around England last summer and I didn't do any extra training for that. It wasn't too much of a strain and I soon got into the stride of averaging 70 miles a day. However, pitstops permitting, I will try to stagger the distances out of Melbourne, so that I gradually pick up the daily mileages.

So, I will endeavour to post more frequently Mum. When there is something to say.

Second coming

Change of plan. I’m now thinking that I will postpone my adventure until March next year. This is partly due to meeting an Australian couple while I was in Italy recently and also to do with reading the thoughts of the cycling community on various forums. It now looks like I will ride from Sydney to Cairns in March and April. This means it will be early autumn in southern Australia (not too hot) and late autumn when I finish (too hot for me -but as cool as can be - and before the rainy season starts). This also means I will be travelling in an anti-clockwise direction, which seems to be the least windy option.

Meanwhile I will be cycling in England and Scotland this summer.

I will get back to this at some point.

Oh yes, and I received the insurance money. This is another reason why I can take my time, as I know have more resources to live a life of riley.

New beginnings

I’ve decided to start a blog about my forthcoming cycle ride across Australia. I cycled around Scotland in ’06, then England in ’07, then across the US in ’08. You can read about the American one at http://scrabbletravel.blogspot.com/. I don’t even know where I’m going yet or much about anything really. All I know is that I will start on one side of Australia and arrive the opposite side some time later, through pedal power alone. I originally thought about going from Perth to Sydney, but a lot of that is uninhabited desert. Then I was pretty sure that I would be going from Darwin to Sydney through the interior, but my Mum doesn’t like the sound of that as that’s pretty desolate too. I may still travel from Darwin to Sydney, but via the east coast; which is a shame, as I liked the idea of going through the middle and especially visiting Ayers Rock (Uluru) and Alice Springs. I also liked the idea of being in the middle of nowhere and meeting the few people who lived there. When I rode across The States, the middle part (Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas) were mind-bending in their middleness and out-of-the-wayness. However, it looks as though the Australian interior is very, very arid and inhospitable. In the US there are settlements everywhere and not much desert, so I didn’t need to take a tent. If I journeyed through the centre of Australia I knew I would have to carry a tent, sleeping bag, more water and there would be worries about where to get provisions or what to do in emergencies… So it looks like I’ll be sticking to the civilized portion of the country.

The date isn’t fixed yet either, but it will probably be August to October. I may also go to Tasmania and New Zealand. It seems silly not to go to the latter at least, seeing as I’m in the furthest corner of the globe and have never ventured that way before. It will be spring down there and I’ll be heading south. However, if the prevailing wind is northerly, I may reconsider. Unlike the previous journeys I won’t be focusing on Scrabble. It was too much to combine cycling 70 miles a day, writing a blog, socializing and exercising the grey matter as well. I may play the odd game for old time’s sake. I will be cutting costs again and staying with people via http://www.couchsurfing.org/ and http://www.warmshowers.org/, as well as scraping together any other hosts I can come by.

Since returning from the US I have been working hard (selling greetings cards) and saving up my pennies for this expedition - that explains the three year gap. I’m still riding the same bike, usually clocking 100 miles a week and often completing long rides of 50 miles+. The weather has been amazing here in Scotland this week (15°C/60°F) and has been especially welcome following a long cold winter. I sustained an injury, whilst cycling in Birmingham last summer, which required six or seven stitches and I now sport a three inch scar on the back of my head. I have been told I will be paid a large sum in compensation (the driver who hit me accepted responsibility) and that will help towards financing my jaunt. No, I wasn’t wearing a helmet, but now I do.

Hopefully I will start making preparations soon and will be updating this blog when I do.