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doop heroically dragged the bike trailer with the MegaTent all the way there[0], which helpfully gave us somewhere to keep the bikes as well as actual space.doop managed not to fanboy too much. doop is obviously the one who has these conversations most often, and he reports that they go a little bit like this:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
envoy, and it is about BIKES. Specifically, about couriers (the subtitle is "Bike Messengers and the Cult of Human Power") & Chicago.And lo! I am back in Perth again. Where it is sunny and warm and other suchlike things which I was led to believe that Australia would feature but have so far been largely failing to materialise. Also I am staying in the One World Backpackers which is lovely -- cheap wireless, free towel, free breakfast, nice garden with hammocks, lovely sofas in the living room.
The last few days of cycling have featured: hills; trees; a crazed avian cyclist-assassin. Finally, a use for the helmet, viz, protecting my delicate scalp-fleshes from the CLAWS. Shouting at it had no discernable effect, so I sprinted instead. Apparently I can go quite fast when I have the incentive. All scalp-fleshes thankfully still intact.
The trees were all very nice. I climbed to a 61m fire lookout (up pegs stuck in a treetrunk;, went on a tree-top walk on a slightly alarmingly swaying walkway (it was fabulous, though, to see the trees from that height); and cycled for 27km through forest on a road which saw a car about once every 15 min, so it was mostly just me and the trees. And the hills. And lots of birdsong (but no crazed assassin-birds).
I am ludicrously healthy at the moment: lots of energy, clear skin, cold wet nose[0], that sort of thing. Apparently getting 8 hrs sleep a night and lots of outdoor exercise, on a diet of lentils, rice, veggies, and porridge, with very little alcohol, is good for you. Who knew? I have developed legs that Chris Hoy would be proud of[1] and I laugh in the face of hills[2]. I look forward to all of this deserting me in the New Year when I go back to *not* spending my entire time on a bike. On the downside, WA is apparently Mosquito Central, and my legs are all over bite marks/scabs where I've scratched too much. Bah.
I have also developed a list of Good Songs For Cycling To, which includes:
Off back to Adelaide on the train tomorrow; for now I think it may be dinnertime.
[0] This is actually true on occasion, e.g. when going downhill fast into the wind.
[1] This is a gross exaggeration, which is probably for the best as Chris Hoy, whilst a splendid and very impressive chap, is also a freak of nature who has leg muscles where normal people just have, like, skin.
[2] This is an outright lie.
[3] This is not actually as lazy as it sounds. Broadly speaking the higher your heart rate, the more you're using carbs instead of fat, and breathing hard is a decent stand-in for heart rate. And high carb usage = more chance of bonking. Which is bad, if doing long-distance.
The intention today was to cycle from Port Fairy (where I currently am) to Portland, and thence to Mt Gambier tomorrow, in order to get a bus to Adelaide. But this part of the journey was only really for logistical reasons; the bit I wanted to do was the Great Ocean Road, which I did over the last 5 days. So when I awoke to a stinking headwind this morning, and the nice VLine bus man assured me that the bike would go on the bus to Mt Gambier, I thought, sod that then. So I am having a nice relaxing day in Port Fairy, eating cake and checking the internets and such. You may wish to keep your thumbs crossed for me that the VLine bus driver agrees in re the putting of bikes on buses.
The Great Ocean Road, however, was a fantastic ride, even if I did have a headwind for the first 2.5 days. Executive summary of the 333km ridden from Geelong to Port Fairy:
[0] Humour me, kids, I have been all on my own on a bike for the last 5 days. There's only so long you can spend going "OMG this is insanely beautiful", though I admit I've been doing my best to push the envelope on that one. In between times you end up occupying yourself with such activities as making up stories about the social lives of soft toys, practising whistling backwards, and trying to get a song, any song, in your head that isn't either Waltzing Matilda or Papa Was A Rodeo. Thankfully I do very much like the latter, which is handy as I've had it as an earworm on and off now for about 5 years.
The intention today was to cycle from Port Fairy (where I currently am) to Portland, and thence to Mt Gambier tomorrow, in order to get a bus to Adelaide. But this part of the journey was only really for logistical reasons; the bit I wanted to do was the Great Ocean Road, which I did over the last 5 days. So when I awoke to a stinking headwind this morning, and the nice VLine bus man assured me that the bike would go on the bus to Mt Gambier, I thought, sod that then. So I am having a nice relaxing day in Port Fairy, eating cake and checking the internets and such. You may wish to keep your thumbs crossed for me that the VLine bus driver agrees in re the putting of bikes on buses.
The Great Ocean Road, however, was a fantastic ride, even if I did have a headwind for the first 2.5 days. Executive summary of the 333km ridden from Geelong to Port Fairy:
[0] Humour me, kids, I have been all on my own on a bike for the last 5 days. There's only so long you can spend going "OMG this is insanely beautiful", though I admit I've been doing my best to push the envelope on that one. In between times you end up occupying yourself with such activities as making up stories about the social lives of soft toys, practising whistling backwards, and trying to get a song, any song, in your head that isn't either Waltzing Matilda or Papa Was A Rodeo. Thankfully I do very much like the latter, which is handy as I've had it as an earworm on and off now for about 5 years.
The last few days have been very busy. Here in helpful bullet point format for you:
Now I am in Penang (just across the water from Butterworth) for about 6 hrs, having finally located a left luggage option for my rucksack which consisted of a broom cupboard opened by the station manager. Found food, had a little wander, here checking the emails now.
uon. uon, who kept me going for a full 30 hours, plus the next 12 hours in absentia by sending frequent texts. He did a fantastic job himself - made it to 470k in the end, which is 170k further than he's ever ridden before, on a much hillier ride than he's ever done before. A bloody impressive effort. And chapeau to all who rode, especially the ever-marvellous Charlotte and Liz.uon. uon, who kept me going for a full 30 hours, plus the next 12 hours in absentia by sending frequent texts. He did a fantastic job himself - made it to 470k in the end, which is 170k further than he's ever ridden before, on a much hillier ride than he's ever done before. A bloody impressive effort. And chapeau to all who rode, especially the ever-marvellous Charlotte and Liz.
Southwark Council subsidise a small quantity of free bike instruction for people who live/work in the borough. I checked, & they were happy to do an advanced observation-type lesson, so I thought I'd give it a go.
( writeup )For less experienced cyclists the lesson is usually a bit more structured - he said he'd spend more time on the basics and talking about road positioning. I'd definitely recommend it - even if you do roughly know what you're doing, it's good to have someone point out your bad habits and give you tips. I certainly benefitted from it.
Southwark Council subsidise a small quantity of free bike instruction for people who live/work in the borough. I checked, & they were happy to do an advanced observation-type lesson, so I thought I'd give it a go.
( writeup )For less experienced cyclists the lesson is usually a bit more structured - he said he'd spend more time on the basics and talking about road positioning. I'd definitely recommend it - even if you do roughly know what you're doing, it's good to have someone point out your bad habits and give you tips. I certainly benefitted from it.
uon's first 200k, thus making me feel obliged to turn out so he would! uon's first 200k, thus making me feel obliged to turn out so he would! 
