'My cycling inspiration' by Naomi

When Brendan and I tell people that we’re planning on cycling from Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh for our honeymoon the two most common responses are:
1) “Why?”, usually accompanied by a look to the person next to them which means ‘bloody crazy hippies, wouldn’t catch me doing that for anyone’ (Incidentally, when I catch someone giving me that look I know that I’m on the right path)
and
2) “Oh wow! That sounds great! I met a person in (insert place) who cycled from (insert place) and they said it was amazing”. Sometimes we’ll meet people who tell us of their epic cycle touring stories. Fortunately there are many people like this in Alice Springs.

But, the answer to the first question “Why?” is simple. Because I want to. I want to travel at a slow pace (very slow in my case). I want to stop at roadside stalls along the way and eat fresh watermelon. I want to have people come up to me at rest stops and ask me ‘Why’ and tell me stories of their own crazy adventures. Most importantly, I want to challenge myself to an adventure and prove to myself that I can push through tough times as well as good times.

Do you remember the story of the Australian women who were prisoners-of-war to the Japanese during the second world war who had to walk on an insanely long march? I’ve often wondered what I would be like under those circumstances. I’d like to think I’d be one of those women who trudged on bravely while their friends around them died of dysentery and cholera. Drawing on some kind of inner strength and fortitude to get them through horrendous circumstances.

Not that I want to go to that extreme on this trip. But I do want to put myself out of my comfort zone and see what my limits are exactly. Plus I want to eat lots of yummy Asian food!

Brendan was keen from the start to go on this ride. Keen is putting it mildly. He was always encouraging to me, but there are two women who really inspired me to do this trip.

The first is an Australian lady in her 50s who cycled from Beijing to Istanbul. Read about her trip over here. She’s an ex-marathon runner who just churned out the kilometres. But it was her photos of the Chinese food she ate on the first month of her trip that made me think ‘I can do that! And I want to eat dumplings just like that!’ Seriously it was after reading this blog that I was convinced to do this trip. Brendan was so happy!

A few months later, after I’d bought my bike and some camping gear I heard about another amazing female cyclist. Annie Londonderry. The first women to cycle around the world. In 1894. And she was Jewish in a time of strong anti-semitism. Did I mention that she was a mother by this time? And not very wealthy? And she started off the ride wearing petticoats?



If she could do it…

Alice Springs to Uluru: Day 4 (125kms)

4.30am Alarm clocks beeped. Time to get up and go.

5.30am Knees creak as we cycle out from Mt. Connor lookout. A spectacular blanket of stars keeps us company until the dawn sky lights our way.

8am I request a breakfast stop. I negotiate 20 minutes.

12.30ish 100kms down. My energy is starting to fade and I'm getting slower and slower. Everyone else wants to push on but I negotiate a 30 minute lunch stop.

2pm I feel like a battery that's slowly running out of juice. We have 20kms to go to Yulara, the resort next to Uluru. Brendan steps in to help by pushing my saddle everytime I drop below 20km/h (I'm still cycling, but with a 'Brendan tailwind'). We power on ahead to get to Yulara. Thanks Brendan!

3ish We make it to Yulara! I take advantage of being a little bit ahead to have an extra 5 minutes of rest. A dose of Powerade recharges all our juices, particularly mine. We were going to meet our lovely driver at the Cultural Centre by now. No time for resting, gotta push on for the last 20km.

Uluru is sited but seems simultaneously close and 5kms away. On and on we cycle, 'it must only be another 5km away surely?'. 1 hour later later we make it to the cultural centre. And, no, I didn't need to get pushed for the last part!



4pm We collapse onto the benches at the cultural centre. Only moving to buy more Powerade's and meet our very patient driver. We revive ourselves to take a few more photos and visit Kata Tjuta for the sunset. Bikes are loaded onto the car ready for the trip home via Kings Canyon. We made it!!

Alice Springs to Uluru: Day 3 (130kms)

With dawn creeping up behind us we stole out of Erldunda Roadhouse at about 8am. A one hour head start from the Alice Springs Cycling Club. With that head start, we reckoned, we could meet them for morning tea.

Good to know that our safety vests work well in the dark as well as during the day.





The milestone turnoff - from Stuart Highway to the Lasseter Highway. Uluru was just down the road...



And here we are at morning tea, with the wonderful tuckshop van. Our bikes got a few looks from the other cyclists - obviously no cyclist worth their salt can resist a bit of a bike perv. We waved them off, expecting that we wouldn't see them again until we were back in Alice Springs.



But lo and behold, we caught up with them at lunchtime, only 20 minutes behind the cycle club (who were on road bikes in a pelaton). They were pretty surprised too, and clapped us in as we turned into the driveway! Best feeling ever. After pinching a sandwich and some drinks from their van they were on their way. I earned a reputation from the food van of being a 'mexican bandit'. The buff I was wearing probably didn't help :0)



30kms on and then we stopped to camp at Mt. Connor lookout. Our lovely driver was there to meet us with extra food and water supplies. We knew the next day, the last day, would be a big one. For the last time, we vowed we would get up earlier the next day...

Alice Springs to Uluru: Day 2 (110kms)

The day dawned clear and bright. We know this because we were up at dawn packing up our tents and getting ready to go. We were on the road by 8am. The following photos gives you an idea of the depth and variety of the scenery that we experienced...









with the occasional road train to break up the routine.



Brendan was lucky enough to see a kangaroo at the end of the day. What I mean to say is, he was lucky enough to see an alive kangaroo at the end of the day.



We made it to Erldunda Roadhouse by about 4pm and - after scoffing down ice creams, pies and chips - enjoyed a long hot shower. The Alice Springs Cycling Club were also there, having just finished the first of three days to Kings Canyon. We were so happy to see them! Not just because of their great company and excellent cycling stories, but also because their support crew kept giving us free food. A bag of muffins anyone?

By nightfall we were pretty tired and fell asleep quickly. The next day, we vowed, we would get up even earlier...

Alice Springs to Uluru: Day 1 (95kms)

After deliberately not committing to this ride for many months beforehand, I found myself at 'the gap' in Alice Springs with my bright new touring bike and shiny new panniers. A very excited Brendan was next to me snapping away photos and Zoe joined us to wack a few 'I love variety club' stickers on our pannier bags.



Brendan had to race back home to pick up the forgotton kerosene and by 9am we were on our way. Savouring the feeling of not having to go to work on a Friday we rode our first 10kms into the ride. Only 440km to go!



Highlights were the '5km to the next rest stop' signs...



and the occasional dead car



We arrived at about three thirty at Stuarts Well roadhouse (home of dinky the singing dingo) for a Gatorade, a shower and a camping spot. Next day, we vowed, we would get up earlier.