touring incidents

[Savanahkelpy]

I might be the lone touring cyclist on here(?), but i,d l.ike to share some of the funny, crazy, and bitter sweet incidents that have happened to me, while on some of my long distance cycle tours.
Last year, it was a loop ride from my home near Malanda on the Atherton Tablelands, to Cooktown and return. This time, i went with a good mate, Roger, who had outfited himself with a Lynx recumbent a full set of panniers, and a cheaper version of a BOB trailer. This setup is rare at the best of times, and extremly rare, in FNQ.
On day 3, while having a break at BOB,s lookout, on the Desaly range climb, a land cruiser with 2 elderly couples on board, pulled up to stretch their legs.
Roger has a bit of a quick wit, and when the usual smart mouth questions started,,like,,"Where,s the motor?',, Roger quickly replied,, "Its got a hydrogen fuel cell",,,"Its around here, in the bag!'
The Elderly driver nearly knocked Rogers bike over, in his attempt to see this so called "Hydrogen fuel cell"
I,m trying not to laugh,;):p:D,,While Roger is exclaiming,,"Come on ,Mate,,Its got PEDALS".:D:D
Laurie.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=20701&d=1259282161

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=20702&d=1259282171

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=20703&d=1259282182

[Savanahkelpy]

We stayed in Cooktown for 3 days, and during that time, the Cooktown Agricultural show was on. We had met several of the locals, and Joe, the vice president of the Cooktown historical society, had talked us in to helping them set up their display. Roger, had been roped into dressing up as one of Captain Cook,s soldiers, while joe was dressed as Captain Cook. Completly authentic costumes, right down to the wig.
After the show was getting a bit quiet, around 11 am, Joe said," lets go to the Captain Cook museum, its always good to entertain the tourists"
We rocked up, and were let in for free,(of course!),, and when entering the main display room, that housed the display of Cook,s cannon and anchor, Roger announced in a loud voice,,:I,ve come to find an anchor and 6 cannons".
There was only a young couple present, with their young son, about 5 yrs old. He was staring with mouth wide open, and slowly nudged Dad, in the knee with his elbow,,,"Dad, Dad!,,I thought Captain Cook was dead!!":o
Like,,He,d been lied to,,all of his 5 years,,:D:D
The things kids say!.:D
Laurie

[Savanahkelpy]

My first and biggest solo ride was to the top of Cape York peninsular, in 1999. While decending the Byerstown range, south of Lakeland downs, on the old dirt road, i came across a Land Cruiser, that had gone over the side, and rolled about 5 times, not more than 20 minutes after it had happened. I was the 1st person to discover the wreck, as i was going slow enough to hear a strange noise,,thought it was my bike or trailer, but it was the guy, trying to cut his gear out from the rear dog cage. I was talking to him, and he was going off big time, about damm tourists and their caravans, taking the corner wide, and not leaving him enough room. I listened to see if i could detect any signs of concussion, as he was covered in lots of cuts and dribbles of dried blood. I was the only person, that the Laura police officer could make contact with as everyone else, who saw anything, had shot through. :nazilock: He took an hour to drive down, pick me up, and drive back to the scene of the accident. Meanwhile, the driver had set fire to his cruiser!!.:eek::o
The officer took photo,s and measurements, and wondered why people did this sort of thing, ( he thought the local SES could practice their recovery techniques on the wreck,s), and how they managed to survive, as the roof top to the bottom of the door glass was only 6 inch,s high.
He eventualy phoned it in, to the police. I lost 1/2 a days cycling because of it, but its the things you can,t plan, that make a tour, memorable.
Laurie. (sorry, no photo,s)

[Savanahkelpy]

Over the years, i,ve discovered ways of dealing with the long hours on the road, and how to tolerate the sometimes unwanted yet well meaning offers of assistance from motorists, particularly tourists. I,ve found that maintaining an easy free spinning cadence for hours on end is the precursor to being able to meditate, while on the bike. Its a difficult thing to describe in words, but i guess that my body goes into auto' mode, while my mind wanders away off on its own, lost in thought. I,d say i only have about 10% of my mind paying attention to the task at hand, such as listening for traffic coming up from behind or dodging potholes, etc. The circumstances don,t occur often, mostly when i,m on a very low traffic volume road.
Tourists can be a real pain, often slowing down to match my pace, in order to offer assistance, water, or just wanting to talk. If i then stop, i lose my train of thought, my cadence, and my muscles cool down, and it can be difficult to get back into the zone, again.
I got somewhat cunning on the Cape York ride, as when ever a tourist wanted to stop me, so they could take a photo of me, i,d tell them that "it would cost them a cold drink, because i know they have a fridge in the back of their 4wd".
I got soft drinks, even a couple of beers,:D as i figured i was a traveler, similar to them and i wasn,t cycling to entertain or amuse them.
Laurie

[DustyDisco]

hey Mate,

Thanks for the stories - they were a good read.

My dad rode a push bike from England to Australia from '63 - '66, one of the best stories I recall him telling me was when he was heading across afghanistan , he set out on a stretch of brand new asphalt heading from kandahar to kabul and had been told by a local there was a village every 50-100 miles along that road - except there was nothing but desert for 300 plus miles !!

By the time he knew he was in trouble, He was too far along to turn back, collapsed near death and luckily the next day was picked up off the ground by a russian army truck driver and saved.

Something to be said for mad dogs and englishmen :D

[Savanahkelpy]

A memorable incident happen on my return leg of the cape ride. As i was leaving Bamaga, i heard on the travelers grape vine, of a young couple, broken down about 15 klms south of the Dulhunty river. It took me 6 days to get there, and they were still there, mid-wheel base cruiser, over loaded with a collapsed wheel bearing, in a waterless burnt out area.:(
Some "well meaning tourist" had offered to take their wheel hub to Bamaga and get a New bearing but had sold the hub to a wrecker, and returned south via the by-pass road and evaded them. :nazilock::nazilock: Another genuinly helpful traveler offered them the use of a satelite phone, and they called the RACQ. The truck came up the by-pass road, looking for them, never found them, and returned to Weipa,, as they were stuck on the old telegraph line road.
After i left them, i found out, nearly 6 days later that another motorist had taken the young man into Wepia, assisted with accomadation, helped him to obtain new parts, When they drove all the way back to the stuffed cruiser, they opened the parts box,,only to find a bearing MISSING!!:eek:
Talk about a comedy of errors,,,and you can,t help bad luck, so everyone says, But i think that prior preperation goes a long way.
Laurie.

[Chops]

Good stories Savanahkelpy,, keep them coming as you remember them,,:)





hey Mate,

Thanks for the stories - they were a good read.

My dad rode a push bike from England to Australia from '63 - '66,

Something to be said for mad dogs and englishmen :D


Thats a big ride,,, I met an Englishman on a bike down on the Great Ocean Road doing a massive ride,, he was on his second tour, about to head back home so he could emigrate here to do it on pretty much a full time basis,,, nice guy,, hope he made it,,

[Scouse]

Great stories there Savanahkelpy :).
Any photos of your bike & set up at all?


I used to do a lot of touring in my younger days, nothing compared to you though. Mainly overnight/long weekend camping trips with the bike loaded up with 4 panniers, tent, sleeping bags......
I spent 3 weeks touring around Tassie in 1979 which was a great trip (geez, that's 30 years ago :eek:).

[wovenrovings]

Interesting stories Savanahkelpy, I have considered doing bicycle touring before but the landy has proved to tempting. I have a question, how do you deal with corrugations. Anytime i have had to ride over them when out mountain biking it hasn't been much fun.

I can't believe someone would sell the hub on the poor people, thats low.

Now england to australia in '63-'66, thats a trip. He would have a few stories to tell.

Have you read any of Francis birtles stories. He did a lot of long distance cycling in the 1920's. And then was the first to drive from england to australia in the 1930's. (The first overland guys with the series 1 landrovers hadn't heard of him).

Dan.

[Savanahkelpy]

Riding to the top of Cape york was virtualy a lifetime goal, something i,d wanted to since age 14. The ride itself was the culmination of 13 months of preperation, research, logistics, purchasing camping gear, buying tools, setting up the bike, discovering that i needed a trailer, etc,, and throwing a lot of "what if,s', up in the air to see what landed in my lap. I discovered Francis Birtles, in a copy of "An illutrated treasury of Australian Epic Journeys" by Anthony Barker. I also found out about other cyclists, like Gerome Muirife, the 1st cyclist from Adelaide to Darwin, in 1898,, and the great tradition of cycling within Australia, of the likes of the shearers, who traveled from shed to shed, during and in post depression years, so in some ways, i was carrying to torch for those before. "Australian Cyclist" magazine was also of great assistance.
My 1st touring bike was a skyline mountain bike, i converted for touring. Twitchy steering, a wheel base that was not long enough as i kept clipping the panniers with my heels, and only 2 things right about it, from scratch. A steel frame, and no suspension.
Now, its a custom designed and built Surley "Long Haul Trucker", with features that make it my dream tourer.
Laurie.

[Savanahkelpy]

After the Cape ride, i discovered such things as multi layered rims and bought several books on wheel building as i wanted to know, why i broke 14 spokes in the back wheel, yet none in the front, nor any in the trailer.
Despite doing it solo, with no other riders or support vehicles, i did have a life line in place,," ET, phone home",, family members would go to the local bike shop and purchase what i needed and post it to a destination arranged by me, while i was enroute, as i only took 6 spare spokes, thinking that would be sufficiant!:eek:,,,So if you are ever interested in cycle touring in remote areas,, get to know, and be on VERY friendly terms with your local bike mechanic,, as he will ultimately, be the guy who saves your bacon.
Laurie.

[Savanahkelpy]

Interesting stories Savanahkelpy, I have considered doing bicycle touring before but the landy has proved to tempting. I have a question, how do you deal with corrugations. Anytime i have had to ride over them when out mountain biking it hasn't been much fun.

I can't believe someone would sell the hub on the poor people, thats low.

Now england to australia in '63-'66, thats a trip. He would have a few stories to tell.

Have you read any of Francis birtles stories. He did a lot of long distance cycling in the 1920's. And then was the first to drive from england to australia in the 1930's. (The first overland guys with the series 1 landrovers hadn't heard of him).

Dan.

After looking at corrogations for days on end, i began to notice a pattern emerge, and that corrogations are like radio waves,, they come in different wave lengths,,short, medium, and long. Medium and long are the best to ride, as the lack of speed when touring fully loaded meant the bike rode like a rocking horse, but the short wave ones made for a very jittery, stutter ride. If 2 different wave lengths were side by side, there is a strip of smooth ground between them, about 2 to 3 inchs wide, just nice for a bike.
Laurie.

[Scouse]

Laurie has kindly sent me some of his trip photos so I've added them to his original post in this thread :).

[gone bush]

great stories. cheers JP

[Savanahkelpy]

One of the great aspects of cycle touring, particularly if you are on a dirt road and are an early riser is the chance to see what wildlife has been active in your vacinity and crossed the road during the night. If you are on your bike well before the motorists, you should be going slow enough to identify animal, bird and reptile tracks in the soft dust before they are filled and obliterated by passing traffic.
Horses, cattle, wild pigs, emu,s, snakes, kangaroos and wallabys, and numerous small birds, all left their sign for me to see, as plain as day.
I did have 5 daylight encounters with individuals and small groups of wild pigs, the only thing you can do is quietly cycle up, as close as possible, hold out your arm, fore finger extended, thumb up, and yell,,,,BANG!.:twisted:
The fright effect usualy works very well.
I did get bailed up by a scrub bull on the cape yor peninsular ride, south of the Dulhunty river, just on sunset. A race between me, trying to gather fire wood,,the bull trying to decide what to do,,head down pawing the dust and bellowing,,,and the fading light. I ended up ducking into a small dry creek with steep banks and just peering over the top, so he couldn,t see all of me, and collected my fire wood in the dark, by the light of my head torch.
Laurie