PROLOGUE...

  It is always hard to begin the  laborious task of chronicling one my extended rides in far flung places.The last few years have seen most of my shorter rides in Asia and the Pacific Northwest of the USA make their way no further than the timeline of my Facebook page.That type of record is easy as  it requires little more than a few photo's and a series of witty comments to convey,in very limited fashion,the general day to day highlights of  moments in a place,captured in time.What they don't do is capture the why's,what's and who's behind those moments.They don't convey the reasons or the inspirations that make longer,more expedition-like trips a reality.It is my hope that this blog will fill that shortfall and combine the modern way of illustrating moments in "captions" and the in the  good,old fashioned way of story telling.

  Many of my friends in the Triathlon world may be disappointed in the following literary effort as there will be no "high tech" analysis of my daily grind.There will be no "Power Numbers" to compare,no Strava postings to challenge and no graphs to salivate over.Indeed the Ultra-community might be even more disappointed as there will be little in the way of "Epic Daily Mileage" to boast about nor "Guinness World Records" in the offing.No Multi-Iron days,no media conferences and certainly no parades are expected.What it will be, is just a guy on a bike,riding fairly aimlessly, through this big brown expanse known as Terra-Australis....Australia.

These day it seems to have become increasingly popular to do crazy,made-up events or extraordinary challenges to raise money for a charity or highlight a cause.In fact,just over the last few days of hanging out here at my start point of Byron Bay in Australia the most common question about my trip has been "Are you doing it for a cause?" My answer is "No,I am doing it just because I want to do it." That usually is followed by a look of slight disappointment or confusion followed by a sense that somehow,the adventure is "less" than it should be.I don't understand that mentality.I have nothing against folks who do charity events or 'highlight events" and I have done so twice in the past but sometimes you have to do stuff just for yourself. Why can't people do stuff just because they want to do stuff?

  As it happens,I do have my own "cause" but it is a personal one and that is my own health.The health of my troubled mind and the hope that this ride can turn around the physical results of the dark depression that has raised it's ugly head yet again.I would like to say that I am a shadow of my former self but that would be a pretty obvious falsehood as I have,thanks in part to the apathy that depression brings,blown out to a figure that casts a much bigger shadow than is healthy.Never in my widlest dreams would I ever think that my five-foot seven-inch frame would have itself encased by a two hundred pound "fat suit" but that is what has happened. Well almost,as I fall just a few ounces short of that dubious achievement.The thing is when one suffers from depression it can cripple them for weeks or months.Nothing constructive gets done and before you know it,BOOM,there you are,twice the person you once were ( well almost ).Sadly if you have nobody around to help drag you out of that hole or nobody around honest enough to tell you what is happening to you,this transformation can go unnoticed.This ride came about because of one persons complete honesty and even though I don't know who this random stranger is,he may have just turned on the right switch in my mind and saved my life.



Byron Bay Main Beach with Cape Byron in the distance.

 About two months ago I was having a discussion in a coffee shop in Leura,Australia with a nice couple from Sydney who were up there visiting for the weekend.We chatted about travelling and wine regions and all kinds of things in between.During the conversation I mentioned that I had ridden through a few wine regions in my time and told them of a few of my long bicycle tours including my trip through Argentina and Bolivia in 2006.They had been to Argentina before and we chatted about how much we loved the country.I mentioned that I was heading back to Sth America to Rio in April 2017 to compete in an Ultra-Triathlon and he seemed visibly surprised.Some time later as they got up to leave he moved very close to me and quietly said.. "Look Nick,I think what you have done is fantastic and I admire folks who can do those ultra-events but ,as a Doctor,I need to tell you something for your own good.You are over 50 years old and you are in no shape to be putting yourself through an ultra-triathlon,especially in the heat of Brazil.You need to lose a lot of weight! You will hurt yourself if you don't!" With that he wished me well and was off . It took all of one minute for me to decide that it was time to go for another long ride.It was that simple.




 The easternmost point of mainland Australia

 The only question I had at that stage was ,where was I to go? I knew that it would take some time to not only get myself in shape to race a long event but that it would take a lot of time to get myself fit enough to be able to start the training to get in shape to train for a race like the Brazil Ultra.Not only that,the realisation that I had failed at pretty much every event I had competed in for the lest few year led me to think large,to think Epic!That is when I decided to start my ride in Byron Bay,Australia. I had passed through "Byron" during my "Nick's Epic Ride 09/10" when I rode from Cairns in the far north east of Australia to Sydney and then across parts of New South Wales.I was supposed to finish that ride in Perth,Western Australia but two deaths in my family put an end to that dream.This was my chance to finish that ride.

But why Byron Bay when any one of many places I rode through in 2009 would do?

  The simple answer is that it is the most eastern point of Australia and I thought it only fitting that I ride to the most western point which is Steep Point near the town of Denham and the tourist Mecca that is Monkey Mia.The route takes me directly west through some of Australia's most famous country towns before heading south east to South Australia then across the famous Nullabor Plain to Western Australia before following the coast north to Denhan and Monkey Mia.The distance from point to point is around 5,200 kilometres but I'll most likely end up riding more (or less) depending on where my wanderings take me.Hopefully I'll be able to show so many of you who have never made the journey into Australia's  centre just a little of what life is like in the small towns and deserted nothingness that makes up the heart of this big brown land.



 Cape Byron Lighthouse

    Most Trans-Australia riders make their start in either Sydney or Perth and cross the country in an almost straight line (relatively) for around 4,000 kilometres until they hit the ocean at their target city.That is,in anyone's book, a long ride and quite the challenge but it isn't the  longest  "direct" crossing. The classic eastern most to western most points is one that isn't done as often as it is around 5,200 kilometres of slightly more remote riding.Distance aside, just the part of Australia that you ride through during the first two or three weeks of the westerly ride from Byron is extreme,especially if,like me,you do it in summer.

   The first 300 kilometres of the route I'll be taking winds it's way up over The Great Dividing Range from Byron Bay,up to Lismore,Casino,Tenterfield and finally to Glenn Innes where it maxes out at just over 1,100 meters above sea level.That for me will be the hardest ( and highest ) part of my ride as I am grossly unfit and dragging my loaded trailer,not to mention my sorry carcass uphill for three days will just suck!! After that it is straight into the drought stricken centre of outback New South Wales where 40C temperatures are the summertime norm.This route doesn't connect with the more southerly route until just before Port Augusta in South Australia after which time I will have been in isolated rural Australia for more than 1,500 Kilometres.Usually folks who are hitting this point on the southern route heading west from Sydney are bracing themselves for the hell that can be the Nullabor Plain while I will have already been riding through similar country for the best part of two weeks.The Nullabor,for me should be familiar territory.



 Cape Byron in the distance on my 2009 ride

  Once you cross the country there is the mind screwing detour just outside of Perth where instead of following the scent of the cappuccino's to Feemantle's trendy cafes', you make the right hand turn and head north for another 700 kilometres or so to the final goal of Steep Point near the small town of Denham,Western Australia.

 It is a long way but not that long really compared to some rides that people do.It is achievable and with time,hopefully I'll make it to the other side a lot healthier,happier and able to give the UB515 Ultra-Triathlon the respect it deserves.

  How much time?......As long as it takes.