TO THE START IN BYRON BAY

     It is funny that I don't consider the ride started until I actually leave Byron Bay and head west toward Lismore as I actually rode here from the Gold Coast in Queensland.I spent a week in Coolangatta visiting a friend,visiting my dentist and most importantly getting used to the heat of South East Queensland.Having been based in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney for the last two years I had become very used to the chilly temperatures that are normal in the Upper Mountains at any time of the year.The week before I left I was happily wearing shorts and T-shirt with temperatures in the single digits Celsius so arriving in Queensland where it was in the 30's was a shock to say the least.

At Kirra Point leaving the Gold Coast

     I did a few short training rides in and around the Gold Coast Hinterland which just confirmed my almost total lack of fitness on the bike.It is interesting how things do change and your fitness comes back to you as by the time I left Coolangatta for the short ride to a campground in Wooyung only 44 kilometres away I almost felt like a cyclist again.It was a very short ride but it took me along a road I hadn't been on for many years and the beach and campground there are pretty awesome.It also made for a good way getting used to dragging my trailer behind me and of testing out some of the new gear that I bought for this trip.

     Like my reluctance to go high-tech in my triathlon life, my bike touring is no different.I hate spending good money on fancy-pants stuff from high end stores when you can get equally functional stuff from cheaper,no frills outlets.My one caveat is if there are sales going on and that is where I went silly ( for me anyway) in the Mountain Design store in Katoomba.They were having a huge sale to celebrate the opening of a new store and like a hungry seagull at the beach I swooped in for a steal.

    During my last long ride, down the Alaska/Canada Highway, I went a light as I could and didn't even take a sleeping bag or sleeping mat.I just had the clothes I was wearing and a light sheet to cover myself with.Man how I suffered on the cold,cold ground!! None of that was going to happen this time as I do expect to be on the road for about eight weeks.A sleeping bag,a sleeping mat,a new CamelBak Mule backpack,a couple of compression bags and even one of those totally stupid collapsible special high-tech,rocket science coffee cups were soon stacked on the counter in front of a very flustered young Russian sales lady.Like most Russians (yes I know I am generalizing but I have been to Phuket) she was a cranky lady and not really too enthusiastic towards me until I happened to mention I was a cycle tourist and one of my dream trips is to ride the Road of Bones from Magadan in Siberia.That put a smile on her face and as we chatted about all things Gulag'ish ,she found every conceivable discount possible and I was happily on my way.I reckon it worked out that I got the CamelBak Mule and the stupid rubber cup for free! Score!

 Hastings Point looking back toward Kingscliff
 

 My tent however was purchased, true to form, at "Big W" in Tweed Heads for the princely sum of $12 Australian, add to that a couple of silver tarps to cover the tent during bad weather and to form a shelter during the day.I love this set-up and fail to understand why folks spend a shitload on tents,unless of course you are climbing Everest and weight "really matters". I have used this set-up for over a decade and stayed warm and dry during epic storms in all kinds of locations around the world, from Kicking Horse Pass on the B.C/Alberta border to the Al/Can in Teslin, Yukon Territory. From Tropical North Queensland to the misery of a summer storm on the banks of the Red River in Ontario. I was toasty warm in the high Andes in winter and just yesterday lay comfy cosy watching the  The Expendables 2 on my laptop here in Byron Bay. The thing that does piss me off is that I have all this crap and more in storage in Penticton, Canada  but the cheap-ass in me tries not to think about that.

   The following day was another 40 or so kilometres to the town of Byron Bay which went as easily as  expected and I rolled into town a happy lad at around 7am a straight to a coffee shop to get my morning jolt and to do some internet surfing to find a campground. Luckily for me I did find one very close to downtown that had a spot available and I booked it straight away. I say luckily as my arrival in Byron coincided with one of Australia's craziest traditions, "Schoolies Week", a three week period at the end of each High School year when the graduating masses head to selected locations around Australia and South East Asia to get shitfaced. For my Nth American friends, imagine Spring Break for High School kids. It is madness!!Throw in the usual throng of Euro Backpackers and a marijuana enhanced local population and you start to get the picture. What could possible go wrong?

 The mouth of the Hastings River

  From the coffee shop it was off to the park at  main beach at Byron where the remnants of the previous nights celebrations lay all around like a scene from a disaster movie. Motionless humanity dressed in now crumpled finery, slowly getting toasted by the rising sun while the locals tiptoe around them to get to the beach for their morning swim. That scene never gets old and it was among our nations, motionless hope for the future that I was approached by a man who was very interested in my bike and trailer.

 I am used to people asking me about my trailer and my bike set-up. The number one question I get asked when people find out that I am off on a long ride is, as I mentioned before, "Are you doing it for a charity or a cause?".This man was no different. I said no and continued to tell him that I was just doing it because I wanted to get healthy again. He mentioned that he had been following, on the radio, the ride of a guy who was riding around Australia for a "Youth off the Streets" charity in Sydney.  I said "Funny you should say that, I know him, his name is Greg McDermott and I was just messaging with him on Facebook an hour or so ago." He was amazed. We talked about Greg's ride for a while and I explained the differences between having a vehicle following him as crew and my dragging all my gear along solo. They are two very different animals and Greg had ridden nearly three times the distance I was to ride but he did it about the same time I was planning to take.As I said two different types of ride.We chatted for a while about my past rides and the differences in each country as I rode through and after a while his family dragged him away. He wished me luck and was off.I stayed by the beach for a while looking at the Cape Byron Lighthouse in the distance wondering what was in store for me once I pushed off from that spot in a few short days time.

 Check out Greg's story here...   https://www.gregmcdermott.com.au/

 That brings me to an interesting difference in how folks look at long distance rides and/or adventures. I am of the old school adventure ilk who love an adventure for the sake of adventure. Part of that adventure is the character of the person, the places and the people that they meet along the way. I love to learn about the person and the places that are so much a part of each individual expedition and the romance of the cultures they are immersed in as they travel on their way.

 Looking back at Mt Warning

 These days there is a new type of adventurer, the one to whom time over distance is the be all and end all of the trip. I'll give you a couple of examples from quite well known adventurers. Firstly there is legendary Ultra-Cyclist Mark Beaumont who has penned three books about his attempts at break several cycling world records. He has ridden around the world,ridden the America's and most recently broke the record for riding the length of Africa from Cairo to Cape Town . In his book "Africa Solo" he wrote that on occasion he felt like a "asshole" for not taking the time to share his ride with those who had helped him along the way. He was so focussed on breaking the record that he completely missed the "heart" of the countries he was riding through and the opportunity to share moments with those who were truly interested in him. He made the same comparison that I do, that there are some who like to tour and immerse themselves in the place they are travelling through and there are those who just race the clock. He races the clock and as he ages he questions if that is the right way to go.

  Actor Ewan McGregor,during his hit adventure documentary "The Long Way Down", where he and his rogue best mate Charlie Boorman ride motorbikes from Ireland to South Africa, also questioned the toll that riding miles for miles sake was having on him.He said that he couldn't see the point of just trying to make a specific place each day due to filming schedules when those schedules meant they weren't really seeing the countries they were riding through.It was shortly after that revelation that they changed the way the rest of the documentary was filmed.

 Camped at Byron Bay

 Indeed, even closer to home for me.The now famous Trans America Bike Race,a solo and unsupported race across the USA, is the new standard for adventure cyclists but I fear it has lost something along the way. My friend, celebrated author and ultra-triathlete Wayne Kurtz did this race last year and I followed his (and others)  progress daily as they made their way across the country.The thing is,as much as I enjoyed it,I have little idea of what he went through during that 7,000 kilometre ride.I know some from his Facebook postings but I don't know anything about the country he rode through.I know nothing of the culture he was absorbed in nor anything about his day to day struggles.I know that he will eventually pen another book that will fill in the blanks but he is most likely one of very few who do.Even the documentary that made this event famous falls very short of focusing on anything but "the race".For some that is great and that is all they need.For me,I need more,I want to feel part of it,to almost be able to close my eyes and be there with that person as they face the challenges of each day.To be able to see the country through their words and feel like I am part of the adventure.

 That is what I hoped to bring people in the assorted ramblings that made up each one of my previous blogs and it is what I hope to bring to you few who might follow this latest of my growing meanderings around our big wide world.