REALITY BITES!!

So the day finally came and it was without farewell or fanfare that I loaded up the bike,locked the door to my apartment and headed down the Cairns Esplanade to begin another trip into the unknown.

I had delayed my departure a few days and right now I was beginning to think that it was a decision that I might regret.The weather for the winter thus far had been sunny and unseasonably warm and yet today there were grey clouds in the distance and we were on a collision course.I prayed that there would not be a repeat of last years two weeks of wet,cold, Canadian riding but as I turned off the highway onto the road toward todays climb out of the flatlands the rain started!Damn!!!Luckily for me the temperature wasn't too bad and as I started the long 19k climb up the Gillies Range I soon shed my rain jacket and concentrated instead on the rough road slowly passing under my heavily laden wheels.


It soon became clear that this was going to be a long sufferfest and the seven weeks of sloth-like inactivity that I had lived before my ride came back to haunt me.I was suffering badly.So badly in fact that I was in my smallest gear just crawling up the road.It became so bad that the top third of the climb became a case of mearly surviving each evil mile with a little rest to stop my heart from exploding.It should be said that I was dragging a hell of a lot of stuff with me and I'm guessing the extra 65kilos was the culprit.Certainly it wasn't the extra 20 kilo's of pudge that had encased me recently that was to blame.Surely not!

Whatever the reason,I gave up on my trip about ten times on that climb alone not to mention during the cold, wet,windy descent back onto the Tablelands.It was the first of the "rolling hills"(HA HA) after that descent that got me and I walked my stupid little bike with all it's fancy flamin' gear up the last 200m of the hill straight into a rendevous with a major tantrum and an abandonment of my trip for the 20th time that day.




I did,however,during my swearing session, spy a little spot hidden behind a row of sugar cane which I thought would make for a great campsite for the night.I rode over and up a little track for about 100 meters and found "camp one".I was done and set about putting up my tent and getting some dinner ready.There was no celebration though as it had taken me all day to ride a paltry 60k.Crap,I've run faster than that!!!!!

The next day dawned with one of the Tablelands famous winter fogs and I had to wait a little while until it was safe enough to ride.To fill in the time I went for a little run,which was nice.Well warmed after my run and well caffeineated after brewing up some powdered crap, I was off again dragging a million useless kilos of stuff over the rolling(read; short and steep) hills toward Atherton.It was over these very hills that an old friend of mine,Lloyd Wallington ,had dragged my lame ass over when he was training me to do my first Ironman,18 years ago.I thought of him at the time and missed the enthusiasm that we had for our sport and for life in general.Good times indeed but times were not replicating themselves on this day.I bitched and whined my way the 16k's to Atherton and after a brief chat with the residents of the Atherton Cemetary I rolled out on the quiet country roads toward Ravenshoe.





For a while everything was going just fine and I thought my goal of reaching the rest area at Millstream would be a no brainer but then the weather closed in again.As if the ever-increasing hills weren't enough to deal with the seasonal south-easterly wind kicked up and with it came more rain.Ever so slowly I climbed each soul-sucking hill until in the middle of bumfuck nowhere I came upon two cops conducting a random breath test for all motorists.I figured that the top of this hill was as good a place as any and pulled over for a can of beans and a chat.The cops waved me over and I told them a random breath test was a waste of time as I had no breath left to give.They laughed and as I had my lunch they asked me all about my trip.




I gave them a rough outline about my wanting to ride down the center of Queensland and New South Wales using the developmental roads instead of using the popular coast road.They both shook their heads and immediately warned me against it.One of the two cops had attended a double fatality on that road the week before and there were two motorcyclits under medical care in Atherton as a result of an accident a couple of days earlier.You see, these developmental roads are the domain of Australia's famous "road-trains".They are narrow,rough,dusty,strips of ashpalt with soft sand and bull dust at the edges.The rule of the road is that the road-trains have the right of way and everyone gets off the road when they arrive.Over the years the asphalt has worn even narrower and there is not much room at all.Just plain unsafe for a little dude on a bike.I told the cops that I would think about it but really they had talked me out of it and I rode on thinking about alternate plans,in other words,back to the coast.An hour or so later I came across the intersection where a decision had to be made, turn left and head down the Palmerston Highway to the coast or head on, into the bush and take on the semi-trailers and the four trailers that they dragged,fishtailing behind them.I chose the coast.

First things first though,time to make camp.It was late afternoon so I figured I'd have a good nights sleep and make for the coast in the morning.I had only travelled about 70k that day but was content in that it was all part of the process and I'd make the time up on the downhill run the next day.I did not realise that I would end up staying put at that intersection for another 36 hrs as a combination of fog and storms kept me tent-bound and miserable.The only bright light came fom a visit from my friendly police mates who had heard reports from local residents about some dude camping on the side of the road.They came to check it out and when they found it was I,not only did they give me permission to camp there they gave me a supply of cookies that they had taken from a driver-revivour station earlier in the day.Good blokes!!

The day I spent in that cold and rainy place really got me down and I questioned what I was doing so many times.I was wet,cold and very unhappy but I figured that I just needed to be strong and get through the misery for a day or so.Not easy to do when everything you have is getting wetter and wetter by the hour.Even the tarp I had over the tent didn't keep the moisture out.WTF!!!!








I did manage to go for a run and fiddle with my bike with enough enthusiasm to actually fix my gears which had stopped shifting properly.That is no mean feat for a guy who by his own admission is a lame-ass bike mechanic.On the up side,I did have enough food to last a week or so and enough water tumbling down all around me to cook it with so I did eat well for a day.I also began to memorise the South East Asia edition of Lonley Planet.If that is ever a catergory on any future trivia night them I'm your man!!!