So far away from my new Surly Pacer

As you may of guessed from my blog I’m a keen rider of Surly bikes. Haven’t got a bad word to say about any of their products there spot on. My addiction to there rides has resulted in me owning a LHT, Disc Trucker, Troll and now my new toy a Surly Pacer. The problem is I’m currently on holiday with my gorgeous girlfriend and my equally awesome surly troll and wont be back in the UK to ride it until Feb 2013. I here you say its only two months but that’s a long time when you’ve got a brand new bike at home waiting all wrapped up in a box :(. Il update you all on the bike as soon as I have made it back to Blighty.

More updates from the Munda Biddi

Day 12 27/11/12
Donnybrook to jarrawood campsite
30 miles
Nice easy days ride today pretty flat so not to taxing rode at a nice slow pace and stopped for lunch at a little dam on the trail. We were passed by a couple other cyclists today towing BOB trailers they were riding at quite a pace compared to us they didn’t stop though. After lunch there was a little detour as they were felling trees somewhere. This sent us up the only small climb of the day but again not to hard. After a little bit of dirt rode i went on ahead loving the track and absolutely flying along. Got to Jarrawood a good 30 to 45 mins before jeff and Jen. The other riders were already set up there Ben and PT from Adelaide they were quite serious riders takling a lot bigger distances than us at the mo. They had all the stuff but they were carrying hell of a lot of kit each they reckoned about 40kg. Im carrying about 12 including food. The wind had picked up at this point and i think the storm that they’ve been on about has caught us up. During the night the wind continued and the rain started. Happy we were in the shelter but was a bit of a cold night with the breeze. Took up the most sheltered spot in the hut though which definitely helped.

Day 13 28/11/12
Jarrawood campsite to nannup
Less than 20 miles
Really easy day today along the sidings rail trail. Almost completely flat with a tail wind what we thought was the tail of last nights storm. We couldn’t of been more wrong it started a again with a few showers and then turned into torrential downpours by this time we had already admitted defeat and took a motel room in the town. Hopefully it would of cleared tomorrow so we can head out to the next hut. Think im indulging a bit to much in accommodation  But there is no way id want to be in my tent tonight. Perth about 220kms up the coast has seen near cyclone conditions and the worst for over ten years. Just hope thats not heading our way bring back the sun. Just been up to a little cafe and had a huge pizza that i dident manage to finish so pizza for breakfast yum. There was also a little bit of entertainment not to my taste maybe its just the accent makes then sound out of tune. anyway nice bed now. Also gained a pillow that was left in the hut last night just have to work out how to attach it to my bike.

Day 14 29/11/12
Nannup to nowhere
zilcth
Today i done a whole load of nothing the storm is still roaring outside so we called a rest day. Haven’t had one yet and this little town had everything we needed so cant complain. Did spend a little to much though two nights lodgings  two meals out and the ability to buy treats definitely had a bad effect on my wallet. Bought an internet dongle as well which is going to make things easier  Managed to Skype Lindsay as well which is epic. She fly’s out from the UK tonight so cannot wait to see here in a couple weeks. Tomorrow sees us head out so im praying the weather clears a bit and warms up else its going to be an awful day and night as il need all my clothes to keep warm. If they get wet it means there will be no chance i can sleep as it’ll be to cold.

Day 15 30/11/12
Nannup to Karta Burnu campsite
46 miles
A longish day planned for today. The trail on the map amassed 60km which is the longest day ive done on the trail. I left Jeff and Jen on the rode just out of Nannup as they are trying to shorten the distance by taking a direct route. It was a quick day felt good this morning so thought id push myself and see if i could beat Jeff and Jen to the hut. Ive been here over two hours now and still no sign of them. The weather hasent been to bad after the rain of the last two days. Just showers today and a little warmer than yesterday. Seen my first group of riders today about 6 guys heading in the opposite direction doing a long weekend i think. Seen a load of Emus in the town of Donelly mill they were quite tame so stood still for photos. Big switchback climb up to the hut but a stunning hut all new with an amazing view for miles.

Day 16 1/12/12
Karter Burnu campsite to manjimup then out to fontys pool campsite
26 miles
A day of his and lows. Started with a broken bottle cage then my fork broke and then my Netbook decided it wanted to play up. Luckily the netbook fixed itself the moment i walked into a computer shop at Manjimup. It was the last day of the trail today just 16 miles into manjimup. The ride wasent to bad but again litterd with fallen trees probally from the storm. Got into town early as was up at 5 because of the cold. Tryed to find a sleeping bag in manjimup but they would off taken up the majority of my space so would have to forgo most of my food that i carry which i dident think would be good. Made my plans for the rest of the ride too. After speaking to linz ive moved my flights forward a couple days so now its a bit of a sprint back up to perth. Hve about 8 days to get there and sort a pack for our little adventure on the east coast. Tommorow will be a big push via roads back to the jarrawood hut for the night. We left there 3 days ago but figure it will be about 50 to 60 miles by road. Then onto dunsborough. There i will try and secure a few warm showers hosts for the journey back towards perth. Spoke to maxine aswell who voluntered to look after my bike for me and she offered me to stay the night that i fly so itll be just a quick taxi ride to the airport from there. Then will land in melbourne at lunch time then hunt down lindsay. Alls good hopefully the weather should be heating up again too which will be good.

Day 17 02/12/12
Fontys pool campsite to Jarrawood campsite
55 miles
Longest day yet on the bike on this trip started to suffer at the end but kept thinking about the sign at Jarrawood that you can rent bunks in a little house for 20 dollars. Been to all the enquiry places and nothing pretty gutted that means another freezing night tonight probally. The weathers been a lot nicer today though so hopefully the temp wont drop like it did last nite it was the coldest yet hitting 5 degrees bloody freezing. Mainly took roads today and flew along averaged 13 mph over the day which was amazing. Got a little sun burn on my legs which sucks was doing so well. Really wanted that hut couldof been naping now on a bed but instead Im sweaty and minging and still have a days ride to a shower. Think ive got anouther day of about 50 miles tomorrow guna get up early i reckon so im in busselton by about ten. Please god let them have a decent camp store with proper stuff in it. Decided aswell that i want to hit perth on fri a grab a hostel for two nights so i can get all the stuff sorted for the next part of the adventure. Change of plan found a person moving in the village and just so happens they were incharge of the bunk house. Now i get a shower and my own fully equiped 1960s australian house. Has the sort of decor your my could remember from here childhood. But its warm its got a bed and im loving it. Whole house for £15. Legs are sunburnt 😦

DAY 18 03/12/12
Jarrawood to Dunsborough
46 miles
Awesome days ride today absolutely flew along averaged 14mph the roads were perfect maybe slightly downhill all the way to the coast and all seems pretty flat around here. First stop was Busselton had a wonder round the seafront its a pretty nice place with a massive pier that goes over a mile out to see so had a walk along there. Bumped into a cyclist from perth heading towards Dunsborough so rode with him for a little while as we were heading in the same direction. Arrived at Anthonys to a nice cold drink which was epic. Went out for lunch was so hungary. Then just chilled for the evening sorted a few things out for the rest of the journey.

Day 19 04/12/12
Nowhere
Just spent a day chilling. Went out with my cousin for a drive around the area the coastlines stunning. Had breakfast and a dip in the sea the first of the trip. Then hit a brewery for a couple local beers then back to the beach for beers and a swim. Meet loads of awesome people down here and ended the day with a massive BBQ. Could easily spend more time here but got something even better to look forward too. Only a few more days till my flight to melbourne.

Day 20 05/12/12
Dunsborough to Bunbury
60 miles
Seemed like today was going to be a long old ride looked about 80km on the maps. But was quite a quick distance again flew along was in town by half 11. Hopefully tomorrow will go the same way. Half tempted to jump on the train in mundurah and have an extra day in perth but again there seems to be a nice island off from rockhampton which id like to explore. The road was uneventful a whole load of highway today nice shoulder but definately more traffic than im used to over here. Itll only increase over the next two days on the way into Perth. Managed to track down a small sleeping bag aswell today so the nights should be warm from now on. The bag packs so small but still its hard to fit in. When i get back from the east coast going to have a sort out and hopefully leave some stuff behind and get packing a little bit tighter. Staying with a warm showers host tonight so thats been good. Got an awesome feed with home grown veg and kangaroo burgers.

Day 21 06/12/12
Bunbury to mundurah
68 miles
Ended up in Perth. It all started with the fact that on the coast Austrlia seems to only hace highways even the coast roads loop back to the highway after a few miles. Il set the seen of the highway its long, its flat, theres nothing to see. Add a hradwind to this and 60 miles of it you get the picture. Mygod this was the most boring ride of my life. You could ge out of a car at 100 mile intervals and it would look the same. This is why i ended up in Perth i couldent do it any more and a train station appered with the divine intervention of the lady at the Tourist info. Exactly on the road i was on so took the opportunity to cheat (save my sanity). So nothing really to report from all those miles except mandurah is nice.

Day 22 07/12/12
Perth
Chilled out today dident do to much went for a walk into town to track down a rucksack for my wonderings with lindsay and headed back then a wonder to coles and that was pretty much the day done.
Day 23 08/12/12
Perth
Similar day of relaxing today.Walked into town then headed out to freemantle on the train for a wonder around the town, beaches and harbour. Amazing little place the atmosphere was really good cool shops, cool people next time im near the city i may spend a couple days down there to chill before my flight home. Then headed back to the hostel must off walked miles today my feet arnt used to all of this walking especially in flipflops they are killin. Jumped on the bike to head to see a little festival in Leederville which was cool big music bus in the middle then headed off to find a skate event that was happening but got lost and couldent find it. Found a place called kings park instead which was stunning.