Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

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Aushiker
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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Aushiker » Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:54 pm

Thanks Ricky and Pete.

Andrew

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Max » Wed Jul 04, 2012 12:50 pm

It's all finally happening!!! :D Best wishes, Andrew. I hope you have a great time. Don't forget to tell us all about it in your CGOAB journal :D

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Aushiker » Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:15 pm

Thanks Max.

Surly Long Haul Trucker, Extrawheel Voyager and gear all boxed up waiting at the door :)

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Andrew

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby John Lewis » Thu Jul 05, 2012 5:15 pm

Good luck Andrew,
Have a great ride. I'll look forward to following on CGOB.
Do you have a Spot Tracker? Can't recall.

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Baalzamon » Thu Jul 05, 2012 6:17 pm

John Lewis wrote:Good luck Andrew,
Have a great ride. I'll look forward to following on CGOB.
Do you have a Spot Tracker? Can't recall.

John
Yes he does have a spot tracker.
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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Aushiker » Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:56 pm

John Lewis wrote:Good luck Andrew,
Have a great ride. I'll look forward to following on CGOB.
Do you have a Spot Tracker? Can't recall.
Thanks John. Yep using a SpotTracker. Will be using SpotWalla for the route tracking.

Andrew

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Aushiker » Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:41 pm

Made first days camp o/s of Litchfield NP. Managed to off route for 20 km and get one puncture on the trailer as I came into camp.

Hot today Edge 800 showed 39 c at one point

Otherwise first good day with a decent load of 10 days food and two days water. Hopefully able to cross Finiss? River tomorrow and then on to a swiming hole all going well.

On the tyre is a Scwalbe Marathon Mondial brand new. Will know cause tomorrow.

Andrew


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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Baalzamon » Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:34 pm

Find the cause of the puncture?
Glad to see you got to your next campsite now.
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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Meditator » Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:28 am

INteresting about the puncture. Probably just a thorn. I hope you've got a pair of tweezers. They are handy to pull out little stones and other bits. In case its not already your habit, its not a bad idea to do this daily.

the one puncture i had much later on in my trip from this area was due to a puncture. The thing is i detected it had gone in not in the location where the puncture happened but back further and when i was on the tar. When i got to the dirt, i believe the roughness of the road pushed the bit of thorn in far enough to cause the puncture.

Even when travelling on the tar, there are thorns off to the side of the road in some parts so watch out for those. But on the whole there wasn't a lot of thorn or dangerous sharp prickles.

Anyway that's my theory but of course it could be a bit of glass or anything else as well in your case.

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Tandem » Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:27 pm

Meditator wrote:
the one puncture i had much later on in my trip from this area was due to a puncture.
:wink: :wink:
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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby il padrone » Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:27 pm

I think Andrew's concern at the cause is because he is using Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tyres - successor to the extremelly durable Marathon XR which is very puncture-resistant. These tyres should not be getting punctures from thorns. I rode from Melbourne to Adelaide and on to Oodnadatta with the XRs and didn't have any thorn punctures, despite other cyclists having quite a problem with them. The only thing that did penetrate them was a tiny wire strand, probably from a blown car tyre belt.

This of course may be Andrews puncture cause.
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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Aushiker » Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:12 pm

Baalzamon wrote:Find the cause of the puncture?.
Grass seed I think. Found another one embedded in the front tyre. That one was buried into the tread. Took a bit of effort to pick it out. The puncture was through the side wall ... couldn't find anything that caused it which is a niggle now.

Managed to blow a nice hole in the tube as well ... not sure why that happened ... maybe just a dud tube.

Andrew

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Aushiker » Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:25 pm

Made Adelaide River .... not doing the distances I expected but a day "ahead" of myself anyway. Been slowed down by the heat, winds and of all things a bloody chest infection. The health clinic was open today so managed to get some antibiotics which hopefully will get things under control. Taking a day off here to get my body a chance at bit of a recovery.

The Garmin Edge 800 has shown temps over 40 C on bike (lot of heat reflecting off the road) and overnight temps have been around 20 C. No wind at night .... just lots of mozzies.

The riding through Litchfield was good; met some nice people and enjoy a lot of swimming. Popular spots are crowded but! Last night in Litchfield I camped at Florance Falls (135 steps to the plunge pool!) and shared the camp site "space" four camper groups/vans.

If you do make Litchfield National Park, can highly recommend Walkers Creek. Fantastic camping there. Six walk in only campsites, each with a swimming hole of some description. Mine came with a spa :)

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For GJ, Crater Lake Road is now sealed and of course I missed the track to Crater Lake :(.

Stuart Highway is not fun ... three trailer road trains, narrow highway and reasonably levels of traffic don't add to the fun. Thankfully some alternatives to the highway for some of the ride through to Katherine.

Off to Katherine tomorrow. Should be there in about three or four days hopefully.

Andrew

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Meditator » Fri Jul 13, 2012 6:48 pm

Tandem wrote:
Meditator wrote:
the one puncture i had much later on in my trip from this area was due to a puncture.
:wink: :wink:
yeah i was just rereading that post and thought ugh, i've done it again. I should have said thorn the second time, not puncture.
The health clinic was open today so managed to get some antibiotics which hopefully will get things under control.
I wonder if it was a bacterial infection. Cause if its just a cold, with some pharygitis or laryngitis, antibiotics aren't going to do much. Panadol is actually really helpful for this condition. Please pass it on. It helps you get to sleep at night and it helps relieve the chest pain. Of course i'm not a doctor but i have found panadol and taking it a bit easier is a very good solution for colds. In the past i used to do nothing at all and on my first cycling trip to india i had two rotten colds and probably infected a great many village indians which i realised later to my horror - because they dont use detergent to wash the chai glasses. But i was still riding long days through all that. It was only after that year that i discovered panadol was the answer and rest. Otherwise what happens usually is that the cold and cough goes on and on.

Sounds like he's not going to Edith Falls. Big mistake. Its such a special place. Hope needn't bother going up the gorge in katherine. He will be seeing so many gorges in the kimberley that are free, that there's no reason to go to katherine gorge. You might mention this to him also.

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Aushiker » Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:45 pm

Bailing to Darwin tomorrow for TLC. This cold or whatever I have got is worse than I initially thought it was, but hopefully back on the road later in the week.

Andrew

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Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby RonK » Sat Jul 14, 2012 8:39 pm

Do I recall the mention of a pacemaker? Take good care of yourself...
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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Aushiker » Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:13 pm

RonK wrote:Do I recall the mention of a pacemaker? Take good care of yourself...
You are correct, which is why Anne (registered nurse) is insisting on full recovery and of course that is the smart move. I was slow but ok on Thursday but then it hadn't fully hit at that point. Still did around 80 km so wasn't expecting such a deterioration in my condition. Also having the pacemaker it means my choices of OTC medicines etc are limited and well choices are not exactly great here anyway; no such thing as a chemist for starters.

Thankfully I have a good two weeks up my sleeve plus route options to reduce the time needed for a ride to Perth if necessary so still some hope :).

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Meditator » Sun Jul 15, 2012 1:13 pm

I'm confused now. aushiker are you reporting your own story or quintons? If you are reporting quinton's facebook notes, maybe you could make it clear by using a quotation block or something.

I thought the person with the chest infection was quinton and of course i had no idea whoever it was that there was a pacemaker involved. that of course makes quite a difference to anything i've suggested re colds, chest infections, panadol and antibiotics. I wouldn't dream of giving medical advice to anyone sporting a pacemaker. I am surprised that there is someone out there riding such a trip with such a thing.

I don't know much about pacemakers but the only people i've known with them were quite old and really very frail.

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Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby RonK » Sun Jul 15, 2012 3:13 pm

I know a number of people with pacemakers, and I don't regard any of them as frail, invalid or disabled. I'm pretty sure Andrew is not either.
If you had been following the various threads in the touring forum you would have noticed it mentioned, however I thought it was worth another mention due to the advice that was being posted.
I'm sure Andrew will take sensible precautions and will soon be able to resume his journey.
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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Aushiker » Tue Jul 17, 2012 6:57 pm

RonK wrote:I know a number of people with pacemakers, and I don't regard any of them as frail, invalid or disabled. I'm pretty sure Andrew is not either..
:lol: Somehow I don't think the terms frail, invalid or disabled apply to me :)

Now settled in Darwin. Seen a doctor now who has given me a couple of prescriptions to help with my throat and my breathing. Have picked up a secondary bacterial infection which was controlled quickly thanks to the smart nurse in Adelaide River who put me on antibiotics straight away. New course to start tomorrow but :(

Looking at least a week + off the bike to allow for a recovery. Slowly getting there but still sleeping all afternoon and at night. Simply no energy.

Will need to review my route I suspect. Will see how I am at Kununurra time wise and make some decisions then.

@Mediator this thread has always been about my ride .... the opening post is a give away.

Andrew

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby J Quinton » Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:33 pm

Total bummer Andrew.

You'll just have to convert your rest days in to smaller, circa 40km days.

Too much hot then cold, hot then cold.

Can think of worse places to recover than Darwin.

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby shann » Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:01 pm

Saw a rider along the NWCH between Roebourne and Karratha today and thought maybe it was you or someone else from the forums; dug up this thread and saw that you have pulled up sick. Hope you get well soon.

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Baalzamon » Wed Jul 18, 2012 1:47 pm

shann wrote:Saw a rider along the NWCH between Roebourne and Karratha today and thought maybe it was you or someone else from the forums; dug up this thread and saw that you have pulled up sick. Hope you get well soon.
Think it could be J Quinton
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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby J Quinton » Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:17 pm

Nope not me. I'm leaving Broome tomorrow. Could be the famous Elizabeth.

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Re: Long Term Dreaming: Darwin to Perth

Postby Poiter » Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:26 pm

Peter Button from Queanbeyan NSW is out there doing Darwin - Perth on his LWB recumbent.
Supported by car/camper and his Mum...
Think he is somewhere around Canarvon at the moment.
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~peterbut ... _perth.htm
Only guy I know that can keep his average heart rate under 110bpm on a long ride.

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