extreme outback expedition by bicycle

I doubt that your route suits your mode of transport.
Yes they aren't called deserts for nothing. Might I suggest that you do a bit more research ? Many sandy rocky very remote areas are included. October is far too late to start, as you'll still be in the saddle during the summer. Oh and by the way, the "emergency phone" ohn the CSR is shown below. It's been inoperative for years!
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My suggestion to you is forget it. to begin a trek on a cycle in October in that country is suicidal, your start date is way too late, 1 month out if you lasted that long and you will be into November, with Temps reaching in excess 48c to 54c deg inland from Pt Hedland , ... 2 days I give you if your lucky and you will have to be rescued ,
You did say Cycle, any cycle motor or not and you will not survive in that country alone .
54deg celsius is 129 deg F.

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The highways that you mention in your post are highways by name only. They consist of two wheel tracks of soft red sand with hundreds of sand hills heat and flies. Go out there on a push bike and you will surely die... Nav.

You mught like to get hold of a book called "Out There And Back", by Kate Leeming. She rode around and across Australia on the "Great Australian Cycle Expedition" to raise awareness about sustainable development. She goes into great detail about the conditions and personal experiences she encountered. She only had vehicle support on the Canning Stock Route.
Good luck.

Rob

I think you should leave a large deposit with the rescue authorities to pay for the location and recovery of your body after you have died. It is not a matter of you being tough enough to complete a tough journey. YOU WILL DIE.

I do not care that you are stupid enough to attempt this trip in summer but as an Australian tax payer I object to having to fund the cost of the recovery of your dehydrated corpse from the middle of a remote desert.

Remember, for the thousands of kilometers of hot soft sand that your are planning to ride on, there is **NO** water available. The only way you could survive will be to bludge off the good will of other travelers you may meet on the way.

If you are serious about this trip you should organise and fund an appropriately organised support team with an appropriately equipped vehicle to carry the supplies you need. Even then it will be a very difficult trip, but at least you probably will not die in the attempt.

If you reckon that October onward is ”mild” season for Australia outback than think it again. May onward would be far more appropriate. Water, of course, important, but I can assure you that your bike will drink much more juice then you water. People crossing “just” Simpson dessert nowadays by bikes, but they do have support car that carry petrol. There are places in Australia where you cannot get fuel for 3,4 and even 5 hundreds km. Put on top of that extra fuel consumption by driving out of bitumen (in some places can be severe – say twice more) and you can figure out it by yourself. Stick to freeways if you on motorbike and you can run around Australia. Plenty of people doing this and believe me there are plenty to see. Or have a supplement 4WD if you firm to do it “hard way”

Good Luck.
Serg

I agree with everyone else's comments. They are constructive and being helpful, and concerned for you, but so far, you have not replied.
It is suicidal to cross Australia at the time of year you propose, and also the Simpson is CLOSED between Nov to April, for the very reason it is dangerous for any form of vehicle.

Do your research, by all means, but we know of past futile attempts. FORGET IT. As one of the readers said, you will be forcing our community to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to rescue you, which you should have to pay.

spanishxtremcyclist

Don't let the negative comments cloud your vision. There is always a danger when you ask quastions about cylcing on a 4wd forum. Having said that once you take out the buffhead commentary from some of the responses above they do have point. The area is very inhospitable, every year people die out there and they are all in cars.

This has been done before but as far as I know only with a support vehicle (As you're not likely to carry the 100 litres of water you'll need on your bike.)

October is when you should be finishing your journey not starting it.

Also check out a similar thread about this

Canning Stock Route by Bike

Reasearch well, plan well and good luck.

ok wouk this out you sould be drinking 1 letre a hr. when exerciseing min. you would only be abale to do 50to 70 kms a day starting early. some of those streaches would be 500kms and longer. that would be 10 days in the saddle which would be about 100 letres of water whitch is 100kgs pluss food add 30kgs pluss u willl be doing heap of walking in the deap sand. IF YOU ARE GOING TO DO IT. get someone to tag along in a 4x4 then you might be abale to good luck

Interesting idea. I won't say it can't be done but it would take brilliant preperation, fantastic survival skills and bush craft and a good pinch of luck. And that is just not to die in the attempt. The only reason I give you any chance is because someone has walked from Pt Augusta to Bourketown on the gulf without assistance. If I remember correctly, the only reason he didn't die was because it rained. I can tell you you will not be cycling 250km a day. Many of the areas you have indicated are sandy (usually soft) with hundreds of sand hills. Many areas have no drinkable water for hundreds of km's. I also think you under estimate the desert. It can be cold at night and hot during the day. I have had 40+ in August so I think you have a high probability of some very hot days.

Steve

Hi Spanishextremcyclist

Good on you for daring to be different; the world needs more adventurers!

I appreciate you are seeking information on this venture; some of the preceding comments may possibly comes across as negative. For the most part I think they are well meaning.

It is hard to know your current level of understanding of the trip you are suggesting, however it will be near impossible without some sort of support team. Having said that people have traversed this country on their own and without outside help. John Muir has done this and a link to his trip follows. However, he is well versed in that type of travel; I suspect you will be less so given the questions you are asking.

There is a bike race that goes across the Simpson Desert each year, usually run in late September, early October. This is an extreme event, but very well organised. I would suggest you make contact with the organisers as I sure they will be able to give you further information on the enormity of what you are proposing. The race across the Simpson is something you might want to consider as it will give you some idea of what you are up against.

Keep us posted on how you are going.
John Muir - Alone Across Australia

Simpson Desert Bike Challenge

All the negative comments are correct and are aimed at keeping the original poster alive. I am one of tjhe 4wd support vehicles for the Simpson Desert Bike race. Yes, MTB will be talking about mountain bikes for sure. Some of our riders in this event do cross Australia on mtbs and on their own, but not the deserts. I do not believe an mtb can carry enough water and other equipment to cross sand dune deserts in these conditions. We do the race at the end of September and we have had temps in the Simpson of over 40C. We allow 20 litres of water a day for riders under these conditions (and they aren't carrying all their gear, we do that for them. So if you were doing this carrying your own gear and water, you would need more water again!!!! It takes our riders 4 to 5 days to cross the Simpson (and they aren't carrying their gear, so will do it much faster than a solo rider.) This means carrying at least 100 litres of water!!!! I would be interested in seeing someone carrying this on a pushbike on bitumem. let alone on gibber plains and sand dunes. It would make much more sense to try to cross the Simpson on foot taking your supplies in a wheelbarrow.
Don't try it!!!
Or. do a crossing planned around bitumen roads.

While on the topic, The Simpson Bike Challenge is a great event for 4wdrivers also. Anyone interested in doing the Simpson this way might like to contact me.

I reckon your having a fair go at us, an just trying to pull the fool in. Bit like the fella who attempted to climb Mt Everest in his shorts.

Only other thing I can figure, is your a bit of a dill.

Kim