bicycle expedition, step by step

you are an absolute idiot when it all goes wrong you or some member from your family will expect the aussie tax payer to fund a search for you or your remains stay at home

Oldpop

spanishxtremcyclist.

As all the advice in the last thread suggested that it was suicide to try to ride your bike accross the Desert in October I would suggest that you do not want to take good advice. Thus no point to this thread as well. So I too would say give up the idea as there is no way you can not carry enough supplies without help. Maybee someone on here will tell you otherwise but I doubt it, because mostly they have seen the desert and know what a hopeless cause it would be at that time of year. Cheers Tony.

"but I can do it"

Of course you can. Never let anyone tell you you cannot do something you really believe you can do.

Do it while you are still young and fit and have memories for the rest of your life.

Life is not without risks, take them and live your dream.

Good on you!!!

Please read my reply 323254 to your original post.
I agree completely with the advice you have been given so far on this site. I think it should only be done with some sort of support vehicle arrangements. At the very least you need to have a look at places like the Simpson desert at that time of the year, from a 4wd before you try it on a bike. To just go off and try it without that sort of homework is totally irresponsible for all the reasons already given. To give you an idea, do you know how many sand dunes there are across the Simpson? The guys who do this stuff regularly push/carry their bikes up these. And in addition you will be carrying all that water/ spares/ food/gear? I can put you in touch with very experienced, very, very fit mtb riders (some Australian and some international, including some with world mtb ratings) who do these rides regularly in Australia and overseas. I suspect that they will say the same thing, but their advice may make more impression than ours.
If you want to take me up on this I suggest that you contact me through my email address.

Gee !! Give the man a go.. Its been done on a pushbike before and without support.. Just give the guy the information he requires.. He soulds pretty normal to me.. I guess he realises it would be best done in the cooler months.. Give him a go!! Michael

50 L of water over 500kms at 35deg + for 10 days = 5l a day that would be ok if you where in a 4x4 doing little exersise. you would have to start rideing in the dark and finish about 11 am I recon. As I have ridden throgh the Grampians and on Kangaroo Island a little bit. adelaide to remark.

This is what I would think you would take front and rear panniers and a trailer all up the worse case it will come to 100kg Correct??

say going at a 50 deg. sand dune you will be pushing it at and back down it the bike and tralior will just sink in the soft sand.

Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) replied: He soulds pretty normal to me.. Insane, but normal. LOL.

But hey, remember the old blokes who rode veteran motorcycles from Perth to Sydney in the early 1900's, and the guys who drove to Darwin in Model T Fords (its a wonder THEY got anywhere). I like this guy's spirit of adventure, but spanishxtremcyclist, take the advice of people live here, and who have done it in cars, its a dangerous exercise you are undertaking. More power to you if you succeed. If you don't can I have your bike? LOL

Spanny, yep you could ride the Kidson on your pushie. A bit earlier than October would be better though. There is a bit of soft sand that you would have to push your bike through. the only place that you MAY be able to get water is at Rasor bore about 3/4 of the way across to Kunnawarritji

TDB

hhmm, I responded to the previous thread and I’m left wondering why the need for a new thread?

I’m all for adventure and good planning goes hand in hand with that and this is a good site for Australian outback information.. However, reading some of the comments from ‘Spanny’ I’m left wondering whether this is a serious post.

Let’s keep this in perspective for a moment; carrying 50-60 litres on a MTB is the equivalent of 2-3 gerry cans and 60 kgs and that is before any other provisions or gear. Even towing it in some kind of ‘trailer’ would be no mean feat.

And knowing the number of dunes is almost irrelevant in some ways given the enormity of the whole trip. For someone who has planned and done ‘extreme’ trips previously your questions look just a little amateurish.

Spanny, no offence if you are serious….but your posts are taking on the look of a lure in the water..

1) I would do the ride in late April/May there would still be water from cyclones and makes the track firmer.
2) I would start my ride from Port Hedland via Marble Bar. Then head east on the Road to Nowhere .It links up with the NT and then work your way east from there.
3) October in the west Kimberley you can expect 38 -42C and no water as the existing holes would have dried up over the Dry Season.
4) The Kidson Track is very sandy for riding and would be more of a hike. Believe me I ride alot and what appears firm in a 2 tonne vehicle cuts up easily on a pushbike.
5) You will need support vehicles

I will bite again, although agree with other posts for unnecessary of separate thread.

“How many dunes” question is very much like “how long piece of rubber” – depends what route to take and what consider a dune. For example AFAIK so-called Anne Beadell Highway in reality the same sort of terrain as Simpson desert, less amount of dunes and they not that numerous and steep. But still the same sand. So lets talk about most familiar to everybody here part – Simpson desert by itself. There is *ABSOLYTELLY NO WAY* that anyone can cross it on pushy from Purni Bore via French/QAA line to Birdsville on December when you plan it to do. It is about 400km over soft sand dunes without any sign of water – NO WAY they passable by riding bike – you have to push it on top by hand. With say 100 kg trailer. My best guess that you will be incredibly lucky to cover 50 km per day. That means 8 days of solid incredibly hard work. With limit of no more then 6-7 l of water per day. Insane. And we talking about only small piece.

Some road over there INCRDIBLY corrugated with big razor sharp stones. They do absolutely no mercy to your bike (lets assume that you tuff as rock). You NEED spares. Quite a bit of them. My guess as least about 10kg. Food, even driest weight something and you need to eat working that hard. Dry food, BTW under no means a panacea for weight saving, because it require even more water. There is no Sweden here where you can get water anywhere by melting snow. Shelter and clothes also add. Honestly I fail to see how you can squeeze this in 40 kg (targeting 100kg including 60 L of water). Your bike and trailer also weight something and MUST be incredibly sounds. Even it they made from solid titanium they still weigh something. Plus you MUST have emergency reserve supply (water mainly) to be able to survive if 5h1t happens. So I fail to see how you can pack all this in mere 100 kg.

For switched on person it is doable. But my strong believing that you need to think starting in April-May and you need support vehicle. Believe me, if you do it with support vehicle you will be in Guiness Book of record automatically because it will be greatest achievement.

And last one. Why not try September Simpson crossing to see how it looks alike and start to plan after this? But if you plan to see our outback first time in your life by trying to cross it solo in October I would call it insane. Just to be polite.

Best of Luck
Serg

Spanish bloke

What is your name so we can communicate properly?

The distance from the Great Northern Highway to the first water on the Kidson Track is about 408km. Thereafter it is another 100km to the next water near the intersectionof the Punmu Track and the track to Kunawarritji Community, and then it is 113km to Kunawarritji.

The Kidson is OK to ride with not too much sand and few dunes to cross. (In fact there is not so much sand until you reach the Simpson Desert where you will be pushing your bicycle a lot even on the Rig Road).

Your problem will be carrying enough water for the journey from Kunawarritji south along the Gary Highway to the next water point on the Gunbarrel Highway.

What you have to understand is that many tracks in Australia were name Highways because the people building them in the 1950's thought that they may become just that. Most of these (Highways) are no just tracks and have not been maintained for 60 years!

From Kunawarritji (Well33) there is no water until the intersection of the Gary Hwy and Gunbarrel Hwy(360km) where I seem to recall there is a bore pipe. But its water may not be obtainable or drinkable. From there it is 250km to Warburton.

What you are attempting is doable but it is extremely risky without a support vehicle. Australian desert conditions are like no other place on earth and you can dehydrate within a few hours of extreme body stress and die. Many well prepared bushmen and indigenous people have perished in these deserts in recent years.

I suggest you reconsider your initial proposal and include a support vehicle and ride the deserts between the months of April and October


Cheers