IPWR 2017: Day 6 – an unexpected encounter, the land of the March flies and BANG!

Day 6 – nowhere to Nundroo 224 km I woke after a couple of hours in my bivvy a couple of hundred metres back from the road and thought of getting up for my early start.  But I was still tired and dozing a bit longer was more appealing, so it was 5am when I …

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IPWR 2017 – Day 5: the Madura Shelf and Eucla Pass: pain, heat, food and lost time

Mundrabilla to nowhere, c.180km Before sunrise, I woke from a broken sleep and reflected on the day before.  It had been a mistake not to have stopped at Madura as I had planned.  And I’d obviously got the closing time of the roadhouse wrong (I later checked my source (Nullarbornet) and I had noted it …

IPWR 2017 – Day 4: Payback for riding through night: exhausted and ravenous. But finally, a kangaroo!

Caiguna to Mundrabilla After my overnight ride down the 90-mile straight, I stopped briefly for food at Caiguna roadhouse. I also adjusted my cleats.  I’d had a bit of discomfort half way down the 90-mile so decided to slam my cleats right back. Jokingly, I said to Joe ‘If you see me at the side …

IPWR 2017 – Day 3: The Nullarbor, my ‘disc’ wheel, but still no roos

Norseman to Caiguna, 370km When I got up, later than planned, the sun was already up and I’d slipped back a few places, to about 20th.  But I felt refreshed and alert.  And hungry! So I ambled over to the roadhouse restaurant.  The menu showed lots of pies, meat pies, steak pies, beef pies, lamb …

IPWR 2017 – Day 2: Rain, crosswinds, headwinds & towns that time forgot

Southern Cross to Norseman 352km daily / 780km cumulative / 390km average per day While I was on my bench in Southern Cross, the wind got up, a cold, south wind.  And it started raining.  I was dry under my canopy, but the wind was making me cold so, after a couple of hours of …

IPWR 2017 – Day 1: empty roads, big trucks, small towns and no kangaroos

Fremantle to Southern Cross 428km daily / 428km cumulative / 428km average per day Just as the sun was rising, I left my AirBnB in the East of Fremantle to ride downhill, into the town and out to the Start, by a lighthouse at the end of a long sea wall.  I had plenty of …

IPWR 2017 – Prologue: what, where and why?

  It’s taken me 9 months to feel like writing something about IndyPac. I wanted to write something, as I had some good times, some bad times and there were some interesting things that happened along the way.  But every time I thought about doing it, there was a big black cloud which made it …

Cycle / pedestrian safety in Ealing: What Julian Bell could have said at Dean Gardens on Saturday

Ealing Council leader, Julian Bell, gave a speech following the march in memory of Claudia Manera on Saturday.  His speech was not well received by many of those present.  This is a speech that Julian could have given that might have received a better reception. I am extremely saddened by the recent death of Claudia …

TCR article in Arrivée (Audax UK mag)

I wrote this Q+A piece on my experience in the 2016 TCR in response to a request from the Audax UK magazine.  Interest in the event amongst UK Audax riders is high, having heard tales from those of us who have done it, and also listened to Mike speaking as guest of honour at the …

Reflections on Mike Hall, the IPWR and cycling in Australia

Mike Hall The IPWR has been an amazing experience but everything has been overshadowed by Mike Hall's death on the road near Canberra. Not since Tom Simpson, in a very different era and context, has British cycling lost one its heros, so suddenly and so sadly, in action. More than anyone, Mike created the sport …