The Bike 'n Wheels Expedition

The beginning of the ride got off with a bang, and you'll find a brief snippet and some pics from the beginning of the ride at http://outbike.blogspot.com/

It's such an epic ride, and to reach the end, there are a lot of mixed emotions. Relief to have made it that far, yet sadness to be parting from your 'family' of 30 days; exhaustion from long, hot days in the saddle, but with a new found energy to pedal the last kilometres in elation; eagerness to get back home to loved ones and familiar places, but not so excited to be going back to work.

It was with all these feelings that we reached the Gulf of Carperntaria as a collective group, and each person had their own personal reflections and reaching the Gulf had a unique significance for each one.

We've jumped straight to the end of the story, however, without filling you in on some of the bits leading up to this point! Here are a few highlights...

Warren Vale Station
A long, hot day, and our camp for the night was in some disused cattle yards just off the side of the road between the Burke & Wills Roadhouse and Normanton. The cattle yards were on Warren Vale Station, which like the other properties in the region ran brahman cattle (although we didn't have any close by to where we were camped). We rigged up a cool shower down the back of the yards behind a giant old tree, and set up camp around the fences. We knew that Graham from the station was going to drop round, so when a 4WD pulled up and a couple of blokes neatly dressed, in their hats, jumped out, we weren't sure if this was him or not. Looked more like the shire council than a cocky.

"So who's the boss round here?" The driver asked.
"Yeah that's me," I replied, still not quite sure what we were in for. I'm pretty sure we hadn't been breaking any laws in camping where we were, particularly as we had the station's permission, and I couldn't think of anything else for us to get in trouble for!
"I'm Stan, and this is Daniel, and we're Jehovah's Witnesses just out visiting all the people in the Carpentaria Shire," he explained cheerily.
My jaw almost hit the ground. Here we were, camped in a cattle yard in amongst long grasses, not another human around for miles, and we'd been door-knocked by JWs!
Well, you've got to admire their perserverance, as there would have been a disproportionate amount of driving along compared to knocking on doors!

Graham and his wife from the station did in fact drop by, and not only did they drop by, but they were kind enough to bring with them delicious rump steaks and ribs to chuck onto the BBQ. You could tell he had done this a hundred times before, but feeding station workers and not hungry bike riders, the way he rolled out his canvas on the tray of the truck, cracked open a beer and got his implements out.

The sky put on a fantastic show with a sunset that seemed to go on forever, and it turned into one of those magical nights that you can only really have when you're somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Rain in Bedourie
Of all places for it to pour with rain at 2:30 in the morning, you would never have picked Bedourie to be the one. It doesn't rain much in Bedourie, any local will tell you that. It's a little tiny town that lies on the edge of the Simpson Desert, and borders on the Channel Country. We'd seen sand dunes riding in that day, and while there was a bit more green around than usual, it didn't look the slightest like it was going to rain.

It became a bit of a cooler night, which was a relief after such warm evenings we'd had so far. There was a bit of a breeze even. I half woke up in my swag a while later, however, and it had become completely still. Not a breath of air moving around whatsoever. I drifted back into sleep, only to be woken by fat raindrops landing straight onto my face. Out of bed in a flash, moving things under shelter, and Angus was up doing the same.

"Frenchy, where's he?" We wondered, as he also was in a swag and we hadn't seen him move it under cover. He was just waking up, and fumbling around, drenched in the pouring rain.

"My glasses!" he cried, and we searched around on the muddying dirt, trying in vain but finding nothing. "We'll have a better look in the morning," we told him, carrying his sodden swag under the shed. Rolling out a dry swag, Frenchy crashed out, still wet, under the cover of the roof.

It kept raining heavily during the night, and when we woke it was still drizzling. Poor old Frenchy had put his swag out under a downpipe, which sent torrents of water into his dry swag for the second time around. And his glasses were found in the bottom of his first swag...

Needless to say, it doesn't rain in Bedourie very often.

More stories to come...

The truck is packed the bikes are serviced and we are on our way!!

Over 20 riders will have the time of their life over the next 30 days crossing Australia...

If you have missed out why not check us out for next year or you could hope on for the second half if you are quick.

visit our website and see how!

www.outbike.com.au

Well off to see the country come back and hear what is happening along the way over the next 30 days!

Peter

Well Ben has arrived back from the Alice with our truck and we have been servicing all of the gear over this weekend!

Big job the yard always looks like a demolition site for a few days as we sort out the gear! We have had some great reports as to how green it is out there, those of you going on this trip are in for a real treat you will get to see the country in a way few get to see it...

Well back to the gear! Looking forward to catching up with those of you coming on the trip!!

Today we have been finalising the menus over the next week we will service the bikes, tents and other equipment.

Ben is off tomorrow to pick up our truck from Alice Springs, how time flies it seems like yesterday that we were getting ready to go on our last B n' W. We have 23 Adventurers setting off on this great trip in 2 weeks... its not to late to book on but you must be quick we do the final order for the food at the end of the week and that will pretty much be the cut off!

For those of you reading this who are coming on the trip I am looking forward to meeting you all...

See you soon!

Want to get a touch for Outbike. Then have a look in your town's/city's major bike stores to find our brand new brochure. With information about the soon to ride off 'Bike 'n Wheels Expedition', 'The Great Outback Trains, Pubs and Bones Bike Ride', you want to be quick for this one, 'Outbike the Original' and the even more luxurious 'Alluring Adelaide'.

Can't find the brochure or want a booking form, then check out the website, www.outbike.com.au or navigate through the other blogs or contact us on info@outbike.com.au

Hope to hear from you soon

Well time is racing now it will not be long and we will be out on the road / track. I hope you are all looking forward to a great adventure, we are!

If you have been looking and thinking about coming don't leave it to long or you may well miss out...

The team has been working hard to ensure you have a great time again this year, Ben and Emma are chafing at the bit to get out on their bikes, trucks and buses for another great adventure. This year we will be joined by a new crew-member Sam, he has had years of cycling experience and he can’t wait to experience this great out back experience.

As for me well I will be along for parts of the trip, a few days in the beginning and then joining up in Birdsville… Someone has to stay back and do the office stuff!

Why always me?

So looking forward to seeing you all soon, again if you have been thinking about booking on do it soon we would hate for you to miss out!!

G'day riders!

Just wanted to let you all know that we will be joined on the expedition by a multimedia producer from France! Anthony Humeau has been in Australia since September 2006, working on a project titled 'Dreams to Share'. This project, which has received sponsorship from various companies in France, is titled 'Des reves a partager', which translates as 'Sharing the dreams', and in this project he is creating soundsscapes throughout his travels in Australia, which are then being broadcast on radio back in France.

He hopes to discover the dreams of ordinary Australians - people like you - who have different reasons and motivations for taking up a challenge, such as the Bike 'n Wheels Expedition.

Anthony came into the office for a chat a number of weeks ago and he is very excited to be able to join us, and discover Australia in such an original way!

Check out his website (it's all in French though!) at www.desrevesapartager.com

That's all from me for now!

Cheers,
Emma