Perth-Albany-Perth 2014 – Day 1

This ride report is dedicated to a dear friend and riding companion Martin Pearson, a well-respected and passionate audacious rider who was suppose to be with us on this ride. There is no doubt that Martin would have thoroughly enjoyed this event as he had on his previous long distance rides.

Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills
and put your helmet on
– by David Bowie in “Space Oddity”

In the darkness of a cool spring morning, South Perth foreshore sees more than a hundred brave souls, all armoured with shiny hi-vis vests and all stood alongside their most trusty steed which varies from custom hand-made steel frames, vintage bikes from as early as the 60’s, folding bikes, recumbents, time-trial bikes, to the weight weenie carbon road bikes. Amongst this crowd is a band of experienced randonneurs and many more 1200km first timers. We have altogether 11 riders from Audax Queensland division: Brian H, Chris R, Anthony R, Gerry E, Chris E, Errol R, Duncan M, Mark R, Kym R, Alex M and myself. It was also great to see so many riders from around the world, from at least 10 different nations, all got together with the common goal of completing this wonderful event. All riders stood behind a yellow banner that spells out “PERTH-ALBANY-PERTH Western Australia’s Classic 1200km Randonnée 2014” which marks the starting line. A welcome speech was made by the most senior member of Audax Australia and we were congratulated for simply being here at the starting line. It was then I was once again reminded that this is no ordinary ride. As the song “Space Oddity” goes, I was about to head out to the unknown, beyond the familiar ground, and everything would be new and different, there is no absolute certainty I’m going to make it back.

The banner retracts, the flag goes up, the 10-second countdown commence, and the crank completes the firsts of countless revolutions for the next four days.

Our 1200km epic begin on a well-paved bike path, showcasing the finest bicycle infrastructure that Western Australia has to offer. In the first 15km, we are escorted by 2 local riders to cap our travelling speed to 25km/h. Without this, I can imagine there would be chaos and we’d just become a hazard to all path users when riders start overtaking each other. There is so much to be said about the quality of the bike paths in this part of Australia. Smooth surface, gently-curved corners, well sign-posted, these are just some of the most noticeable features. Though we are moving at a sensible pace, I can already feel the adrenaline rush within myself and others probably feel the same. Once we reach the 15km mark, the speed limit is lifted and the field begin to spread, gradually at first. Paper smooth surface and amazingly flat terrain can only mean one thing… that’s right, it’s a recumbent paradise! Naturally, as any recumbent rider would, I got off the streamline and move up to the front of the current bunch and beyond. Shortly after, from my mirror, I see a fast approaching rider. That turns out to be no other than Peter Heal, a truly well distinguished recumbent rider. Pete holds the world record for the fastest solo unsupported circumnavigation of Australia and across the continent, done in 49 days and 12 days respectively. It didn’t take long before our positions switched and Pete is now taking the lead. Despite sitting in his streamline, I struggle to match his speed of high 30’s and occasionally breaking into the low 40’s. By the time we reach the first checkpoint at Mandurah after 71km in, I looked at my Garmin and it read an average speed of 30km/h! What an explosive start to a 1200km ride! Perhaps a little unwise for me to be unleashing so much energy at the beginning of the ride.

At this checkpoint, I see the most unusual thing ever for an Audax ride. Riders got off their bike quickly, literally run towards and grab the sandwiches, cakes, bananas, and ran back to their bikes, and gone in a heart beat, presumably munching those goodies on the fly soon after. Everyone seems to be in such a hurry, I’m not sure what’s going on but I follow suit. Then it dawn on me that this is the front field, the elitist, or the most competitive of all riders. Every minute off the bike probably translates to at least 0.5km behind on the road for these guys. I thought to myself, wait a minute, this isn’t how I am, and this isn’t what I should be doing. I haven’t got the capacity to hold such a high average speed so I stay back at the checkpoint for a little while longer, enjoying the food kindly prepared by the volunteers and then decided to pedal off by myself, setting my own pace. Without any riders to break the wind at the front, my average speed got trimmed a little bit. But I am starting to really engage and enjoy this ride now without the pressure of keeping up with others. We got onto a shared path that brought us into a coastal heath and there, I caught the first glimpse of the vast Indian Ocean. What a magnificent view!

Navigation gets a bit tricky as the cue sheet bring us through the suburbans of Mandurah. Miss a couple of turnings but corrected quickly as my beeping Garmin accurately notifies me whenever I go off course. For this ride, I rely on three independent methods of navigation: the official cue sheet, my Garmin Edge 500 breadcrumbs navigation, and Google Map app on my iPhone with preloaded maps. I often switched between the first two methods, but when both gave conflicting directions, Google Map comes to the rescue. I soon found myself riding on Estuary Road, a road that runs on the banks of Harvey Estuary. The terrain is still dead flat and the sparkling sunlight reflected off the water surface made this a fast and scenic stretch. The route designer did an excellent job for this one. Back on the main road with minimal undulations but enough to make me whine a little after being fed with 100km of pancake flat roads. I then caught up with our national secretary Russell N, who had earlier passed me with a small tight bunch. Russell had to deal with a knee pain before the start of the ride, which got worse later on and eventually had to call it quits at the first sleep checkpoint at Nannup. Russell was my chat buddy for most of the ride until the second checkpoint Yarloop. It was nice having someone to chat with while riding, not only for the social aspect, but it takes my mind and eyes of the dreaded odometer.

Yarloop is a quiet historic town. The PAP riders and volunteers probably made up more than the combined visitors for the whole year. Here I caught up with Queensland riders Mark and Kym and we chatted a bit. This is also where I got my first taste of canned rice cream. My eyes opened wide and I blurted “This stuff is amazing!”, they’re so delicious and I’m sure it’s packed full of energy being so creamy and all. Soon after leaving Yarloop, I arrive at this road with the most potholes I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m forced to slow down and to focus hard to make sure I don’t pop my wheel into one. Then came the gravel road, of course, what respectable Audax ride doesn’t include some gravel roads? Just deal with it. Thankfully it was just a short one. Not long later we see ourselves back on the busy Old Coast Road. Just before the right turn into Buffalo Road, a couple of Audax volunteers are spotted at the intersection signalling us to turn to make sure we don’t miss it. How nice of them! Once again, we got to ride next to an estuary. Now this is a place full of nostalgia. Three years ago I have ridden here but on the adjacent bike path, with a fully loaded recumbent trike on the final days of completing my touring adventure across the continent.

At Bunbury checkpoint, we are spoilt by a great selection of food choices as displayed on the whiteboard. I indulge myself into some roast beef toasties and baked potatoes and had a few chats with fellow PAPers. We also get some fantastic view of the ocean but unfortunately it was not from the dining area but the corridor to the amenities. Nevermind, we got back our ocean view as soon as we return to Ocean Drive. I’ve been seriously looking forward to this next stretch to Busselton checkpoint. I remember very clearly the experience of riding through the Tuart Forest from 3 years back, and it felt magical. The forest looked calm and untouched, may look eerie to some but not to me. Decades old fallen trees were seen laying throughout the forest and left to decay on its own. I was in love with this forest. And now, I finally have the chance to once again replicate this wonderful experience.

We all know fairy tales aren’t real. Sometimes, reality can be harsh and painful, so very painful for my case. Somewhere along Ludlow Road North, just as I was entering the Tuart Forest, TRAGEDY STRUCK!!! I STACKED!! Unbelievable, my first ever fall on a high racer recumbent since I started riding one nearly 3 years ago and clocking 20,000km. How did that happened??? There was some road work ahead, and the road narrowed to one lane so a traffic light was in place. The light turned green for me so I proceed, the road was unsealed at this point. Soon I see an oncoming truck ahead with a 4WD following behind the truck. So much for obeying the traffic law! The lane was too tight to fit us all, so I steered pass the line of witch hats into the no go lane which was also the same dirt road but wet. I didn’t want to loose time, so I continued pedalling on the wet ground. BIG mistake! Barely a few seconds in, I found myself lying on the ground. My front wheel must have slipped while performing a wobbly manoeuvre over the soft wet ground. My right shoulder took all the impact and boy did that hurt! I was literally screaming in pain. A few expletives escaped and then something got me really worried, I couldn’t move my right arm! “This is it” I thought to myself, thinking that rider #107 will soon be forced to declare DNF with a critical injury like this, with just 241km into the ride. The 4WD driver stopped and got down to offer help. After about a minute or so lying helplessly on the road, I slowly regain some strength and amazingly was able to move my right arm again, albeit my shoulder movement now limited to less than 90 degrees (anything above that the excruciating pain kicks in). The driver helped to pick my bike up and I brought myself to lean on my bike. He offered me a lift which I kindly rejected as that would be a definite DNF. I was still determine to make this ride, so I thanked the driver and walked my bike for a few meters. Other parts of my body was strangely unaffected at all. So I slowly got back on my seat, put my hands on the handlebar and felt nothing more than the slightest discomfort on my right shoulder. The injury on my shoulder doesn’t seem to affect my riding, oh how lucky am I! I AM BACK IN THE GAME! Was it the magical Tuart Forest doing its thing? Who knows. Fairy tales can be real after all.

My average speed post-crash took a small hit. Even though I’m relatively uninjured, I’m somehow affected psychologically. But that’s a small price to pay for being able to still ride after a crash. Entering Busselton, I was caught up by a bunch of 10 riders or so, half of them American, with the words Seattle Randonneurs printed clearly at the back of their jersey. They come at the perfect timing, navigation once again becomes difficult so I happily follow them. A few kilometres later we arrive at the fourth checkpoint, located at the carpark of a popular tourist destination, Busselton Jetty, known for being the nation’s longest jetty that extends 1.8km into the ocean. This would be the last daylight checkpoint, so after a quick meal, up goes my Audax reflective wind vest and down goes my sunnies. I enjoy and sometimes even prefer riding at night. Light traffic, less visual clutter, cool air and usually lack of wind makes night riding a much better condition to ride. This next section is the final stretch before arriving at my nominated sleep checkpoint Nannup, at 365km. But this is also the most hilly section for the day and being 100km long, the longest inter-checkpoint distance for the entire ride. No doubt a challenging stretch, more so after the legs have done 265km worth of work. The early part of this section plays my mind a little. I knew that Nannup is to the SE of Busselton, but there was a 10km section where we ride into the sunset! Was it just me or are we riding West when we’re suppose to be heading East, I asked an Adelaide rider Jeffrey S, and he thought it was strange too. We both checked our navigation devices and found nothing wrong so we just keep going. The 300km mark is about when I usually notice my mind starts fading so I triple check whenever there’s a turning to make sure I got the right one. About 60km to Nannup, a wild checkpoint appears, it’s a secret control! This being such a long stretch, the volunteers had kindly setup a mini checkpoint about midway to top-up our bidons and feed us some snacks. It’s always a comforting sight to see the support volunteers as they are always so welcoming and most of them being long distance riders themselves, understand exactly how we are feeling and what we needed. One of the vollies, Geoff explains the remaining route to Nannup and tell us we are well ahead than most of the field, and that we will have plenty of time to sleep tonight. Another reason for having this secret control is to remind riders to put on our reflective vests and have our front and rear lights switched on. The level of support we receive just keeps getting better and better!

The remaining journey to Nannup gets progressively undulating, giving us a little appetizer for our main course tomorrow. With the info I got from Geoff, I’m now fully aware of what’s coming tomorrow. Now let’s not ruin our night, that is tomorrow’s problem. Sleep is all I need now and sleep is what I’m going to have for the night! Once arrived at Nannup, I caught up with Audax QLD president Brian, Mark, and Russell once again. Told them about my little setback at Tuart Forest but reassured them it didn’t affect my riding ability. The time was 9:30pm when I arrived, and I’m tucked in by 11pm after a delightful feast and an awesome shower. It could have been much quicker if I haven’t had that fall, my right arm is fine for riding but useless for everything else. A simple task like opening my sleeping bag and changing clothes becomes a real struggle. I even hold the spoon funny now. The sleeping arrangement is quite interesting, it reminds me of school trips. We are each allocated an air mattress positioned in grids in a large dormitory. I think about 100 mattresses altogether. When ready to sleep, one of the volunteers escorts me into the sleep dormitory with a flash light, like they do in cinemas. After 14 hours on the road, I can finally shut my mind and recharge my body. The bouncy air mattress didn’t bother me one bit, in my current condition, I could fall asleep on gravels.