Perth-Albany-Perth 2014 – Day 3

Only 4 hours of sleep last night, and so the battle against fatigue continues. The goal for today’s ride is to get to my next and final nominated sleep checkpoint, Williams, at about 327km from Albany. And once I reach Williams, only 215km left of ‘easy’ rolling back to Perth in the next day to complete the ride. From the conversation with Steve last night, the ride today will take us through gently undulating wheat farms. Doesn’t sound so bad eh? That’s just the comforting bits. The Grand Randonnée, as the name suggests, carries with it many spectacular sceneries as well as spectacular in pushing one’s boundaries. In the first 5km of today’s ride, after a short speedy descent, we have to make up for all the lost elevation (and more!) by grinding our way up to the summit of Mt Clarence (177m). As you can imagine, this iconic Mt Clarence climb makes a hot topic discussion before, during, and after the ride.

The start of the predawn climb is gentle and believe it or not, is actually quite pleasant. The lit up eucalyptus tree barks lining both sides of the road create a posh entrance to the mountain. The steepness slowly creeps in until right after the second roundabout, when all of a sudden we face this shocking 20% climb, which calls upon the release of my final line of defence, the MIGHTY gear of 22t chainring with a 32t cog. With a nearly exploding heart, I survive the climb and arrive at the summit of Mt Clarence, where an ANZAC memorial stood timelessly. This is also a checkpoint stop, presumably to ensure each and every PAPer must suffer all the same. In retrospect, I think this might be a brilliant move by the route designers. The steep climb gives me a much needed jolt to an otherwise stiff body and tired mind. It is really tempting to stay to watch the sunrise but the uncertainty of what lies ahead means I must move on.

The 85km journey to the next checkpoint Stirling Ranges feels like an eternity. I blame this on some unfavourable internal and external conditions. Internal being my body not functioning in optimal condition, far from it in fact. I’m not feeling any stronger or any less fatigue after the sleep. My average speed continues to drop and looking at the numbers on my odometer progress is like watching paint dry. On a positive note, the pain in both my Achilles tendon seems to have reached a plateau and stopped progressing further. It is unnatural and perhaps nonsensical to push the body to continue performing an activity that causes it pain in the first place. Mentally, I find myself frequently hovering in the border of continuing the ride and giving it all up. Never had this occurred to me in any other rides. Perhaps I’m now starting to learn the ropes and the importance of mental endurance. The unfavourable external factors include having to deal with the rough roads which requires significantly more effort to roll, as evident from my power reading. Mild undulations means having to deal with long gentle climbs, but when coupled with rough road surface, it really absorbs my speed. Unlike the past two days, there is no longer a thick blanket of clouds above us so we begin to feel the heat of the sun ray hitting on our skin. I see some local Albany riders doing their morning workouts, they look so fresh and full of enthusiasm, getting out of their saddles and everything. Albany being a small town, they can probably tell we aren’t locals but I wonder how they would react if they know we have just ridden in from Perth in the past 48 hours. Bunch of crazy riders. Then this question pops up again in my head “Why am I doing this?”, this I believe, is also the no.1 question plaguing the minds of Audax Australia riders, since 1981.

On this long section, I once again encounter QLD riders Mark and Kym as they passed me. Both still in good spirit, but not so good for Chris E, as we just got news that he pulled out yesterday at Shannon. Looking at the SPOT live tracking page, I see that Duncan M’s location has not been updated since Day 1, somewhere between Busselton and Nannup, it’s very likely that he has withdrawn as well. With 3 QLD riders out, I now inherit the title of lanterne rouge of the Queensland contingent. The rest of the ride sees me and Kym ‘fight’ to carry this honourable title to the finish line.

Imagine sailing in an unfamiliar sea on a foggy morning, then when the fog clears up, a massive island emerges in full view right in front of your eyes. That is my best description of what I experience as I crest this one longish climb and shortly after, the uncovering of the horizon brings up the majestic Stirling Ranges that stretches wider than my visual field. Truly a sight to behold, made greater and more meaningful after all the pain/frustration/dullness I went through earlier this morning. It did a great job taking my eyes off from the Garmin screen and once again appreciating what mother nature has to offer. The Grand Randonnée truly lives up to its name!

By the time I arrive at the Stirling Range checkpoint, the sun is now far above the horizon. No trees or any other shelter means that this is going to be a quick rest stop. While seated on one of the camp chairs kindly provided to by the vollies, I get to hear stories from a fellow rider Steven Beverling about his experience competing in a team of four in RAAM, a 3000 mile race across America, and is now preparing to do the race solo in the next race. In the long distance community, RAAM is well known as one of the toughest endurance sport in the world. My mind is completely blown knowing that there is a RAAM racer amongst us. All the best to Steven for his future solo attempt! Some food, some more food, sunscreen, and more sunscreen, and I’m back on the road inching my way to the next checkpoint at Gnowangerup. Only 60km to ride but I’m now presented with new challenges, namely the rising temperature and the blowing headwind. A last chance to enjoy the Stirling Ranges as we exit into Formby South Road before the road once again become undulating but thankfully didn’t last long. Several riders pass me and some greetings exchanged. There are some really strong riders here, one of them is Joel Nicholson, an Audax Victoria rider who earlier this year won and set a new record at the Delirium 24-hour race with an impressive distance of 765km. The most talked about rider during the entire ride is of course no other than the lead rider, Jesse Carlson. It’s true that all finishers of any Audax rides receive the same merit (as long as completed within the given time frame), but Jesse deserves a special mention for his exceptional riding speed and seemingly lack of sleep. Last year, he raced to 2nd place in the Tour Divide, arguably the toughest mountain bike race in the world covering a distance of 4400km from Canada to Mexico. He eventually finished the PAP with more than 7 hours lead over the second rider and 14 hours ahead of everyone else. I wrongly assumed that we are all ordinary folks, superhumans do exist and some of them are here with us doing the PAP.

The rest of the journey towards the next checkpoint Gnowangerup (837km) is relatively uninspiring as the combination of rough road, high temperature, and strong headwind continue to subdue our spirit. This checkpoint brings a great sense of relief as I finally get to stay under a shade for more than 5 seconds. As I sat down at the dining table replenishing my energy and resting my legs, the sight of the intense sun and blowing wind outside the window really makes me want to stay at this checkpoint until the sun goes down. The temptation is strong, but it’s only 1:15pm, and I’ve still got 177km to iron out before bedtime. After about 30 mins of rest at Gnowangerup, I fought hard the temptation and won, and so I can continue my agonising adventure of headwind and scorching heat. One of the vollies at Gnowangerup did mention that the next section would be better, with a bit more trees to provide some shade. I’ve also now learned that it didn’t matter whether the vollies speak the truth or not, they say such things to provide us riders some much needed mental relief and more importantly, to keep our spirit up. The depth of support we receive in this event is unparalleled and never stops to amaze me.

The volume of traffic for today’s journey has so far been tolerable. However, we also see an increasing number of road trains through out the day. I had a couple of close passes (1-2 metre) from the massive 100 tonne triple road trains which resulted in some nerve-wracking left-right swerving from the air being pushed and sucked by the road train. This is new experience for me and I was shocked when it first happened. The last time I rode close to a passing road train was on a 50kg recumbent trike and I didn’t experience this effect. Mirrors become extremely handy in such situation. When there isn’t enough of shoulder to ride on, I simply get off the road onto the dirt surface as I see a road train approaching. It’s still a stressful affair nonetheless.

So I’ve now ridden for more than 30km since the last checkpoint and I’ve not been passed by a single rider. My average speed is currently sitting at 15km/h and even had a rest stop under a tree shade. Something must have happened at the back. My suspicion rose when I see a rushing ambulance in the opposite lane. Oh please tell me this is not for the riders! I feel slightly uncomfortable now and the thought of Martin’s fatal crash came to mind. I keep looking at my mirror in the hope that I would soon see a rider, but it appears that I’m all by myself.

I arrive at Katanning checkpoint at about 5:15pm, and to my sadness, Russell confirms that a PAP rider had crashed, after swerving off the road to escape from a passing road train. The rider suffered a broken collar bone, a broken femur, and multiple broken ribs. He was later airlifted to Perth for an immediate treatment and surgery the next day. Obviously, I’m shaken by this tragic news. Also, as I was the rider immediately in front of him, that could have easily been me. The possibility is very real. Already so physically exhausted from having ridden 900km in the last 60 hours, keeping my mental spirit high becomes even harder now. Forget about time, I should really just aim to finish this ride as safely as possible and to arrive Perth in one piece.

As the sky is dimming, I put on my night gears and left Katanning in a melancholic state. Not long later I caught up with Japanese rider Jun S, and we ride together for most of the journey to Wagin. Not many words are spoken, but simply having a riding companion provide some sense of relief. Another great source of relief is the amazingly flat and smooth roads, especially once we get onto the Great Southern Highway that runs for 33km until Wagin. It’s night time now, and riding a recumbent here has one awesome advantage. Not referring to the flat terrain, but because we recumbent riders have our default head position tilted slightly upwards, we get a full unrestricted view of the astonishing night sky. The great Milky Way is clearly visible, but wait a minute, it shouldn’t be, as it is the full moon tonight. I then remembered that a friend had earlier mention to me to look out for the moon as the lunar eclipse is happening tonight! A quick scan landed me on the very rare and breathtaking view of the blood moon, the experience is almost magical! I don’t feel so bad now after failing to maintain a decent average speed for today’s ride, else I would have missed the lunar eclipse. I wonder how many riders noticed the moon tonight. Jun didn’t even realise the moon looks different tonight until I pointed it out to him.

I enter Wagin checkpoint at 8:30pm, feeling content and hopeful that I will be finishing the PAP. With only 61km to Williams sleep checkpoint, I take my time to enjoy a hearty meal of pasta and rest for a good 45 minutes. Before leaving Wagin, the vollies wish me luck and reassure me that I will do just fine, adding that I still look well and fresh compared to some other PAPers. Once again, it didn’t matter whether they speak the truth or not, the positive energy needs to keep flowing. Jun only made a brief stop at Wagins, so I’m back on the road riding by myself once again. The road is quiet and the night atmosphere is lovely. The flat smooth rolling road is gone now, but it doesn’t worry me too much. This is my last night ride for the PAP, so I’m making the most of it. Slightly tempted to forgo my sleep and just continue riding past Williams to make that 215 odd kilometres back to Perth. But I already promised myself to not worry so much about finishing time and that safe and sensible riding should remain my top priority.

The road linking the Great Southern Highway and Albany Highway, with its multiple corners and dozens of intersections, sees me constantly checking on Google Map to make sure I’m on the right track (and not miss any turning). Unfortunately, Google Map is of little assistance in this area as it does not distinguish the major roads from the minor ones. Back to the old fashion cue sheets, which reliably got me through this section. James, one of the vollies, had earlier warned about going through the notorious Albany Highway, and we have to deal with it for about 20km. As the name suggests, it is the main highway that links the two major cities Perth and Albany and therefore carries a heavy traffic. Given that it’s almost midnight when I got onto the highway, I thought there will be almost no traffic and it would be a bliss to ride.

I was right that the traffic was almost non-existent, but it was far from a blissful ride. For starters, the highway is undulating. That alone I can deal with it without much issue. At one point, I see a bright white LED in my mirror, thinking that some riders have finally caught up. From the brightness of the light, I could tell they are not far back, and that I probably miss them earlier as my view was obstructed by the undulating course. Anticipating the pass and prepared for a greet, I drift to the left, then turn my head to the right. Next thing I know, a road train zoom pass, just a few feet short of grinding my face off. The powerful side wind generated nearly throw me off the road! I stop anyway as I feel a little disturbed, and to assess what just happened. Or in simple terms, the close pass by the road train SCARED THE SHIT out of me and I need to now wipe off that pee and crap in my pants!!

After that frightening incident, I have four more encounters with road trains and for each of them, I got off the road and come to a complete stop to make sure I’m not sitting in the DEATH ZONE which is anywhere 3 metres or less from a speeding road train. In Queensland, we have a minimum passing distance law of at least 1.5m but this distance is way too close for a 100 tonne vehicle travelling in excess of 100km/h. I finally got in to Williams at 12:40am. Can’t remember when was the last time I feel this great a sense of relief. I’m totally spent but extremely glad to have gotten through day 3. It takes me a while to come into terms that I have just pedalled a distance of 1014km in the past 68 hours. All that is left is 215km for a whole day ride tomorrow. My whole body is weak now, but does it matter anymore? My confidence comes back, my hope soars up high, and that’s everything I need to get me through the finish line tomorrow.