Day 83: Newbie All Over Again (Side Tour)

June 6th, 2011

Cape Le Grand National Park to Esperance
Distance: 69km
Total distance: 5065km

Woke up with a sad face this morning. Sad because I hear the sound of rain drops on my tent roof, which probably means no bushwalking for me today. Oh well, went back to bed. Nothing much I can do in this rain. Couple of hours later, I woke up for real and had my breakfast. Then all of a sudden, the rain stops, YAY! Looked at my watch and it’s 9.00am. Daylight is precious, I quickly got myself ready and raced off to Frenchman Peak. No time to do other walks but that’s okay.

Started my climb up Frenchman Peak at nearly midday. It was quiet at the carpark, only one vehicle was seen. Swapped my SPD cleats with the original plastic covering as climbing a rocky hill with the metal cleats is what a man on a death wish would do. A father and a teenage daughter was on their way down while the mother awaits at the carpark. I was told by the man that the track was pretty good, only 35 mins to climb. My sense of ego translated that as 30 mins.

After 15 mins of easy walking, I thought I came to a dead end. What lies ahead was practically a wall! Nope, there were trail markers along the ‘wall’ so that must be the trail. Stood there for 5 mins performing a mental calculation of risk and hazard assessment to decide if I should continue climbing. My biggest concern was that there was no one else there. I could break a bone or two and still no one knows. I was well aware that the descent would certainly be more challenging than the ascent. But I made a decision to climb anyway. I was hoping that the 360 degrees view at the summit would offset the discomfort when descending later, great logic huh?

Up I climbed on the steepest slope I’ve ever set my foot on. My heart pumped quickly, not so much due to the high intensity workout but the fear of slipping off and roll down a 100-metre height. Managed to keep myself going, but with lots of careful planning before every footstep. If there is such a thing as a smart move towards a stupid goal, this must be it. Some parts of the rock was still wet from the rain this morning, some apparently firm rock moved when I stepped on them, and the wind was strong on a few sections. The most unique challenge I faced, unfounded by other climbers was climbing with my rigid cycling sandals. Removing the metal cleats helped but it still wasn’t grippy, I lost traction once and I swear my heart skipped a beat!
Eventually, with much sweat and tears (no blood thank goodness), I reached the peak! The view was absolutely breathtaking! I must admit though, I was quite distracted by the thought of the steep descent, hence I wasn’t really getting into the ‘zone’. The wind got a bit stronger, and I could see some rain clouds, must go down quick! So after a short 10 mins rest I start my descent. I then saw a couple coming up, I was relieved. How the simple sight of another human being can make such a big difference psychologically amuses me. A few more metres down and I saw another group starting the climb. What a relief! Still, on my way down I find myself frequently asking “how the hell did I come up?”, because at some point it was so steep I wasn’t able to see the ground surface a few metres ahead. I used both hands when descending, one reason was my sandal wasn’t grippy enough, second reason I didn’t want to make a hole on my delicate nylon cycling pants so I tried my best not to let it touch the rocky ground, haha.

That group that was coming up turns out to be the hostel bunch, as I heard my name being called. Even more relief! Finally reached the easy walking part where I caught up with the group but they ascended shortly after. One smart fellow chose to stayed back so we kept each other company while waiting for the rest to complete the climb. When it was time for them to descend, I watched with great surprise, they seemed to have little difficulty in descending. Kiyo (the Japanese guy I met earlier back at the hostel) was even walking with thongs! And none of them needed to use hands! Ugh, puts me to real shame, I blame it on my cycling sandal and nylon pants! Come to think of it, I’ve probably made history by being the first person who climbed Frenchman Peak on a cycling footwear!

We left the carpark at about 2.30pm, me on my trike, and all four of them on Kiyo’s station wagon. I thought I wouldn’t be able to make the 50km back to Esperance before dark. But thanks to a tailwind, that strangely follows me whenever the road changes direction, I made it back to the hostel in 2hrs 45mins, way ahead of the 4hrs I predicted!

At the hostel, I met two touring cyclists who had just checked in last night! They were no ordinary touring cyclists. One was a 71-year-old American and the other a 27-year-old Chinese. Both have toured 50,000km within China alone. They left China not long ago and currently at the beginning of their 5-year-long world tour. The Australian leg would be a Perth to Sydney journey and possibly a detour to Alice Spring. There I was, all cheerful and proud that I have totaled a distance of 5000km after the ride today, until I hear about their story. They have ridden up to an elevation of 5000m at Tibet and in snowing conditions. That is probably as extreme as one can get in cycle touring!

Hutch and Xu Tan are having their first rest days since leaving Perth and will be crossing the Nullarbor soon. I was shocked to hear that Xu Tan was lugging 80kg on his panniers and a bob trailer, and that includes 20 litres of water. I didn’t even know a bicycle is capable of carrying this much of weight. Now this is what you call an EPIC cycle touring! Not some bloke riding across Australia lugging only 30kg on a relatively flat terrain and temperate climate. Nonetheless, I was very fortunate to chance upon them. I also learnt that Xu Tan is probably the first touring cyclist from China who have been granted a travel visa to tour in Australia. Two Aussie blokes, John and Zayne joined in our conversation. I am glad that I had somehow inspired Zayne to do a bicycle tour of his own. That is exactly the outcome I’d like to see from my current tour: to inspire others to do the same. Simply because cycle touring is a great way to travel, and a great way to make riding more enjoyable. A very eventful and memorable day I had!