Australian ParkRun Bicycle Tour

Recognise your situation. March 6th 2019 One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish. About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “You aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman. “You should be working rather than lying on the beach!” The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “And what will my reward be?” “Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” was the businessman’s answer. “And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman, still smiling. The businessman replied, “You will make money and you’ll b...

  What are the chances? February 28, 2019 I arrived in Nambour on Friday afternoon to take on the hardest Parkrun in Australia. I also needed to find a wild camp spot for the night not to far from where the run would take place the following morning. I cycled around the town for a while making mental notes of potential spots. I went into the library to use the WiFi and charge my electronics and bought some food for lunch from Woolworths. I had noticed the show grounds as I cycled into town so thought it would be good to make my lunch there and also do a ride through to see if there would be any good camp spots. Every amenity for a camp was there. Tables, washing area, toilets even benches in the shade with plug sockets. Unfortunately camping later wouldn’t be possible as it was a gated show ground and while eating lunch the caretaker came and spoke to me. He sussed out my intentions once he saw the bike and bags. He did give me an alternative location to camp which ended up being w...

  Ripper..... Feb 27, 2019 A few days ago Tropical Cyclone Oma introduced itself to the Sunshine Coast. It had been building up out at sea but was forecast to hit land before the weekend. At this point I had returned to Deception Bay and was looking at where to spend my final week. Of course I had already been North of Deception Bay but with winds of almost 60kmph now coming from the South I had only one realistic and enjoyable option available and that would be to cycle North again. With winds of this speed the cycling would be easy and after 8 weeks of non-stop headwind I would be a fool not to make the most of it. I worked out a route first to Bribie Island then Nambour for the final Park run of my trip, back to Coolum, up to Noosa again then loop to Cooroy to catch the train back.  The road to Bribie Island was flat and easy to cycle on. A decent bicycle lane was good to use as the road was pretty busy with early morning traffic. As it was only a short ride to Bribie I set...

  It’s not grim up North but a puncture can be a pain. February 22, 2019 Over the next few days I headed towards Maryborough. I was doing only short distances as I had plenty of time and wanted to enjoy a slower, shorter pace. I stayed with various hosts along the way. Barbara and her family in Kin Kin a stunning rural town. They had a beautiful house with a big garden containing fruit trees, ponds and animals. Sue from Gympie, a yoga and well being teacher. Hers was a quaint house with a relaxing work area where she could do private sessions and also teach. I made dinner and Sue made the desert. I offered up a stable camp site meal of Pasta and Vegetables. Sue made Greek yoghurt with frozen fruit and a touch of honey. Gympie is famous for being a Gold town. In the late 1860’s someone struck gold and it created a boom in the area and from that the town evolved. It was in Gympie that I had my first puncture. Almost 3 months of cycling, thousands of kilometres on road and track and I...

  Tewantin Mystery February 16, 2019 It had been an awesome 3 days in Coolum. Even though I had completed a Parkrun, bike ride and hike I felt strangely refreshed. I said my goodbyes as well as a hopeful "see you in two years" and set of towards Tewantin only a short half day cycle along the coast. I had worked out what item of clothing I was missing so didn't feel to bad that another cyclist had to carry it for a day. It was only a headscarf but I had bought it 4 years ago on a previous tour so it did have some nostalgic value. At around 25 miles with plenty of time to spare I took a dip in the Noosa River then made some food and listened to a podcast. It was Joe Rogan's conversation with the boss of Twitter. Pretty interesting and slightly worrying as well. I hadn't long finished the book 1984 and I'm a bit concerned that Orwell may have been onto something but just got the date wrong. Twitter is just to toxic for me.  I arrived at my hosts house and was giv...

  Carry on Caloundra February, 2019 I set off from Deception Bay to head to Coolum to stay with El, Tim and their two sons. The route took me through the heart of the Sunshine Coast. I arranged to stay with a host in the seafront town of Caloundra. I was to arrive at 5:30pm and stay over for 1 night. The route I took was quite easy. No highway to worry about just a mixture of back roads and beachside foreshores. Strangely for this trip the wind wasn’t an issue. None of the relentless headwind of the last 3 weeks. None of the peddling twice as hard or being blown sideways. Just a rolling road, nice small towns and beautiful beachfronts. I arrived at Robyn’s apartment at 5:30pm but she had left a message that she would be late. No bother for me really as I cycled down to the harbour and had an early evening swim. The water temperature was perfect. The sun was starting to set and the cool sea front breeze was coming lightly off the ocean. An hour later and I met Robyn at home. Sh...

  Run Phillip Run February 7, 2019 The final 3 weeks for Phillip would be a loop from Brisbane to Maryborough then west, south and back east to Deception Bay. He arranged with Andrew and Paul to house sit for a few days before catching his flight home to England. Before he left their home he and Andrew took on the Redcliffe Park run. It was touch and go whether he would be able to make it as the night before he took ill. It was hard to work out if it was a touch of sunstroke or an upset stomach. He had started to feel unwell around 6pm on the Friday night. His stomach was aching and he had cold chills. Andrew advised rest but Phillip had cycled so far and completed so many Park runs that it pained him at the prospect of missing one. They decided to see how he felt the next morning and would go from there. For someone feeling ill he slept surprisingly well. Only the call of nature woke him a few times and with the amount of fluids he had consumed it was no real surprise. No strange ...

  A good meeting, a strange meeting and a WTF!!! January 28, 2019 Just prior to arriving in Brisbane Norman and I stopped over for a night with a fellow cyclist in the suburb of Beenleigh. We had met Stephen in a park a few days earlier in the town of Lismore. I was supposed to be watching the bikes while Norman went into the information centre but like a bad soldier had fell asleep at my post. I had lay down on the bench and drifted off with the soothing wind blowing and a full belly of food. A kind of sixth sense of someone standing near by had woken me from my slumber and I sat up quickly startling the nearby person. It took a few seconds to get my bearings and still half asleep noticed a gentleman standing a couple of meters away looking at Norman’s bicycle. Can I help you I asked? The man, who looked as startled as myself said “sorry I didn’t mean to wake you up, I was just admiring the set ups you are using”. He introduced himself as Stephen from Brisbane, a fellow cycle tour...

  Food Glorious Food January 20, 2019 Food is a major part of a bicycle tour. Usually as I excerpt so much energy cycling I’m thinking about and looking forward to the next meal as I finish the current one. When touring there are certain foods that are pretty much in the bag constantly. Oats, powdered milk, tea bags, sweetener, BBQ sauce, whole grain wraps and pasta. Then you have the items that you add and usually eat within a couple of days. Cup’o soups, pasta sauce, muesli bars that are chopped up and added straight into the oats, fruit, vegetables, tuna, baked beans, yogurt, eggs and assorted beans like chick, cannoli or lentils. Australia has a few main stores that are in most decent towns. Woolworths, IGA, Coles, Aldi and Foodworks. Smaller town usually have a general store where naturally the prices increase.   A typical days food for me could be: Breakfast: Oats with a chopped up muesli bar and a chopped up banana added. When you add the hot water and teaspoon of ...

  Camping and Guesting from Sydney January 10, 2019 The tour has gone into short day riding mode. This may be because there is now two of us. We could knock off 60 miles a day but it would be mostly the Pacific Coast Highway which it not quite the same as it’s American namesake. The Australian version is slightly inland with no stunning views once your a days ride from Sydney. For this reason we have taken it only sporadically and instead have been on the quieter but less direct side routes. The places we have slept at since Sydney have been a mixture of camping and hosts. 1st was a previous host of mine from 2015 Rod and Deb in Wamberral. Possibly the house with the best view on Warmshowers. Here we were served vegetable lasagne and had the run of the house. Next was another previous host, Kedan and Kath in Newcastle. This is the Bike Bag Dude and all round  Masterchef. We stayed two nights as on the Saturday after I did the hardest Parkrun so far is was just to hot to cycle....

  Sydney January 2, 2019 The big display on the harbour was an amazing sight. Watched from a distance at the top of Rose Bay Hill could not have been more perfect. For a city that had a million extra visitors just for this day everything seem to work like a finely tuned machine. Except of course if your from the opposition party and spent the whole following day moaning on the news channels. No matter what country the opposition whines like babies. There was an enormous thunderstorm around 8pm that lasted until 11:30pm. Luckily I watched this from the comfort of my hosts living room so was able to time it right to leave when it stopped and walk the 200 yards to the hill for the show.  3 different parts of the world connected in delightful conversation whilst sitting back from the beach in a shaded garden the morning after the night before. I took a packed lunch out mid morning to do some people watching, read my book and chill out. I found a perfect spot 10 yards back from the...