62.7km ridden today
2258.7km ridden
ZERO left to go!
599m up
477m down
2138 calories burnt
Pain factor: 1/10
Strava that shit: https://www.strava.com/activities/18355482135
Yep. Donsky….
Quite an easy ride on the final highway of my journey – The Barton Highway to Canberra. Pretty straight-forward. Except for the Debris Dodging. I saw a basketball shoe (newish). A skipping rope. A hydraulic cable that really looked like it needed to be attached to something. A toe ball (with the tongue). Two spanners. A car speaker. And hopefully the last carrion I will see for quite a while. It was fairly busy but with loads of shoulder for me to dodge and weave the debris.
Alas the slow flat tyre, while lasting the first 30km didn’t want to continue so an unscheduled stop for what was to be the last of my flat changes. Sure enough a thorn. The last thorn I need to see for a long time was the culprit. As I started to change the tyre a weekend warrior MAMIL stopped to ask if I needed anything. “Where have you come from”. “Cairns”. He was impressed but then shared stories of his long distance rides in times before phones and GPS (including Turkey). It was so interesting that I wasn’t concentrating on the task at hand and had a kink in the tube. So for the 20km left to Canberra it was thump, thump, thump. I really couldn’t be assed fixing it so close.
And then…
So, 29 days on the road. Not a single spot of rain the entire time. Then, 11km from Canberra, rain!. Thankyou QLD. Thankyou NSW. NOT YOU ACT! Thankfully it was 10minutes of drizzle. This would have been LOVELY in the heat of Queensland. But not in a part of Australia leading to the Snowy bloody mountains! As expected though, Canberra provided some great cycleways/paths on SMOOTH paths. It was bliss after so many km of rough highway road.
I was blessed to have a welcoming committee in Canberra. MY FAMILY! Mum, Dad, Sister, Bro-in-Law, Niece and Nephew and Keeva the dog. Very cool!!
So this clip is NOT staged. Mum had me on Life360. They arrived like 20minutes before I did and were prepared. They had poppers too. My sister thoughtfully checked with the security guard they were ok to use…
BUT most importantly. Sophie’s Stinky Sock. Keeping me company up in the cockpit for over 2000km (without being washed). It was returned to its rightful owner. She wasn’t entirely excited to have it handed to her….
And just some token photos. Not much going on around Parliament House (but what’s new). A few people wandering around did wonder what the fuss was all about…
A massive thanks to the family for coming down. A nice lunch in Kingston then back on the road (BY CAR) to Wollongong.
Ironically, I think I had myself in a mind/body routine that I could have kept riding. I considered riding the 300 odd KM’s I missed (out of necessity, rather than “not being up for it – more on that later) back to Sydney or Wollongong. But the sensible Justin kicked in during the final days and I realised I need to get back to BAU. Most importantly, finding that thing. Its called a job (and still waiting to here if I am through to the next round for the Emerald interview).
I definitely feel also there is more bike touring/packing in future…
I’ll share more summaries & learnings of my trip in days to come. But the highs by FAAAR outweighed the lows.
So, FINAL SONG OF THE DAY. Well after spending a month as a lone bike packer with long distances between tiny towns or simple roadhouses, I rock up in Canberra. Big city. Lots of lights. Lots of people. I was dazzled. I was confused. I wasn’t in Kansas anymore Toto. Then suddenly I see this guy in the distance approaching me. Short. Sharp grey suite. Glasses. Then from about 50 metres away he stops. And he yells at me…
“YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE??”
…then he paused for a moment. Then continues…
“YOU’RE IN THE JUNGLE BABY!!”
Then. He runs away…
Baaaaah, you all thought I was going to leave Guns ‘n Roses out of my Song of the Day didn’t you!? My most beloved band of all time. I could have chosen any of their songs for this trip. But I now find myself at the end of my journey. In our nations capital. Where supposedly our country is run. So what better song could I chose for my “welcoming” than “Welcome to the Jungle”. Before you listen, I draw you to these lyrics. The band were obviously singing about something different, but it fits well for my arrival in Canberra. Think politics when you read…
Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games,
We got everything you want, honey, we know the names,
We are the people that can find whatever you may need,
If you got the money, honey, we got your disease,
It’s a jungle, welcome to the jungle,
Watch it bring it to your n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n knees, knees!!
Oh ah, I wanna see you bleed!!
Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here every day
You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play!
Grin…..