One days cycling then four nights and three days stationary in Palatka with a broken rear wheel. At 44 miles in 8 days I estimate, at this rate, we will reach San Diego in January 2020. Now that really would be an epic trip.

Thankfully, the rear wheel, commonly known as the ‘bloody rear wheel’ is bloody well fixed.

We travelled by 7am Greyhound bus from Palatka to Gainesville (40 miles) to drop the wheel off one day and did the same journey the following day to pick it up. Unfortunately, the only return bus to Palatka each day was 4pm and so we had two whole day wandering Gainesville. Sorry friendly people of Gainesville but it was two days too much.

Do you know in 2007 Gainesville was ranked as the number 1 place to live in North America. Yes it has a good university but I’m sorry there has to be more to it than that! I’m sure there is and it’s just that we didn’t see it because we spent too much time in Starbucks hanging out with the students, hiding from the heat and drinking our fruit coolers. Oh I know we can be so so trendy at times!

Anyway, a lovely chap called Michael at Gator Cycles rebuilt our wheel, staying late last night and coming in early this morning. He said it was the toughest wheel build he has had in 10 years. His assistance was outstanding and much appreciated.

So now we are all set to go.

Unfortunately, I have just put the rear wheel on the bike which is currently in our motel bedroom. In doing so we now have a puncture. Oh the joys.

So tomorrow hopefully we set off on day 2 of our cycle route. Where does day 2 take us? Back to Gainesville of course!

Once, twice, three times Gainesville, I really don’t love you.

We started cycling on Saturday with an unsettling clicking noise coming from the rear of the bike. We had tried to trace the problem the previous day with no luck and decided to press on hoping it would sort itself out. It’s not as daft as it sounds as the long chains on the tandem often click on the running gear.

After 20 miles we found the source of the problem. A rear wheel spoke had broken and wrapped itself around the hub. We suspect this happened on the flight over.

I was reasonably happy as I had imagined all sorts of problems with the rear Rholoff gears. Essentially if that had been knackered our journey was over.

So off we set, noise free and happy.

Here’s a picture of Susan on the bike at a time of happiness.

Our happiness lasted 10 miles until another spoke went down. Spokes are like dominoes – when one goes down it puts additional pressure on its buddies. By the time we reached Palatka (44 miles) the rear spoke platoon was down 3.

Now the best place to get the wheel repaired is Gainesville which is on our route. So early the following day we set off cycling to Gainesville.

Within 5 miles another 3 spokes were down. Bang. Bang. Bang. It was clear we would never make the landing in Gainesville so we retreated back to Palatka with no further casualties.

That’s great Susan thought ‘back safe and not stranded on the highway’. Unfortunately she has a hopeless optimist for a husband. By my reckoning it had all settled down and we could still go for it. So we turned the bike around and headed back to Gainesville.

Now this is where I begin to believe there is a higher power watching over me because we hadn’t gone 200 meters before we lost another. It’s like someone saying don’t be so stupid. Bang. Spoke down. Now turn around.

As it now stands we’re sitting in the conference room of a hotel at 1030am waiting for a room. Susan feels like she has cycled all day and looks like she has cycled all week. I’m still thinking maybe we could still get to Gainesville.

What happens now? We’re not sure. I expect it’s going to take a couple of days to sort. Our war planning meeting will be held this afternoon in Steamboat Willie’s over a cold beer or two.

So the trans America cycle started with a bang. Well 7 bangs to be precise.

Well it’s been two years since I added to this blog and two years since Susan and I have been on the tandem. Our last cycle on our illustrious tandem machine was in Sydney, Australia but it is with the utmost happiness that I find myself sitting in the unbearable heat and humidity in Florida contemplating a cycle across this great country of America (I’m not actually sure when it changed its name to USA 😉 but in my day it was always America).

Susan and I are now in St Augustine, Florida and over the next three months, hope to cycle to San Diego along what is commonly referred to as the ‘Southern Tier’ route.

Our east to west cycle is against the prevailing winds and not at the ideal time of the year. They said on news this morning they haven’t had a hurricane hit land in the Gulf Coast area in August – great news but does this change the odds for September?

Here is a general map of the route:

St Augustine is a lovely city on the north east coast of Florida. Founded by the Spanish in 1565 it claims to be the oldest city in America and its Plaza de la Constitucion is the oldest public space in America.

Even before then, a Spanish adventurer and, sailing colleague of Christopher Columbus, called Juan Ponce de Lyon landed here and ‘discovered’ Florida in 1513 (must have been a bloody surprise for the Native Americans who have been here 12,000 years to have been ‘discovered’).

And yes, that’s his name in case you’re wondering. I can only conclude that he was called Juan and he was the Ponce of Lyon. Says it all.

Here is a picture of Susan and I with the Ponce at the starting point of our cycle. Susan has titled the photo ‘Susan and the Ponces’

Here is another photo ‘Susan and the Ponce de Edinburgh’ down by the St Augustine boardwalk.

We arrived in St Augustine on Monday evening and have had 4 days getting acclimatised to the weather. We’re kind of struggling to be honest. Susan is perspiring gently like a lady and I’m a big puddle.

Its 32c and the humidity takes the ‘feels like’ temperature on the weather app to 45c. How does that work ’cause it blinking feels a whole lot worse that that!

So tomorrow we are starting at 7am and, hopefully, it will be cooler for a few hours. Maybe we will even be finished cycling for the day before the regular thunderstorm at 4pm. Maybe that clunking noise on the bike that I’ve not been able to trace will spell catastrophe. Maybe I will just write the blog and pretend we are cycling – oh the thought has crossed my mind!

It’s only 44 miles to Palatka tomorrow and I’m hopeful the old girl will get through the first day and then get us through to San Diego. That’s the bike I’m talking about not Susan! 😉

Yes we have left Oz and are presently touring New Zealand. Our trusty tandem is resting in storage back in Sydney whilst we avail ourselves of the luxury of some horsepower.

True to form, our journey to New Zealand has not been without a little drama as we arrived in Christchurch the day after the major earthquake hit.  If you’re in the slightest concerned for us then please rest assured that all is well as the ‘quake has not affected my beer supply.

We have now moved south from the shaky bit and enjoying a few days around the mountains.  

Anyway, this blog post is not about New Zealand but a reflection of our cycle across Australia. A brief summary of the good bits and the not quite so good bits. 
Overall, we loved Australia and found the people to be friendly and helpful without exception. The roads were fine although like Canada 🇨🇦 single carriageway interstate roads are not ideally suited for the large trucks that cross the country. That said, of all the drivers, the road train drivers tended to be the most professional and considerate, giving us lots of space when passing whenever possible. In general, it’s fair to say we found drivers more considerate to cyclists than Canada. 

Cycling in cities is always problematic and Australia is no exception. If the infrastructure is not properly designed or joined up then it’s a nightmare and, in this respect, Melbourne and Perth were okay whilst Adelaide and Sydney were dreadful. 

We loved the rural roads lined with gum trees and the absolute multitude of birds of every type, colour and sound. Amazing to hear and see them all day and every day. They were the stars of our road. The kangaroos are incredible and it was wonderful to see them outwith the zoo. The emus are okay but they’re just like big chickens. We never did see a live wombat or or dead or alive koala. We encountered one live snake sunning itself by the roadside and spiders were kind of absent everywhere.  We did find a spider in a motel room but it was only a few centimetres across. I don’t know if it was poisonous although probably not. Mind you, it was the Usain Bolt of spiders as it ran across the walls with lightening speed. I’m not joking it was unbelievably fast. Susan was very helpful in this regard as she screamed in my ear and pointed to where it had run.  

We absolutely loved the Nullarbor and even the bush camping was an experience that we will never forget and would never wish to have missed. It’s just a pity when we got to a roadhouse they were some of the worst places we have ever stayed or ate anywhere in the world. Really Australia with such a wonderful natural wonder like the Nullarbor the roadhouses are a disgrace. No wonder so many people bring caravans and camp in the Nullarbor. 

Special mention must go to the bush flies. I have never experienced a fly that is so persistent to get moisture from your face. In the U.K. if you shoo away a fly it gets the message. The bush fly just looks for an alternative route to your eyes, ears, nose and mouth. They don’t come in ones or twos but attack in squadrons and you just know that they’ve left a dead kangaroo at the side of the road to go for you! 

A liberal dousing of DEET applied every two hours was a reasonable remedy though it melted my cycle helmet so I had to eventually throw it away. Don’t think it just affects us tourists and the locals aren’t bothered –  we cycled past countless farmers with branches swatting away these pests. Australia you really need to get these flies sorted!

Cycling west to east at this time of the year was the right call. Although I always moan about the headwinds and crosswinds I would say that, overall, the wind was either in our favour or inconsequential about 80% of the time. The temperatures were fine and our hottest days were in September as we crossed the Nullarbor.  

So whilst this appears to be the right time to cycle across Australia it was a surprise that we met nobody else doing the same. Overall, we met 4 cyclists and one walker whilst in Canada there were multitudes. Maybe it’s the thought of cycling the Nullarbor that puts people off but if I can do it with only one beer in two weeks then anyone can!

In terms of food life on the road is hard especially if you like fresh vegetables. Outwith the cities the good meals are easy to remember because there were so few of them. I must also mention the burgers. Now burger and chips should be the ideal cyclists meal – protein and carbs on one plate. Unfortunately Australia appears to think beetroot on a burger is a good thing. Where does that come from? Is it a gerkin substitute because if it is it doesn’t work. I like beetroot and I like gerkin but the big difference about putting beetroot on your burger is it turns the whole damn thing purple! Worse still if you go for the ‘lot’ – you then have salad, bacon and a fried egg on the burger. Now who thinks beetroot and a purple fried egg is a good thing? Australia please keep the beetroot for the salads and keep the burgers simple. 

As to our injuries, well we were fine really. I had sore knees for the first time and Susan was pleased with that because I threw every ‘quack’ remedy at the problem and sorted it for the both of us. As a result, Susan got through Australia without the same pain she had to endure in Canada and that’s genuinely great. As for my sore knees? – well I’m a bit of a drama queen and they were fine really. But you never know they could have got really bad! 

The only slight thing we still have is our numb toes. Susan had it in Canada and says its nerve damage that eventually disappears. In the meantime I’m experiencing what’s it’s like to feel as if you are constantly waking in the snow in your bare feet.

Finally, just how hard was it? Well it was fine really. We have been through it all before in Canada and you cannot underestimate the value of that experience. We know what is like to cope with the cold, wind and rain.  We know how to deal with long days on the bike, the tiredness and the hardships.  We are now pretty resilient and confident in ourselves when cycle touring.  

So just how hard was it? Well, we both agree it was relatively easy compared to Canada. 

Yes, we had hard days in Australia but we can do hard days because we’re used to them. Australia had about 10 days climbing and this matters when pulling a trailer. On the other hand, Canada was relentless with climbs day after day and, at times, we were utterly exhausted. Also Canada was 8000km and Australia 5000km – we kind of felt Australia was over before it had begun to properly test us.

So where next?  Well, we are not sure but we have agreed on one more long tandem journey. We’re enjoying this car touring thing in New Zealand but, in all truth, as we zoom through the countryside we both feel our experiences are fleeting – we just don’t connect with the countryside the same way. Oh I know that sounds pants but if you really don’t believe me then you’re welcome to join us on our next journey. 👍 All you need is a bike and some nice tight lycra.  Ah, I can see I’ve got you interested already! 😀

Okay it’s a personal opinion but I think the best beer is Coopers Pale Ale. More flavour than all these cold lagers and bonus points for being the only Australian owned large brewery.

Now I’ve only been drinking Australian beer for 3 months and I’m sure others will believe they are more qualified to make a different suggestion. They’re kidding themselves of course. Coopers Pale Ale – the best beer in Australia! 

Sydney is undoubtedly one of the best city destinations in the world. It’s got it all.

Of course there’s the Opera House with its inspired design.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge built with British steel. 

Parks and skyscrapers sharing the city centre. 

And beaches galore. 

And of course the famous Bondi Beach where real men avoid the sand and sit under the parasol in the beach cafe drinking beer. 

Finally, a photo of two handsome guys. 

Susan is taking the picture. One of us is framed perfectly and the other has the top of his head cropped so he looks bald. It really isn’t easy being me! 😀

Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

On Tuesday 9th November we arrived at the finish of our cross Australia cycle – two and a half months since starting at Perth.

4,818 kilometres across an amazing country with wonderfully friendly people all along the way.  

Thanks Australia.