6 Weeks to go....training!

Departure day is approaching fast...and there never seems to be enough time to train! But that has been the focus, along with collecting various bits of gear needed to do this safely. The big purchase was a new bike which I'll give a full rundown of a bit later. But the reason behind this was that my tried and trusted "Bianca" which I've ridden already from Adelaide - Melbourne and Melbourne - Sydney, and across England and Scotland on my first fundraiser. I just don't trust she will survive hauling a heavy load across the outback:

Bianca on the Great Ocean Road

Bianca is a modified cyclecross bike with racks added...she's fine for week long tours but too liable to break down for me to risk a really remote trip with.

As for training: well to get a good kick-start I gave up alcohol for two and a bit months and kept increasing my distance each week since Jan. That helped me lose a fair bit of weight and get me focused properly. My long commute to work is my training base...and I've been adding on one bigger weekend ride most weekends, up to about 145km so far for those and about 150-180km covered on the weekdays. Doing all that on top of a full time+ job isn't so easy but not too much I can do about that...

Of course no amount of training can really prepare you for the sustained nature of a long tour hauling heavy loads, so, my strategy on the trip itself has to be to start slow and build up fitness as I go. Cue laughter from my wife who knows how impatient I am!

The next big job on the list is to do an overnighter somewhere to test the bike fully loaded and see if I can remember how to camp!