On the road!

After a frantic last week of packing and planning, it was a relief to finally hit the road on 27 December! The day started with a knock on the door from the cleaners and a mild hangover from a night out with Michael, Ryan and Christian after the cricket in Melbourne. The first day was a modest 200km to Wilson's Prom, which is completely the wrong direction for Darwin, but makes for a very scenic ride.

The bike is running really well. Pete spent most of Christmas Eve on final preparation - the crash bars from Hepco and Becker took a while to bend into shape, and he put a new tyre on the back. Even with the extra weight, the bike is easy to ride, but I am a little worried about the strain on the subframe. The only thing that's playing up is the GPS power supply - the cable's a bit loose.

The weather is perfect for riding - sunny and mid 30s - but it's a bit warm when I'm off the bike in all the gear! Next stop is bastion point.

Sent from my BlackBerry® from Optus

Puddles

Just 6 days to go, and the excitement is definitely starting to build! I think I'm through the paranoia stage that the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook refers to - I've been rushing around like an idiot for the past 3 weeks planning for the trip, and also an international move. So much for a month of rest and relaxation in the botanical gardens!

Since booking removalists and packing boxes does not make for rivetting reading, I've been holding off updating the blog. However, Saturday was a bit of a landmark because I finally put all the luggage on the bike and rode to Healesville to make sure there were no unforeseen complications (such as the subframe collapsing under the weight). Someone asked me the other day if I would be able to ride with all that extra weight on the bike. When I told her that I managed OK with her on the back, I got a very dirty look... (Kathryn - I was only suggesting that I travel light...)

Highlight of the last few weeks was certainly my second trip out to the Mystic Mountains with Stookie. Victoria got a month's worth of rain last weekend, so the trails were extremely wet which just added to the fun. The Transalp took everything in its stride, including steep muddy slopes and puddles that came above the wheels - and all that on an old set of road tyres. Unfortunately the waterproof boots are not quite so waterproof in anything that's deeper than the boot. So I'm now feeling much more confident and I have a better understanding of exactly what the bike can do (and I certainly won't tackle anything as hard-core when the bike's fully loaded!). Massive thanks to Stookie, who's a great guy and a great coach - he's thinking of setting up an off-road school next year. He takes awesome photographs too - you can find out more about the fantastic rides he does at http://web.me.com/stookieandlil. And I'm sure that Pete's relieved that the bike came back in one piece - I don't think he wanted to spend Christmas Day rebuilding a wrecked Transalp.

So what's left to do? The engine bars and centre stand that were ordered from Hepco & Becker on 11 November are still somewhere between Queensland and Melbourne. The bike still needs a final going over at Everything Two Wheels - locks on the panniers, a new set of tyres and an oil change. And the movers are coming on Wednesday and so I've still got a huge amount of packing. Then it's the Boxing Day Test, and 27 December will be the first day on the road!

Getting dirty

I finished work on 30 November, so I've just completed my first week as a full-time adventure motorcyclist (or 'unemployed'). It feels good, but there's a lot of stuff still to do - prepping the bike, packing the flat up, and generally sorting out my life, not to mention saying good bye to the many people that have made the last 3 years in Melbourne so memorable.


Bike progress remains slow, although I did get the toolkit out and fit a set of barkbusters the other day - hardly rocket science, although it did require me to dismantle the throttle assembly (well - possibly not, but I did it anyway). A minor landmark since I don't usually touch the bits that make the bike go (i) faster, or (ii) slower. If there are any shortcomings in my mechanical talents, I'd prefer not to discover them at 60+ mph... but I guess there will be far greater challenges (and repairs) coming up.

On Sunday I finally got the Transalp dirty in the Mystic Mountains with Jason 'Stookie' Doonan, erstwhile music producer and now off-road guru. He's promised to turn me into a dirt bike legend - and he now has 3 short weeks to do it in, but he's a great guide and coach so I have every confidence he will succeed! We spent about 4 hours tearing through the forests around Narbethong which was a lot of fun. I've not done any dirtbiking since Morocco in 2001, so it was a bit unnerving at first to feel the front wheel sliding around again. However, it all came back pretty quickly, and it was not long before my confidence was probably running slightly above my ability... thankfully no spills though, and I'm pleased to report that the Transalp is as capable on the dirt as it is on the road - at least for what I need.

I also had (another) big shopping spree at the weekend to buy thermals, a first aid kit, a dual-fuel stove and a thermarest from Paddy Pallin. It's very annoying that stuff is so expensive - the same thermarest that costs US$70 in the States costs around twice as much here. But with 3 weeks to go I don't have time to mess around with mail order for the sake of a few dollars.

The route

Probably the most common question that people have been asking about the trip (other than why) is what route I plan to take. Australians then typically snigger when I pronounce the word "root" instead of "rout" (ask an Australian why...).

The timing is still very vague because I have no idea how far I will want to ride each day, how long I will want to stop at each place, and what delays I will encounter (hopefully not too many). Perhaps more significantly, I don't know what I will feel like on the trip - eager to push on for home, or happy to move at my own pace. Maybe I'll keep going when I get to the UK and do a complete circuit (although I like the idea of saving that for another time!).

So... the rout is Melbourne, Sydney, Fraser Island, Darwin, Singapore (8 days by boat for the bike, 5 hours on a plane for me), Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, back to Thailand, Kathmandu (3 hours on a plane from Bangkok for man and bike because I can't ride through Burma or China), India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, back to Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, and finally back to the UK. I may skip the loop in the Middle East if I'm tight on time or sick of riding, but I'd really like to see Petra.

In terms of timing, the plan is to be back in the UK for the end of June. If I time it really well, I'll be able to make it to Glastonbury, which will give the trip a certain symmetry because (i) I will have been on the road for exactly 6 months, and (ii) Glastonbury was the last big event that I attended before I moved from the UK to California 6 years ago.

In addition to the itinerary, I'm slowly building up a list of people that I hope to meet on the trip. So far, these include Paul Lanzillotti (flying out to Ko Samui), Mark Allenspach (riding to Switzerland, who I should catch up in Thailand), Trent Eddy (an ex-Bainie in Phnom Penh), Casey Reichel (hiking in Nepal), some friends of Dan Tu-Hoa that live in Islamabad, and a host of people in Europe ('host' being the operative word). Hopefully, others will be able to fly out to meet me on the road, or point me in the direction of a friendly local with a comfy couch.

Six weeks to go!

Not much to report over the past week on the trip front . The KTM Superduke went to a very good home - a nice Finnish couple that have recently moved to Melbourne - although I must say that they negotiated a very good deal...

Sum total of the week's progress was the purchase of a 12v socket to install on the bike, and a USB adapter that should allow me to charge my GPS and iPod on the move - ingenious. I also heard from a chap called Mark who will be doing Sydney to Switzerland on a GS1150 with his wife at a similar time.

Given the lack of news, I thought I'd mention a few words about my inspiration for the trip. Surprisingly, it wasn't Ewan and Charlie, although they did boost my confidence because if that pair could make it across Asia (with the help of a camera crew and a couple of 4x4s), I figure I should be able to make it on my own no problem. The whinging thesps certainly weren't the first adventure motorcyclists - before them, the most famous motorcycle travelog was probably Jupiter's Travel by Ted Simon. My favourite is One Man Caravan by Robert Fulton, who did a similar journey to mine (in reverse) on a Douglas twin in 1932. The way he tells it, he concocted the trip at a dinner party to impress a girl and felt compelled to follow through with the idea. And he was packing heat on the bike.

Inspiration for my trip came from an Australian couple that I met at Mrs Bandari's Guest House in Amritsar in 1997. They were doing Australia to the UK two-up on an R80GS, and I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever heard. If it's still there, I'm hoping to stop off at Mrs Bandari's for a cold beer and some nostalgia.

The world's most expensive metal boxes

Anticipation for the big trip is mounting (as is the bill). On Sunday, I went over to Everything Two Wheels to get the panniers fitted. We didn't get finished until almost 11pm, which is service above and beyond the call of duty, but after a few hours everything fitted perfectly - nice job, Pete! The alu panniers were pristine and came in bubble wrap, so there was much nervousness as the holes were drilled to mount them to the frame. I initially thought that the towels on the floor were to stop the panniers from getting scratched (hardly necessary, given the punishment they're about to receive), but after a while it occurred to me that Pete may have been more concerned about his brand new workshop floor. Anyways... the bike is beginning to look worthy of intercontinental adventures now. Which is just as well, given what the Touratech panniers cost...

Route planning is coming along - I'm thinking of heading up the east coast of Australia as far as Fraser Island, and then cutting inland through Longreach and Mount Isa to Tennants Creek before heading north to Darwin. Just getting out of Australia is going to be a marathon ride - I don't think I'm going to see much change out of 6,000km. I'd like to ride along the beach at Fraser Island, but I'm still trying to find out if that's realistic, or if 300+ kg of bike, rider and assorted camping gear, spare parts and assorted paraphernalia will quickly disappear into the sand.

I am enjoying the new Arai Tour X - I had initially thought that a new helmet might be an unnecessary luxury, but after wearing it I realised that my 10 year old lid had some significant hygiene issues as well as safety issues. No excuse to wear my fancypants Dainese trouser suit as yet, but I do need to get it dirtied up in case any bikie gangs in the outback mistake me for a cissy.

Planning continues...

Well, it's been an expensive week, but I now have a GPS device that I'm still trying to figure out how to operate, and a rather natty Dainese jacket and trouser set. New Arai Tour X should arrive mid-week, which should make me the best dressed rider in SE Asia... The panniers have been ordered from Touratech Australia and should be with me by the end of the week - thankfully they don't need to be shipped from Germany, which means I can see how much space I have for kit.

Other than that, the trip plan is really taking shape, with lots of checklists, maps and addresses contained in a (client-ready, zero-defect) powerpoint presentation. Still four weeks left at work, but I'm increasingly finding my attention in meetings wandering to critical issues such as how to carry an extra 10 litres of fuel across the Northern Territory...

Trip planning

It's hard to say when the trip really begins, but I picked up the Transalp from Pete at Everything Two Wheels this afternoon, so it seems like an appropriate time to celebrate. We successfully navigated the bureaucrats at VicRoads in Carlton to get it registered - hopefully the paperwork for the rest of the trip will be as straightforward.

The bike currently looks a bit soft in commuter mode (but who knew that a top-box was so practical?). Next step is to order all the fun bits from Touratech to create a machine that will carry me across continents (or at least look the part...)

By the way, Everything Two Wheels can be found at http://www.everythingtwowheels.com.au/. If you own a bike in Melbourne, get them to service it for you! I'll be taking advantage of their 'Gold Service' support option on my trip - any issues with the bike and Pete will come out to fix it within 24 hours...