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'Cycle Across Oz' is a long distance cycle touring business, based in Melbourne. To date, Cycle Across Oz has run three cycle tours on the Perth - Melbourne route, one on the Darwin - Adelaide route and one on the Rockhampton to Darwin route. During the early part of the Darwin to Adelaide tour in 2006, the talk turned to planning a cycle tour across the Top End. That resulted in the Rockhampton to Darwin ride. During that ride, there was a sense of unfinished business - why not ride all the way across. Two reconnaissance trips in the winter of 2009 and in early 2010 proved that Darwin to Perth would be tough but Broome to Perth was doable. Cycle Across Oz have put together an exciting itinerary to journey down the western side of Australia and to further explore the true challenge of Outback Australia.
Our aim is to take you, the cyclist, on a wondrous adventure holiday across the continent of Australia. Adventure, superb scenery, solitude, brilliant night skies that will take your breath away, and the unique Australian fauna and flora are all waiting for you to discover - at the pace of a cyclist, one can only enjoy.
The tour commences in Broome which is the gateway to the Kimberley with the desert on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other. It is famous for its beach, Cable Beach and the Staircase to the Moon, which we hope to catch, and for the stunning starkness of the outback. This will be a challenging ride as Highway 1 tends to run inland and we will want to visit the stunning array of beaches along the way - each requiring a trip to the coast and then back over the same territory - but these are the sun kissed beaches of the Indian Ocean. We will travel through the mining towns of Karratha and Port Hedland where the iron ore railway meets the sea. We will visit the fishing towns of Cossack, Coral Bay, Kalbarri, Carnarvon and Geraldton
This is not a tour for the faint hearted. That said, any reasonably fit person can do it - whether you are 38 or 70 (the age ranges for previous trips). You don't have to be super fit - just committed enough to ride 5 to 12 hours a day for at least 5 days consecutively. Of course, making the ride as comfortable as you would like is your priority - increasing your mileage before the ride will help enormously. We ride our first century (100 miles) soon after leaving Broome - day 2, in fact. We will ride 6 consecutive 100 kilometre days from the outset. In all we will have 20 days with over 100 kilometres. Rest days are every 4 or 5 days, so there is time to recover but you do need to be happy to ride 5 or 6 consecutive days over 100 kms a day.
Cycle Across Oz provides a unique opportunity to travel very cost effectively across Australia without risk and without losing that pioneering feeling. The trip is primarily a camping trip. We use 4 star caravan parks wherever possible, which have good facilities for dealing with camp life. We will be bush camping, in camps set up well off the road , on several nights when distances between towns are too great. For many, there is nothing better than camping under the stars to the light of a camp fire. On most nights, you can choose to upgrade your own accommodation by staying in a cabin or motel room in most but not all stops. So you need also to be comfortable enough camping in a tent after a day's riding.
Rather than provide all your food needs, we have had great success in leaving food under your control. We do provide evening meals in the bush camps and on specific nights along the way (for example, in Cossack). We also provide tea and biscuits for morning and afternoon breaks (when a ride includes an afternoon break). For the remainder of the time, you can then choose your own budget, your own styles of food and your own mix of eating out or eating in. Typically what riders have done is provide for breakfast in camp and lunch on the road and use local facilities (the pub or club or roadhouse or restaurant in town) for evening meals. The van does have cooking facilities and most caravan parks have too, making it possible to cook in camp should you so choose and whenever you choose.
Doesn't matter as long as you are comfortable on your bike. Road surfaces are good, favouring road bikes - no real need for mountain goat capability. On past trips, we have had a range of road bikes, more conventional touring bikes, hybrid bikes and mountain bikes. The unusual bike brigade has been represented by a Moulton, a Bike Friday and a Thorn tandem. Whatever you choose, your bike should be in good mechanical shape as there are long stretches between bike shops. There are bike shops in only Broome, Carnarvon, Karratha, Geraldton and Perth and some long gaps in between. You do need to be able to carry 2-3 litres water, provisions and spares for a day - no more than a pannier or handlebar bag will be needed.
© 2010 Cycle Across Oz ABN 17 420 128 935.
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