Maps

Until recently I've been planning this trip as best I could using the internet and a country map of Australia that I purchased on a previous trip to the continent. The map was enough to get me started, but not enough to adequately prepare for an unsupported bicycle tour. My original map lacked any indication of rest stops, and other such bicycle-important items. However, I eventually found an excellent source for maps, the Royal Automobile Association of Australia:

http://www.raa.net/shop_products.asp?SecID=56&CatID=4

These maps are a great resource for the touring cyclist, including accurate distance markings, rest stops, road houses, Railway sidings, etc. For this particular trip I ordered the South Australia and Northern Territories State Road Maps, as well as the Outback South Australia map.

You can contact the RAA directly by writing to them at:
Automobile Association of the Northern Territory Inc.
GPO Box 2584
Darwin NT 0801
Australia

It Snows...

I've had another minor training setback today that came in the form of about 8 inches of SNOW last night...And so it snows, aaand it snows. As such I again find myself riding my trainer in the basement at the end of April--amazing!



More of a concern is that I'm also experiencing some pain and instability in my left knee. This has me somewhat worried. I'm guessing that there is stress on the knee due to poor spinal alignment or poor hip alignment and that a chiropractic adjustment or two will set things right. I'll be making an appointment to see Doc Walton this coming week.

My countdown timer indicates only 40 days until I leave for Melbourne, and the closer the departure date looms the more I find myself fretting about even the smallest things. It will be a great relief to have the first day of peddling behind me.

The New Wheels!!

Of course the sex-appeal of these photos is probably lost on all but the biggest bike geeks, but I had stars in my eyes when Dave Sears (Ski and Bike Shop, Grand Forks, ND) unveiled them for me!!




I'll be putting them through their paces this coming week, and I can hardly wait!

Spring Training

Well the snow has been gone all of two weeks in northern Minnesota... or at least mostly gone. I'm currently putting about 100-150 miles a week out on the road, in any weather. This past Tuesday was a treat with constant 30mph winds gusting to 40mph!! Fortunately the typical winds are between 12 and 20mph and a bit more bearable, if generally irritating.

I'll be doubling my mileage within the next two to three weeks, ultimately ending each week with a century ride by the time I leave for Australia. I have not yet began riding with panniers, but that too is coming in the next couple of weeks as soon as I get all my gear sorted and packed in it's more or less final "trip" form.

I'm told that my new wheels will be ready this weekend at the Ski and Bike shop in Grand Forks, ND and I can't wait to get miles on those Phil Wood hubs! Dave Sears has generously come out of "semi-retirement," imposed upon him by his grad school commitments, and built the wheels for me. Pat is rehabing a his post-surgery collarbone after his winterbiking crash, and so wheel-building would have been a new form of torture for him! I'm also having a Phil Wood bottom bracket installed, and I've decided that the bar-end shifters are going on as well.

My big concern is just basically staying healthy. Everyone in TRF seems to be getting the annual transitional season colds, flus and such. I really can't afford to get sick at this stage of training. So it's early to bed, super healthy eating, and enough vitamins and suppliments to kill a charging rhino...and of course no "fun" at all. God, do I LOVE training!!!