Alice to Uluru

[diddy]

Awesome. Good start.

That is pretty much exactly what I want to do. But on a better bike. That video has me psyched.

[Bigadz]

Ahh, Prawza. Where’d he go?

[WestToastPete]

@Bigadz

Ahh, Prawza. Where’d he go?

Yeah, I liked him.

You doing it fixed diddy?

[diddy]

Hah, no. I’m taking the cushy geared option.

[WestToastPete]

Ah righto. Just that it’s in the Fixed Gear section so, you know…

[diddy]

Oh, you’re right. I just put it here because it didn’t really fit anywhere else.

[larfinboy]

@Bigadz

Ahh, Prawza. Where’d he go?

Indo for a semester of study

[Nat]

I drove adelaide to townsville via Darwin 2 or so years ago in summer and met two Germans riding it. Was over 40 degrees most days but they were planning to ride all the way from North to South.

Except for a few gradual up and down bits on the way to yulara it’s very flat and not too windy so you should be able to do good distance each day There’ll be water on the Stuart highway and the road between it and yulara every 100kms or so. Be prepared to carry 10L I guess? The Germans had 25 each… Crazy Germans.

[nikcee]

you should go into Commuter and ask for Big Will… He has plans to ride the Ghan Railway this winter. He will have some tips I’d guess.

Bike is already built (Surly ECR) and has been yarra trails tested. It’s a monster and super fun to ride over curbs!

[WestToastPete]

For most of Australia, I’m certainly one to carry quite a bit more water than I think I’ll need. I’d recommend a decent safety gap, but you probably won’t use it.

[dalai]

Getting me worried WCP. How much water were you each carrying on the Mawson?

[WestToastPete]

@WestcoastPete

Dalai, we had capacity for 22L plus five bidons. The only time we carried that much - between Wilpena and Hawker - we still had about 8L left after two days out in 43C heat. We could have taken less, but I’d rather have 8L spare if we ended up stuck out there for a bit.

I’d recommend the Sea To Summit reinforced goon bag style water bladders for storage; they were excellent. Way better than the old MSR Dromedary (which always tasted like rank) and much lighter/smaller. Cheap too.

From this old thread.

[dalai]

Thanks. That is just a tad more than the 5.2L I was planning on carrying…:eek:

[WestToastPete]

You’ll be going quicker than us though, and you should be able to get water from this hut I mentioned:

@WestcoastPete

The school holidays had just finished when we go there, so the easily accessible water tanks were empty. The Middlesight Water Hut had water though. Wilpena to Hawker was the longest stretch without reliable water, but there was probably water at this hut that we weren’t aware of until after we’d passed through (we saw it, we just didn’t realise it was for travellers). Otherwise, I reckon you’d be fine. We carried way too much food, especially because we were prepared to eat out a fair bit. Blinman doesn’t have a lot of packable food. Hawker has some. Quorn has heaps. Wilmington/Melrose have some. Laura has plenty. Spalding is pretty good. Riverton has plenty, the rest is fine.

5.2L isn’t a lot of room for error out there ATMO, but I’m overly anxious about these things, and I don’t mind carrying a bit of extra weight for it. Remember that cooking and coffee uses a bit.

[Seb]

A different ride to yours, but this movie is good fun. When they arrive at Uluru at the end it’s pretty awesome.

http://www.thereabouts.com.au/

[dalai]

Will be following this topic closely. Sounds like it will be a tough but also great trip!

@WestcoastPete

5.2L isn’t a lot of room for error out there ATMO

Thanks. Will reread your topic again over the weekend.

[larfinboy]

Chased up Prawi about his blog;
http://psotmn.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/cycling-mereenie-loop-to-uluru.html?m=1

[heavymetal]

Good story but. Not the biggest thread dig ever either.

[Hungry_Stu]

popcorn emoji

[prawza]

@Zach1

Didn’t some bloke on here move to the Alice with a Surly Steamroller and ride to the rock?

EDIT: This fella http://www.fixed.org.au/forums/showthread.php?t=30140&highlight=Uluru

http://psotmn.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/cycling-mereenie-loop-to-uluru.html

Bit late to the party fellas, I’m still alive! Rode from Alice to Uluru via the Mereenie Loop. Your longest stretch without water is the ~200km off road bit (~2days riding). My bike setup wasn’t ideal for touring but I just went with it. I had a polo bike with a front rack and 32c tyres… a fat tyre tourer would be able to handle it easy. Had just hiked the Larapinta trail so I had all my camping gear and food in a backpack.

You will need a permit for the Mereenie loop, technically you are not allowed to camp on the 200km stretch of gravel, but I didn’t really have much choice. Good luck!