Most of the people reading this probably don't know that a "butt" of anything is a dangling but still countable chunk. As a West Point plebe, I never forgot to add the "butt" to the count of The Days to graduation, or when Army beats the Hell out of Navy, or whatever. The "butt" is important; you're almost there but you're not, and you've still got a good opportunity to fail.
Which is precisely what I felt like on 2 January when I pulled into Curtin Springs Roadhouse; disoriented, shaking, baking hot and still 83km from my goal. I was failing, and Australia's Red Center was definitely kicking my butt.
I spent a productive day in Alice Springs on 29DEC after getting off the Ghan. Alice is a nice little town with all the amenities of a nice little town. I was able to get some new gear that I wanted (thanx for the backup battery, Mom!) and some food and water at the well-stocked Woolworths. The trailer was top-heavy with over 18L of water, but I figured better safe than sorry. I spent the night at a local hostel and blew out of town as the sun was coming up the next morning. Flat road, good surface and no headwind; really good cycling conditions. So good in fact that I pulled into Stuart's Well roadhouse, 87km down the road, at about 1115, just as the sun was getting brutally hot.
I pushed on at 6PM and camped that night in a dry creekbed 25km further on, and rode the 77km to the Desert Oaks Roadhouse at the intersection of the Stuart and Lassiter Highways by about 1145 the next morning: New Year's Eve. Slower going, but I still dodged the bullet of the midday sun. Getting tired though. A good burger and a beer at the roadhouse perked me back up and I took off from there in pretty good spirits at 6PM - I figured it was a good omen when I found an awesome Northern Territory license plate to add to my trailer. Awesome!
I woke up hot and weak on New Year's Day. No cell signal, so I couldn't check the weather, but I could feel the heat already, even though the sun wasn't up. I took off down the road and stopped off at Mount Ebenezer Roadhouse at about 0930 to stock up on water, and then kept going.
By 1130, the sun was high and I felt like an ant under a kid's magnifying glass. My cool new Lawrence of Arabia turban was protecting my neck at least, but my legs were baking and my feet felt like I was walking on hot Texas sand in August. Time to stop; follow the protocol:
It's hard to describe the conditions. Crazy hot; so hot that the wind blowing over me was hot, and the rainfly felt like it was just collecting the heat and sending it on the me. Flies - thousands of them that make you want to tear your eyes out. Ants, large and small, everywhere. Fine red dust that blows around and gets into everything. It was a miserable 6 hours, and by the time 1800 came, I was sapped of anything close to strength. I rode another 20km or so and had to quit. That night was more of the same, and I woke up several times pooled in sweat. When the sun spilled over the horizon the morning of the 2nd, it was an orange, evil thing.
The next 47km into Curtin Springs was probably the hardest I've done yet. I was weak, and the idea of eating made me nauseous. Gusty headwind and blowing dust. All the water I had was either lukewarm or properly hot. I did 10km and rested, then did 8, then 5, then 3; I genuinely wasn't sure I was gonna make it without having to wait out the heat under a tree again, and part of me wasn't totally sure I was gonna make it through that, if it came to it.
But I did make it by about 1145, with the air around me hot like a blast furnace. 47km by 1145, when two days prior I had done 87km by 1115. Probably the lowest I've been on this whole trip, and if a room at Curtin Springs hadn't been so stupidly expensive ($90 for a tin room in the middle of nowhere? Please.) I would have stayed the night. Like two days before though, a burger, some chips, two beers, some crackers and a ham sandwich got me going again.....
..... and I rolled into Yulara, the tourist village outside Uluru, at about 0945 the next morning after a difficult-but-not-frightening 50km. I'm now swimming in pools, enjoying aircon and eating more than I've ever eaten before. And I've learned some lessons:
And here I am, fat dumb and happy again! I didn't come all the way out here and almost kill myself to NOT go climb Uluru, so I'm headed the ~15km to the Rock tomorrow morning at 0430; be there when the sun comes up, climb it, go on a guided walk, maybe ride my bike around it. That'll take most of the day, and the remaining butt of tomorrow? come back here and drink a beer by the pool! :-)
Which is precisely what I felt like on 2 January when I pulled into Curtin Springs Roadhouse; disoriented, shaking, baking hot and still 83km from my goal. I was failing, and Australia's Red Center was definitely kicking my butt.
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| Emus at Stuart's Well Roadhouse |
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| See my cool new license plate! |
I woke up hot and weak on New Year's Day. No cell signal, so I couldn't check the weather, but I could feel the heat already, even though the sun wasn't up. I took off down the road and stopped off at Mount Ebenezer Roadhouse at about 0930 to stock up on water, and then kept going.
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| The TE Lawrence Turban! |
1. Find roadside shade
2. Survey the area; find better shade away from the road
3. Move to better shade, deploy hammock rainfly as more shade
4.
Lie still. Drink water. Sleep, if possible2. Survey the area; find better shade away from the road
3. Move to better shade, deploy hammock rainfly as more shade
4.
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| Campsite, morning of 2Jan. Already HOT! |
The next 47km into Curtin Springs was probably the hardest I've done yet. I was weak, and the idea of eating made me nauseous. Gusty headwind and blowing dust. All the water I had was either lukewarm or properly hot. I did 10km and rested, then did 8, then 5, then 3; I genuinely wasn't sure I was gonna make it without having to wait out the heat under a tree again, and part of me wasn't totally sure I was gonna make it through that, if it came to it.
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| Local color at Curtin Springs |
..... and I rolled into Yulara, the tourist village outside Uluru, at about 0945 the next morning after a difficult-but-not-frightening 50km. I'm now swimming in pools, enjoying aircon and eating more than I've ever eaten before. And I've learned some lessons:
- Outback Australia really is as hot and miserable as they say. Deadly hot
- That said, if can keep eating and drinking, you'll be OK
- And the way to do that is to schedule your riding so that you can spend the afternoon in a roadhouse, NOT under a tree
And here I am, fat dumb and happy again! I didn't come all the way out here and almost kill myself to NOT go climb Uluru, so I'm headed the ~15km to the Rock tomorrow morning at 0430; be there when the sun comes up, climb it, go on a guided walk, maybe ride my bike around it. That'll take most of the day, and the remaining butt of tomorrow? come back here and drink a beer by the pool! :-)