Luang Prabang was an interesting place. The town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, cycling around, it was easy to understand why. The city has a charm all of its own. It was also easy to see why the UN was contemplating taking the title from them as it was changing very quickly. It seemed [...]
READ MORE »Posts in category Stage 1
The hardy back roads of Laos – Part 2
… continued from a previous post. In the valleys, I pushed my bike across the gravelly river beds and usually ended up giving Ruby (the bike) and myself a bath at the same time. Fortunately, with the airtight panniers, the bike could float across if need be but, being the middle of the dry season [...]
READ MORE »The hardy back roads of Laos – Part 1
With an unusual rattling sound, followed by a ‘tink, tink, tink’ and a loud ‘SNAP!’, I knew I was in trouble. It was coming from the rear wheel and I hoped that it wasn’t anything major. The roads were some of the most gruelling I’d experienced on the expedition to date and both myself and [...]
READ MORE »Paths diverge
I was quietly proud of my good friend Hannah. Three months on a bike, living on a miniscule budget and having cycled the length of Thailand, Hannah decided to continue riding solo into China. She’d hardly ridden a bike prior to this and now, after 3500 km from Malaysia to Laos, was ready to take on the [...]
READ MORE »A cycling legend and the small town of Pai…
It felt good leaving Bangkok. Between the noise, the pollution and the traffic, the week there left me feeling drained. Hannah, Gemma and I had a quiet Christmas at Hannah’s place in the middle of the city. I spent most of Christmas Day with Ruby (the bike) cleaning, repairing and doing scheduled maintenance on the Rohloff [...]
READ MORE »A visiting cyclist
On the road again, I felt at ease. It was my ‘un-comfort’ zone, not knowing where I was going to sleep, not knowing what lay ahead and in all of it, learning to say yes to it all. With Buddhist temples everywhere in Thailand, we could always find a place to stay if needed and food [...]
READ MORE »Massage with no happy endings
Males and females. We grow up together, live together, copulate together and grow old together (in no particular order), but we may never fully understand each other. One is from Mars the other Venus - yes we’ve heard it all before. But sometimes a unique experience can give you an insight into what it must be [...]
READ MORE »Camp Nightmare
After leaving Phuket, we headed north toward Surithani. The incredibly dramatic rock formations left me in awe of my surrounds as we continued north. Once again we met some incredible people who were happy to help us on our journey offering us a place to stay for the night. Hannah, Gemma and myself were invited [...]
READ MORE »A feast for the senses
Hannah and I left Langkawi Island headed for the small port city of Satun in Southern Thailand. It had been raining all day and we were both wet and tired. We rode around Langkawi during the day and fortunately managed to arrive in time to catch the last ferry. I stripped the bags off the [...]
READ MORE »The push into the Himalayas
A BIG hello to all my friends and family from Northern Thailand! Updates The Cycle Strongman Expedition (CSX) is in full steam and approaching its second year. Hard to believe that a nearly a year ago I pedalled from Newcastle, Australia full of enthusiasm with a bold ambition to cycle the globe! Today I am [...]
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