Why go East?

Well I can't really cycle much to the West, now can I?

Based in Perth, Western Australia, I'm sitting on the far western edge of this massive antipodean island continent. To the west there is 8000 miles of deep ocean swell, sharks and sea monsters - none of it very conducive to happy cycling. To the East it's over four thousand kilometers of endless cycling possibilities before I bump up against another oceanic impasse.

And I'll cross that one when I get there.

Why go slow?

My goal is simple: just start, go slow and easy, and see how far I can get. Borrowing from the old cowboy saying "sometimes slow is the fastest way to get it done right." I can easily overcook it and burn myself out in no time... I have a history of doing that.

Slowly East, that's the direction for this old man ...

Postscript:

You might note that the original date on this is October, 2013, but it's now mid August 2014. It' taken me that long to clear the backlog of personal commitments and responsibilities to start this journey. Winter is about finished, the winds are predominently in my favour (just saying that is tempting fate) and it's time to go. Some of my friends have noted that I might be procrastinating just a wee bit. Point taken and acknowledged, it's now time to get started.

If you're interested in the gear and bike I'm using, just check one of the two other rides I've documented on this site. Nothing much has changed. The bike is a reborn Kuwahara mtn bike, repurposed for long distance touring.

I'm using a Nexus tablet to connect to the world and update the blog. First time I've tried it, so I hope it works. I'm still trying to figure out how to get photos from my camera loaded onto this blog.

Camping gear is the usual stuff I've been dragging along with me for years - nothing special.