June 13, 2015
Is it possible to carry two weeks' worth of food on one bike?: Obviously
The traffic was lighter and generally less cruel in the morning as I cycled the last fifteen kilometres into Kalgoorlie-Boulder. This heaving metropolis was a bit of a shock to the system, and with its 31,000 residents was by far the biggest settlement I’d seen since Perth, or would again for at least the next 1,500 kilometres. A gold-rush town of wide boulevards, Kalgoorlie is still thriving thanks to modern-day mining and the ‘super-pit’ that makes aerial photos of the town look like it’s been hit by a giant meteorite.
My main concern during my brief stop in town was to visit the Woolworths, the cheap supermarket where I could buy groceries at a fraction of the price of the small stores, and at the square root of the price of the Nullarbor roadhouses. Knowing that the cost of food on that long empty stretch would be extortionate I wondered whether it would be possible to load my bike up with two weeks’ worth of food, and then set about trying. I got a fair bit, five loaves of bread, ten tins of beans, fifteen bags of cookies, a carrot, then loaded up the bike, realised that weight was more of an issue than space, but decided I could still carry more, so went in the Coles supermarket too, and bought a few more bags of cookies.
I wobbled out of town and decided to go and see the super pit, which, considering what I had just done, I was dismayed to realise was at the top of a steep gravel road. I cycled up anyway and was glad that I did, because it was incredible to look down on the pit, a man-made Grand Canyon, oversized dumper trucks looking like toys as they wound up around the sides. It was quite a testament to mankind’s enduring ability to dig very big holes. When I was a kid growing up in England I always thought that if I could only dig a hole deep enough I would find myself in Australia. Little did I know, but the Australians were already making some considerable progress in the opposite direction.
The riding beyond Kalgoorlie was uneventful on a less busy road south to the village of West Kambalda. The flies were very bad and as a consequence I couldn’t stop along the way, as my hat was too embarrassing to wear, even with no one around. I was surprised in West Kambalda, which was just a collection of bungalows (no one bothers with second floors when there's so much space to go around) out in the bush, to find another Woolworths. I’d managed to cycle okay from Kalgoorlie, so I reckoned I could chance getting a bit more on, so I went in and bought a bunch more cheap food. In total I’d now got $80 worth of groceries, mostly cookies, and I piled it up on the bike, which was by now the heaviest it had ever been, and let’s not forget also, that this weight was coming on top of Rich’s spare Marathon Plus which was still hung over the back. But as I swayed off into the sunset I felt a rush of excitement. I had my supplies now and it began to feel like I was off on a mighty expedition. The vast emptiness of the Nullarbor lay ahead.
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Distance completed: 736km
Distance to go: 3074km
Days to go: 25.5
Average distance required: 120.5km/day
Today's ride: 85 km (53 miles)
Total: 41,617 km (25,844 miles)
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