Patty's ride 2023

18/07/2023

day 6 2/feb

during the night I was starting to have some serious pain in my lower back while I was lying down it was very painful but bearable but when I woke and decided to get up I knew I was in serious trouble when I tried to stand my lower back would spasm with agonizing pain shooting through my spine. The pain was paralizing, it took me two hours just to pack up my genny and sleeping bag.Thankfully id bought a supply of panodein forte and endone tablets. And I needed 2 of each before I was able to walk Once I was sitting on the bike and riding it was bearable. But I was still struggling.
An hour or 2 of riding alongside the beautiful snowy river I passed into NSW and into the Kosiosko National Park. . About mid morning I stopped at a campsite beside the river to have a coffee and get some water.. there was a guy parked there having a break so I stopped and had a chat while I was having a coffee and charging my batteries a bit. While we were there a park ranger stopped to see if we were camping, she was driving through the park letting people know that the fire danger level had changed. She told me that I had another 30km to go before the rode started to climb up out of the river valley toward Jindabyne. So I asked if it was convenient would she give me a lift up the worst part of the road.
I spent the next couple of hours riding beside that magnificent river and half an hour after I started climing out of the valley the ranger lady picked me up and gave me a lift up the mountain to the lookout that looked back over the snowy river valley. .when she dropped me of shed told me I was not far from Jindabyne and the was only a few rolling hills on the way. She was a really nice girl who gave me a bottle of ice water when she dropped me off. But three hours of climbing up and down hills later I was starting to wonder if she even knew where Jindabyne was.
I found a sheltered spot in the caravan park and set up my tent there was a strong wind coming and the weather was predicting snow. Which seemed so strange after the intense heat id been dealing with all week, sure enough it snowed that night and the next day was blizzards all day so I spent most of the time in my tent the next day except for getting some brake pads and doing some desperately needed maintenance I didnt take any pictures around Jyndabine maybe because it was so cold. I didnt have any cold weather clothes so I didnt get out much.

10/07/2023

day 5 1feb

At dawn I was very rudely awaken by the sound of a herd of Brumbies galloping past my tent by the time I got out of the tent they were gone but there was on magnificent brown horse standing just across the creek watching me. He stood there for qite a few minutes while I got some pictures and bit of video. Then he walked off into the bush. I packed up and got moving again by 8.00 ish, the next 4 hours were spent climbing some horribly steep mountains with short sharp downhill sections in between. Id only seen about 2 cars and a guy on an adventure bike. It was such a big beautiful place. And no people in it. Although I did come across a few park rangers and vic fire service workers.
Around the middle of the day I came across a track which opened into a beautiful little mountain meadow with some campsites in it and fantastic views. I had lunch there and kept going a couple hours later I came out of the bush into an open area of farmland, there were two guys working on a bridge and as I rode up one of the men, an old bloke nearly 70 by the look of him when I stopped to say gday he stood up and looked me up and down, then looked up at the mountain range id just rode through, then informed me in a very matter of fact way that I was f-----ing nuts. I just laughed and said I agreed with him. And kept riding toward wulgulmerang
it seemed funny coming into a farm area hundreds of km from civilisation. Right in between the alpine national park and Kosiosko national parks.
After I turned onto the snowy river road. And headed toward Suggan Buggan. Which was an old mining town. The Suggan Buggan road was an extemely steep decent for 20 odd km of very steep stretches with hairpins winding its way down the mountain. Id only gone a few km before my back brakes were metal on metal and a half hour later my front brakes were gone as well. Thankfully I had spare back brakes so I was able to change them but it was pretty tricky going with only back brakes, I had to spend a lot of time walking down the steepest parts. It was almost and it was 7.30 by the time I sighted the snowy river. It was the most amazing view. Coming down the mountain with that beautiful river in front of me.
It was nearly dark as I found a camp and id been riding almost 12 hours, so I started the generator threw my tarp on the ground and slept like a log with the generator rattling away beside my head.,

06/07/2023

31/1/23 day 4
in the morning there was a cropduster working on the farm next to where I was so I spent a good half hour watching him swoop down and almost pull the aircraft onto its back as he did a wing over at the end of each run. I never even thought to get my phone out and video him until it was to late and hed landed at the airport just on the other end of the footy ground.
I packed up my gear and headed out of Benembra on the limehouse road heading east. The first 25km was nice bitumen road through nice farmland. Then the road stated to deteriorate as I got further away from civilization. The corrugated road was jaring my back pretty bad and it only took an hour before my little trailer broke its frame.. I tried to fix it but it was a lost cause, so I decided to ditch it. I loaded it with a heap of food that I could do without. Some clothes my airbed and loaded the bike up with the generator on the front rack, food in my small front bags, clothes and chargers and cooking gear in the rear bags, with my tent and sleeping bag and tarp tied on top.
An hour later I started climbing up into the mountains. I hadnt been careful with the batteries, so after 5km or so of steep climbing both batteries had gone flat. And I was left with a very heavey bike. I thought I must be getting close to the Native Dog Flats campsie. So I started pushing. Id spent an hour pushing always thinking that each corner would surely be the top of the hill. After about an hour of this I decided to stop and try and charge my batteries. I was so tired that I slept an hour on the rocky ground while I put a bit of life into them. It was nearly 4 hours and 2 more mountain ranges before I finally made it to the Native dog flats campground .
The campsite was deserted except for a white Jeep with a swag next to it. I rode up to the camp. And the young guy was extremely friendly and handed me a Jack Daniels and coke can. Which was empty within seconds. The campsite was amazing with a beautiful mountain stream running through it. I camped on the grass right beside the creek had some baked beans for tea. Then spent an hour or so chatting with the young guy I think his name was Don. And there was a group of Botonists with a park Ranger escorting them camped nearby who were collecting samples. So we both went over and annoyed them for awhile.

29/06/2023

thie morning of the third day.it had stopped raining so I packed up and started heading to Omeo' the last 15 km or so to Omeo was a fairly serious climb. It was stinking hot and I hadn't had a chance to get drinking water so I was terribly thirsty , I came across a crew of road workers with trucks and vehicles so I thought I might be able to scrounge up a bit of water. The guy in charge was obviously having a bad day. they were having trouble getting the trailer ramps to go down, id said gday and asked if I could pinch some water out of the water tank on the ute. One of the younger guys was about to say something, when the boss bloke jumps in and say “No sorry we're not having a good day, weve been stuck here for hours trying to fix this” I was about to offer to fix the truck for them since it was obvious none of them were experts in hydraulics. But the guy was pretty keen to get rid of me so I rode off to leave them in peace. I did feel a bit bad since I could have swapped the solenoid in 5 minutes. And got them going. But the mood the guy was in he probably wouldn't have believed me if I told him I was a mechanic.. so I kept climbing steadily up the steep winding road.
I really liked Omeo it was a lovely town. The ladies in the visitors center were more than happy to help me with maps and advice. Then I went over the road to buy some fuel. A guy called David came over and said g”day and told me he was a mad keen mountain bike rider and he and his wife were wanting to ride a tandem from England to Australia. He spent half an hour telling me about the best route I should use from Omeo through the Victorian alps to over to the Snowey river and then north to Jyndabine. and marked the campsites on my map for me.
So after leaving Omeo I headed north and got to the little town of Benambra.
The lady at the general store told me to camp at the footy ground so I headed down to take a look. There was a nice footy ground with club rooms but the toilet blocks were completely run down and a pigsty. After looking around I found a nice spot for the tent near a power point on the wall, after id set up the tent id found a water tap and pump and was able to get some water to the taps in the toilet blocks.
So there I was stripped naked in the old toilet block tipping water over me from a empty stubby having a bath. Covered on shampoo when the water started to dwindle off. I was thinking id have to stumble around the place blindly trying to fix the water when I heard a voice shouting out. I yelled out “youd better not come in here buddy there's a naked fat man trying to have a wash” “there is a man in there having a wash he answered, do you want me to put the water back on”. i realised he must have walked in behind me . saw me bare assed naked covered in suds then gone and turned the water off. I wanted to call him a prick but I was pretty desperate to get the soap out of my eyes. so i just yelled Yes Please. . Poor bloke I wonder how long it will take to get rid of the memory of my fat arse covered in suds. He was a local sheep farmer and was just there to collect the camping fee. we spent half an hour talking, and him telling about he road id be travelling on over the next few days and what options I had if I didn't want to go that way.

26/06/2023

i didnt take any pictures on the second day of riding. as i was leaving Tambo crossing it started drizzling and stayed like that all day. i couldnt see very much and it was just wet and miserable all day. i had a little bit of climbing to do but it was reasonably flat going and i covered 50 km by about 6.00 that night, by then i was so knackered and soaked to the skin so i gave up and camped in a bit of bush beside the road, crawled into my wet sleeping bag and dreamed about growing some common sense and going home.

25/06/2023

As i was saying the other night im going to put up pictures from when i started and put a day at a time. I left tassie on Jan 25 and after a couple days getting ready Franky and George drove me acroos the bottom of victoria to Bairnsdale. George is the good looking one keeping a close eye on his dad to make sure we were going the right way. I only rode 25 km the first day over one range and camped at tambo crossing. That is the Tambo river in that picture. I had my first crash that day. And i probably would have given up if Frankie hadnt told me he wasnt going to do that drive twice.

23/06/2023

i had been planning to fly back to Mackay tomorrow and continue torture my old fat body by continuing north , however Denises ankle has deteriorated to such a point that she is now in constant pain and cannot even place the foot on the ground without being in agony so since she is wheelchair bound again im postponing the northern part of the trip and we will start making a fuss to try and get the surgery done that she needs Shane middleton is very kindly storing my bike and gear for me until i return. while im being a nursemaid to an old grannie im writing down the day by day details of the ride from Melbourne to Mackay and as i didnt start this page until id crossed into queensland im going to start putting up the day by day pictures i took and try to give an account of the ride so far from the bottom up to Mackay. ill also be trying to build a better bikepacking setup which i think ill need if im going to try and keep going north past Cooktown to cape york. . and ill need to sell my Trans am to pay for the trip. so if anyone want a beautiful firebird Trans Am just let me know. ill start posting in the next couple of days.

19/04/2023

ive booked my return tickets to Mackay ill be continuing my ride at the end of june im at home at the moment to raise enough money to finish and wait for cooler weather up north.

11/04/2023

Decided im going to go home and have a break for a month while i sell my boat and some other stuff to set myself up better. Then come back to mackay in june or july and finish the top half of the ride. When its cooler. I dont want to do anymore hyway riding that is too nerve wracking. So when i come back ill stick to the bicentenial trail properly. Im also thinking of getting a better trailer so i can take a generator again from now on it gets pretty remote as i go north and i dont want to be relying on towns for power. Im also thinking of making a different motor setup so that its more efficient. My main problem though i my body weight and back pain. I havent lost anything like the weight id hoped to so while im home im really going to have to try harder to get some off so that i can carry more water and supplies. Thanks for your support. Im much happier about taking a break now than i was when i was in nsw.

10/04/2023

Is it bad that Shanes beer tastes better while im watching him mow the lawn.

09/04/2023

Finally made it through to Mackay staying at shanes place till tuesday. the ride from rocky to here was the most friightening thing ive done so far. Easter traffic on the bruce hyway was crazy completely different to the rural mountain roads, where the drivers are considerate. Comming up the great divide i almost always the trucks would slow a little and give me a chance to get off the road and let them pass. But the Bruce hyway was madness anyway im in Mackay ive covered almost 3000km almost 2000 since i thought id have to give up because of back pain. Thank you so much to the people who have helped with funds. I would have had to go home from brisbane without that financial help. That enormous spider buit a web on my bike. I very nearly just left the bike and walk the rest of the way. But i found a nice long branch to move him . That might have to be the end of me sleeeping in bush caravan parks. Pubs and motels from now on. 30 bucks a night for tent sights these days some pub rooms are almost as cheap..

06/04/2023

Stopped in clairview to charge my batteries and have a crab sandwitch for lunch. Horrible view. Beach doesnt look nice at all

06/04/2023

If you guys think what im doing is hard take a look at this guy that i met this morning. Hes riding around the world. And hes not using an e bike

06/04/2023

Obviously i should have stayed in rocky for Easter so i could have gone to the rocky nats. Id been passing heaps of classic cars yesterday all heading south. I thought something must be going on. Then these guys pulled into the rest area where i camped last night

04/04/2023

Spent the afternoon getting to marlborough. Charged my batteries at the road house but it was dark by the time they were done so im being a bum sleeping in thekids play ground out the back. Ill be gone before daylight. In the past couple months ive come accross pretty much everything imaginable on the side of the rode. An enormous truck over the edge of the mountain. Half a dozen written off cars laying in ditches or over banks. Enough car parts scattereed along the road to build a car. Ive even found a suitcase full. Of kids clothes. A smart tv still in the box. But the sewing machine lying in the grass today made me look twice . First one ive foundd lol

04/04/2023

Stayed at my cousins for 2 days in emu park. Beautiful place i probably spent a lttle bit too much time in the pub bu thats where Ryle was a fair bit of the time working. He let me use his shed. Which is set up with its own bathroom kitchen washer and dryer so i was able to get all my stuff dried outfrom being drenched on saturday. I spent some time bombing around on his little 150 cc scoota ive ridden heaps of bikes over the years but that scoota was a weapon. Lol . This mornig i had to get up at 3.30 so i could get a lift into rocky with Ryles mate which gave me an early start. Its midday now and i think im halfway to Malborough. I had my first actual puncture today. It was almost nice knowing i could patch it and i hadnt torn another tube. Ive run over 2 little snakes on the side of the hyway. Im pretty sure theyre taipans. Although i havent seen one since i was a kid and i was not about to stop and have a look.

02/04/2023

Got myself a nice new wheel in gladstone . Hopefully this will cure the breaking spokkes issue for awhile. Although the front wheel popped one the other day. I did another 100k + ride on saturday 45 of which were in the pouring rain
Out toEmu park to catch up with my cousin Ryle. I love ths place. Might stay for a couple of days and park myself on a beach for awhile. Ryle has got a fantastic shed. I stole his scoota yesterday went for a burn round town might take it out for a tour of the districk again today.

31/03/2023

I didnt take any photos today but i rode 140km left Builyan at 7.30 got to Gladstone which was 105km found an excellent bike shop the manager Sam at m1 cycles fixed me up with a brand new wheel and pretty much gave me a tyre and tube free. . So while we were working on the bike i got a luttle bit of charge into the batteries. And thought i could make it 35 ks to my Larcom. WRONG. i had to do the last 15ks in the dark with no peddle assist. . Longest hour of my life i recon. But i made it . Id like to thank people for helping me on the gofund me page. I was able to get a brand new rear wheel today and a chain and a few other things. Thankyou very much. I popped three spokes in the back wheel today. The wheel was hitting the frame. The chain was jumping so bad i was sure it was going to spit it off. It reminded me of the end of blues brothers when the old car just fell to pieces. . Couple hours in the bike shop made a world of difference. .

30/03/2023

Left mulgildie headed to kalpower and found th rail trail down to builyan the tunnells were pretty impressive thanks Robbie. But i didnt get into Builyan until 6.00 soaking wet covered in mud. The railway line was carved into the side of the mountain pass. Very specky.

28/03/2023

UUHH HAAA. i told Denise that the thing that scared me in the dark was a bunyip and she made fun of me and said bunyips dont go that far north. . So check this out Woman. A real live Bunyip. (Sort of).

26/03/2023

Been head down bum up for a couple days. Camped friday night next to a homeless guy. Carl and his dog Wally. Carl looked like he hadnt seen a decent feed in years but wally was was well fed and spoilt. Funny how even though this guy had nothing he still came over to offer me a tarp in case my tent leaked in the storm. Did about 70km on saturday and sayed at Ban Ban springs saturday night. That was a nice spot. The spring was awsome. Sunday rode through to Mundubbera. Robbie the local policeman spent an hour with me. Telling me how to find the best local rail trails. . Everybody i meet have been wonderfull. Everybody loves to talk about their local area and help me see it its been a very humbling experience for me to experience the kindness and friendship from so many people everywhere i go. Broke a couple of spokes yesterday. So i hope the old girl can hild together until i can find a bike shop.

24/03/2023

Grrr why is it that ive been riding like mad all week more tthat 250km and when i check google maps cooktown is only 50km closer than last week.

24/03/2023

Stayed on the old ww2 airbase at kingaroy last night which belongs to the heritage machinary museum now. Very cool old peanut harvesters. Jumped onto to railtrail which was very nice for 40km tarmac and slight downhill grade most of the way. Camping at murgon. Might stay for the weekend

23/03/2023

https://www.gofundme.com/f/pats-bike-ride-2023?utm_source=messenger&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

Pat set out on an adventure and left Tassie on the 25th January with the goal of following th… Courtney-Anne Ryan needs your support for Pat's Bike Ride 2023

23/03/2023

Had a pretty good day today didnt get wet or break down. Left blackbum about 10.30 to finish the railtrail met up with this guy on the trike. Had a sit in it very comfortable but not sure it would go the places i go. Pretty nice scenery along the trail. After lunch i headed through to Nanango then out to Kingaroy. So i can get onto the Kingaroy to kilkivan rail trail tomorow. Did about 65km all up today and besides my legs on fire i feel pretty good. Ill wake up pretty stiff and sore. Stopped at this vintage machinary club and the guy let me camp here. Nice and quiet only a couple km out of kingaroy and got the whole property to myself. Even got a couple of massey 35s to cuddle up to through the night.

22/03/2023

Just a pic for Denise of a goanna and another of the tunnel

22/03/2023

So i left toogoolala at about lunchtime i was mucking about waiting for the rain to stop the halfway to blackbutt it started raining again. So i arrived at blackbut in the dark soaked to to skin. The caretaker at the showground let me roll out my bedroll under a shelter so i can try and dry out my gear. . There is an awsome ol tunnel on the trail built 1910. Came across a big bluestone quarry where that old crane was out in the paddock. Climbed back up onto the range. Farmland dissapeared lots of rainforests. Now. Ill be heading toward nanango tomorow i think. Bug thanks to the people helping me out on my gofund page. I need some of it to finish and get home whatever i dont need for the ride ill donate. So keep helping i think its only reasonable that i donate a million bucks and ill at least need a couple grand for cider and spa motels. . Actually im sleeping on a concrete floor again. Bit of a luxury compared to the horse stall at tenterfield.

21/03/2023

Rode along the rail trail to toogoolagah today it was 85 km. being a rail trail it was quite mild hills. But i really struggled. I seem to be getting weaker instead of stronger. Its a beautiful trail though. Certainly worth doing. . Im not sure if i can reach blackbutt tomorow. But ill try im staying in a pub tonight i can bend again without heaps of pain. I thinks its the rough trail that causes it. Or falling out of bed.

21/03/2023

Left Brassall this morning. After i fell out of bed at 5 oclock. Trashing the room and rudly waking Cliff and Yvonne. At least i got on the road ealry. I would like to say thankyou to the guys for contributing to the gofund. I must admit i took a long time deciding to do that. Im not very good at excepting help. It is a very humbling experience and i will try very hard not to let anyone down. Richard, Carl. Shane. And Joey of course. although Joey has alreadly lent me a heap. I wonder if he realises dads dont have to pay back money to their kids. Not that it matters hes already pinched my ute. I spose the car is next. .anyway. guys thankyou. Now i have to pull my finger out and cover some serious miles.

20/03/2023

https://www.gofundme.com/f/pats-bike-ride-2023?utm_source=messenger&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

20/03/2023

Hi this is my 2023 ride page from now on ill be posting my ride pics and posts onto this page. I have so far ridden my ebike from victoria to ipswitch and now i will be continuing north to try and complete the great divide. The past month has been very difficult. With lots of mechanical problems and chronic back pain. I am getting Courtney anne to set up a go fund me page to help me complete the ride if any businesses wish to help i will be more than happy to promote them. Any money left after the ride would be donated to the melbourne childrens hospital or a charity like that. Im hoping to be doing a long distance ride every year from now on so when i return home i will be building my next bike with the knowledge and experiece ive gotten on this ride.