Cottesloe to Harrismith 1999

Cottesloe to Harrismith 1999 – 11 days, 726 km cumulative distance. The aim of this trip was not decided at the outset. It depended on weather and wind conditions, how I felt and how the new bike, built with some difficulty and finally with some haste, would go. I was clear that I wanted to reach Wickepin on Day 4, but after that I would be flexible.

Originally I had planned to start from Albany and come back through Denmark and Walpole, visiting the Valley of the Giants and trying the new tree-top walk, but the ‘Walpole Problem’ of a 120 km gap with nowhere to stay between Walpole and Manjimup made me realise that I would have to come back through Northcliffe and up the South Western Highway, which I had only done the previous year.  ... Read more

Cottesloe to Mundaring, day 1, Sunday 10 October 1999. I took the train to Midland and started riding at 11:30, 78. After a few km I rode up Greenmount Hill, This was a good test for the new bike. I stopped once just to straighten up for a minute, after which I had caught my second wind and got up the rest of the hill with no trouble. The continuous ascent measured 5.8 km from Darling Range lodge to Bilgoman Road.

I reached Mundaring at 12:30, 95. I rode on to the Travellers’ Rest motel, 96, checked into Unit 3, had a swim in the pool, showered and changed, then, as when I have stayed there before, went on a bush walk behind the motel, to find the rare blue sun orchids that showed in such profusion in 1993.  ... Read more

Mundaring to York, day 2, Monday 11 October 1999. The morning was cool and cloudy with a light E headwind. This was to be the first big test of the ride, of the new bike and myself. I left Travellers Rest Motel at 8:15, 105, and reached The Lakes roadhouse at 8:55, 120. I had a drink and a rest then took the Great Southern highway. I rested again at 140, and as luck would have it found by the side of the road several of the rare blue sun orchids that I hadn’t found on my walk behind Travellers Rest Motel the previous afternoon.

I rested again at 156, then reached the Avon motel in York at 11:39, 167. On the downhill run into York I exceeded 50 kph and had trouble holding the bike on a straight course.  ... Read more

York to Pingelly, day 3, Tuesday 12 October 1999. The morning was cool and cloudy with a light N drift. I left the motel at 735, 167, and cycled east until I reached the start of the Top Beverley road, seeking to save a couple of km and avoid heavy traffic.

I rested at 190. The wind was very light, from the NW. I rode on through Beverley, 198, without stopping, and rested again at 213, by which time the wind had gone around to the SW, right against me, but it was still gentle. I reached Brookton at 11 am, 232. I had a long rest and drink here. I felt good and the bike was perfect, and the word ‘doddle’ occurred to me as I faced the last 20 km into Pingelly, which I reached at 253, 12:20.  ... Read more

Pingelly to Wickepin, day 4, Wednesday 13 October 1999. I left Pingelly for Wickepin at 8:13, 253, on a cool cloudy morning with a fresh NW wind. There were only a few spots of rain on the journey and I did not need to shelter.

After a climb up from Pingelly, the country was undulating and nice and green with lots of flowers. Herds of sheep galloped away from me. They seem more worried by a bike than by motor traffic. I rested at 272 and 292 and reached Wickepin at 11:18, 311.

The hotel was adequate but run-down – doors didn’t fit and were hard to open and shut, window fastenings and fly-screens were broken, renovations half-done and left some years ago.  ... Read more

Wickepin to Harrismith, day 5, Thursday 14 October 1999. The morning was cold and sunny with strong WSW turning to NW winds. I left the Wickepin Hotel at 8:41. The going was easy, as expected, and I didn’t need to shelter for the whole journey. Large storms passed to the north and south of me but I was in a corridor of clear weather and frequent sunshine the whole way. This was amazing luck. I had expected a day of general cloud cover with general rain, but this had already broken up into avoidable belts and patches of heavy rain moving across the land with wide spaces of clear weather.

I rested at 327 and 343 and rolled into Harrismith as expected at 357, 11:03.  ... Read more

Harrismith to Narrogin, day 6, Friday 15 October 1999. This loomed as the second challenge day of the trip, though more so than Day 3. I thought that if I made Narrogin on this day it would get progressively easier and I would get home all right. I was dismayed to find when I awoke that the wind had freshened again and was nearly as strong as the day before, and shifting NW. It looked as though another strong rain system was moving in, though the morning was sunny. Clouds gathered as the day went on.

I went into the hotel kitchen and made my breakfast. Another man was staying at the hotel and was doing the same. We sat and ate breakfast and read some of the papers that were lying about.  ... Read more

Narrogin to Williams, day 7, Saturday 16 October 1999. The day was cold and the wind was SW and moderate to fresh as I rolled away from the Narrogin motel at 9:30.

It was only 31 km to Williams by the shortest road so I decided to take the long way to look at the southern part of the Dryandra Woodland. I took the Narrogin-Congelin Road and reached the junction with Bradford Road, 446, and took a break. At this point I was going to decide whether to go further west and link up with Rosedale Road, or just go straight down Bradford Road to join Clayton Road and proceed to Williams. The roads to the west would be gravel and they didn’t look all that good at the start, so I decided to take Bradford Road.  ... Read more

Williams to Boddington, day 8, Sunday 17 October 1999. I left the motel at 8:30 on a cold sunny morning with a SE wind. I had risen at 7 and jumped straight into the pool without stopping to think whether I felt like it or not. The bracing experience was a great benefit. Some old ladies had been sitting well wrapped up at tables near the pool and screamed at my ‘bravery’.

I went down the road that leads through Quindanning. I could have taken a shorter way, straight up the Albany highway to a place called Crossman, then left onto Crossman Road and so into Boddington. I preferred the Quindanning way because it promised to be more scenic and I wanted to look at Quindanning, last visited in 1989, and the Boraning historic cemetery beside the road 9 km before that.  ... Read more

Boddington to Dwellingup day 9, Monday 18 October 1999. I left the Boddington Hotel at 9:07 on a cool fine sunny morning with light ESE winds. This would be an easy day. The wind was mainly behind me and the country was getting more forested. I had thought of taking an alternative route to get to the T-junction before taking the Dwellingup Road, or even bypassing the T-junction by going even further along the back tracks before joining the Dwellingup Road, but it seemed that those back tracks would be gravel and might be hilly, so I just went out of Boddington the same way I had come in, giving me a long climb, then a nice downhill run to the T-junction.  ... Read more