Cottesloe to Yealering 2003

Cottesloe to Yealering 2003 – 11 days, 586 km cumulative distance.

The aim of this trip was originally to visit Kulin, not because there is anything special there but because I have never been there and it has always been just out of reach, round the corner, a bit further down the track, but never on my way to or from anywhere on previous rides. As the title implies, another wimp-out occurred and I ended up visiting Yealering again.

I took my digital camera on this trip so it is the best-recorded trip ever. I took 48 pictures, but about a dozen of them were of orchids, reflecting my particular interest.

Charles A. Pierce

Other days on this Tour:

Daily Locations for this Tour:

Cottesloe to Pinjarra, day 1, Monday 13 October 2003. I rode down to Cottesloe station to get the train, only to have a thought when I got there: Did I pack the pump? A swift check revealed that in fact the pump was not there. Amazing that I should have thought of so much else but forgotten to put the pump in the bag! So I had to go back for it and get the later train. So the ride was to start 15 minutes later than planned.

The ride began at 10:58, 831 as I left Armadale station and headed up William Street to the South-western Highway. There was a strong south-westerly headwind and some showers, but the road is not too hilly and there were hundreds of big trucks going my way.  ... Read more

Pinjarra to Dwellingup, day 2, Tuesday 14 October 2003. I left Pinjarra Motel at 9:58 and rode up the South Western Highway to take a right turn up the Dwellingup road. The morning was cool with some sun, there was a westerly wind which was helpful all the way. The lady at the motel had asked me where I was going that day, I said Dwellingup, she said, ooh, it’s all uphill. But I knew that it wasn’t, just some of it, and I was prepared and would get off and walk if it got too hard.

I had a rest at 908 after 15km of gradually rising but not too difficult road. I was beside a pleasant scene of a hillside with rocks and trees and I took an analogue picture.  ... Read more

Dwellingup to Boddington, day 3, Wednesday 15 October 2003. I set off for Boddington on a cool sunny morning with no wind, but a helpful south-westerly was to arise as I proceeded.

The road was quite hilly, up and down through tall forest. I had only taken it once before, in the other direction, in 1999. I didn’t have a contour map of this region so didn’t know if the trend was downhill or uphill on this or the other occasion. I saw a big spider orchid beside the road as I rode along. I rested at 938 and 955 and arrived in Boddington at 971, 11:51. I felt as though I had done a good day’s work though the distance was only 52 km.  ... Read more

Boddington to Williams, day 4, Thursday 16 October 2003. The morning in Boddington was very foggy, thicker than you see fog in Perth, more like a good East Anglia fog in England. I didn’t rush to get going, I didn’t want to ride in fog, there were only another 50-odd km to do today and the road would not be so hard. The winds turned out to be helpful, moderate westerlies all day. The sun soon peeped through the dissipating fog and I left Boddington on a cool morning at 8:58.

I reached Crossman at 984. There seemed to be nothing there but a house until I turned onto the Albany Highway and looked north and saw the roadhouse beyond the house.  ... Read more

Williams to Wickepin, day 5, Friday 17 October 2003.

ANOTHER WIMP-OUT

When I awoke I found it hard to get up, I felt unable to manage the next two days, with two 70 kilometre runs. I did get up and get going, but this feeling on first waking up was the seed of the wimp-out to come.

I left the hotel at 8:23 am on a cool sunny morning, with winds westerly to south-westerly, a tailwind. The day became overcast as I went on. I went over the bridge and turned onto the Narrogin road, and took my first rest at 1044, at a concrete bench and seats conveniently set up beside the road. I was not carrying too many drinks – I was going to buy one in Narrogin to have at my second rest.  ... Read more

Wickepin to Yealering, day 6, Saturday 18 October 2003. I left Wickepin at 9:26. It was cold but sunny and the wind was a fresh west to south westerly tailwind. It would have been an ideal day to try for Kulin and had I been able to book into the motel, or had it been a different day of the week with the shops open, I might have gone ahead with that original plan.

I headed up the straight road that led to Kulin, climbing as it did so for some way out of Wickepin, then I turned left to head north to Yealering. The wind was still helping me.

I rested at 1114, at another stone bench and seats beside the road.  ... Read more

Yealering to Corrigin, day 7, Sunday 19 October 2003. The day was cool and sunny with west to north-westerly winds backing south-westerly. I got up before 8 and the place was silent, no-one stirred in or outside the hotel.

I went downstairs and started to get a breakfast. I couldn’t find any cutlery anywhere but did locate a couple of teaspoons and made do with them. A cat slept curled up on the kitchen table and a dog wandered quietly in and out. I eventually found some cereal, a couple of crusts of bread in the freezer, a pot of half-used margarine left out of the fridge on one of the dining room tables and a lot of little sachets of jam and marmalade.  ... Read more

Corrigin to Quairading, day 8, Monday 20 October 2003. I left Corrigin at 8:15 on a sunny, cool morning with a light south-westerly blowing. Another tail-wind. This was to be the luckiest ride ever for tailwinds. Pity I didn’t do more with them.

I crossed the railway line and turned right before the dam as planned. The road was sealed until at 1190 the gravel started. It was bikeable, so long as I was careful going down hills. The country was up and down as always.

I reached the Quairading road at 1197, so there had been 7 kilometres of gravel and the first signpost I saw suggested that I had saved no distance whatever. The stress of riding on gravel, and the dust gathered by the bike (bad for it), had been all for nothing, except that I had done new roads.  ... Read more

Quairading to York, day 9, Tuesday 21 October 2003. I left Quairading at 8:00 on a cool sunny morning with light north-easterly to south-easterly winds. Perfect tail-winds again. I took my first rest at 1275, leaned the bike against a tree.

As I was taking hold of the bike again I heard a snap as it bumped against the tree. I looked down and saw that a whole section of the right-hand pedal, a white plastic one, had broken away. It had had a bit broken off, and a crack in it, ever since I fitted it as a temporary expedient in 1999 when I was rushing to get the bike together for trials. It never got any worse so I just hadn’t got around to changing it for nearly 10000 kilometres.  ... Read more