Perth to Albany 1987

Perth to Albany, 12 day 779 km bicycle tour 1987. This Great Ride of 1987 was a major departure from previous rides, those between 1977-1985, and contained the ‘Chesapeake Road’ episode which has become a life metaphor and was referred to in the 1998 ride story (Cottesloe to Windy Harbour).

This ride was not surpassed for total distance and nights on the road until 1996 (Kelmscott to Rocky Gully), and that ride had a lower number of kilometres per day.

This story was originally written into a clone of an Apple IIE computer and printed on a crude early dot-matrix printer. That computer failed in 1989 and the 1987 story was faithfully copied, from a retrieved printout, into an XT computer with a slightly better printer.  ... Read more

Perth to Balingup, day 1, Monday 5 October 1987. Caught the Australind train to Bunbury. Fine, southerly headwind. Speedo read 11111 at Bunbury – the devil’s number. A bad omen? Time would tell.

I left the rail terminal just before 1 and headed down North Boyanup Road. First stop was Donnybrook where I rested a while. The going was hard because you rise steadily as you go down this road. At Kirup I stopped again for a drink and felt confident then that I would reach Balingup, which I did not long after 5pm.

Balingup Guest House: no soap or towels, no lock on the door. Huge German Shepherd, of whom the place smells, wandering about. $15. No food. Had to stumble through the darkened town and knock on the back door of a locked shop to get biscuits and pies and milk for dinner.  ... Read more

Balingup to Manijimup, day 2, Tuesday 6 October. I left for Manjimup at 8:53, rode over the bridge and up the steep curving hill past the ruined chimney. Got up Hester’s Hill before Bridgetown without getting off. Rested for drink and food at Bridgetown. The road is less hilly towards Manjimup. Just out of Bridgetown I passed 2 cyclists, one of whom had his bike upside down, and both were working on it. I asked if everything was all right and they said, yes thanks. A few kilometres on I looked back and they were right with me. One overtook me – I overtook him again, then fortunately they turned off to the left and the race wasn’t prolonged.

I got to Manjimup early afternoon and booked into the hotel.  ... Read more

Manjimup to Northcliffe, day 3, Wednesday 7 October. Sky overcast. Drizzle began as I turned right onto the Vasse Highway, heading for Pemberton. The gear levers began to squeak. I stopped in Pemberton for refreshments. A woman travelling around in a caravan with her husband came to ask my advice on bike-riding round the south-west. She showed me maps prepared to show bikies the way but they didn’t help with my immediate problem.

I resumed my journey, rolled down through Pemberton then began the long climb in bottom gear up that hill to the Northcliffe turnoff. With one short drink-stop I arrived at Northcliffe and booked into the hotel, usual routine, went shopping. It wasn’t till this point that I started to plan how I was going to get back to Bunbury, knowing I was committed to going back via Albany if I reached Walpole.  ... Read more

Northcliffe to Walpole and the Chesapeake Road, day 4, Thursday 8 October. I left Northcliffe at 7:07 on a cool but sunny morning with a light westerly, went down the Windy Harbour road for about 6km then turned left into Chesapeake Road. This was an exciting moment as I ventured beyond paved road into the unknown.

The surface was bikeable and the radio said that the westerly would strengthen during the day. Bumping and jarring were continuous, with regular skids. For some reason I find this sort of riding less mentally tedious, though more physically arduous, than riding on the smooth sealed highway – as long as I know how much gravel there is and have plenty of time to negotiate it.  ... Read more

Day 5, Walpole to Denmark, day 5, Friday 9 October. I decided to make a detour, on the way to Denmark, through the Valley of the Giants. I intended to stop at the first picnic spot shown on the map, then return to the SC highway via Rate Road, thereby not adding much to the day’s journey.

I couldn’t find the first picnic spot on Rate Road and ended up in the main picnic area, having to return to SC highway the long way round via Valley of the Giants Road, emerging at Bow Bridge. Anyway I had a picnic in the picnic area then took the walk trail. The ‘giants’ were tingle trees, giant in girth rather than height. They didn’t impress me as much as the karris at Northcliffe but were interesting by being burnt into huge hollow caves at the base, yet still living.  ... Read more

Day 6, Denmark to Albany, day 6, Saturday 10 October. The morning was sunny and cool but as I feared a strong and freshening wind blew from the east – the direction in which I was heading. I left shortly after 8 and was under pressure on this day because I wanted to get to Albany and find a decent supermarket before Saturday closing.

The country was most pleasant in the spring sunshine but I was gradually developing a pain in the legs from which I was not to recover, night or day, until after the end of the trip.

I ground on to Albany, finally descended between the two hills into the town and arrived at a Coles New World supermarket at 11:57, to find they were open until 1.  ... Read more

Albany to Mount Barker, day 7, Sunday 11 October. The roaring easterly that had blown all night and now freshened, helped me for the first few km, but was so strong that the effort of holding a straight riding line cancelled whatever relief it gave me.

By Narrikup it was blowing straight across my path. I stopped at the Narrikup country store, had a snack, looked at the arts and crafts. After climbing a steep hill 9km out of Mount Barker I looked back and could just see the twin hills of Albany. The wind was very slightly against me by now, backing ENE. It was noticeable how rapidly the country was turning from green to brown as I approached Mount Barker.  … Read more

Mount Barker to Cranbrook, day 8, Monday 12 October. The morning was overcast and the wind blew gale-force, spitting rain, from the north-east. I had thought the previous night that it would be good to turn right off the Albany Highway at Kendenup and take a detour through the western edge of the Stirlings. This would have nearly doubled the day’s ride and most of the addition would have been gravel with presumably many steep hills and sandbogs.

When I got to the Kendenup turnoff I felt the force of the opposing wind and saw the Stirlings becoming shrouded in rain or low cloud. I decided to save the Stirlings for a separate ride in the future. So my day’s ride was only 42km but it seemed hard enough.  … Read more

Cranbrook to Kojonup, day 9, Tuesday 13 October. The wind had shifted round to the north-west overnight but maintained its intensity. I was now heading north-west. I hoped that it might shift southerly during the day but there was no chance of that, according to the radio, because the approaching cold front wasn’t due through till night. Patchy showers fell.

The undulating country was pleasant but the ride was hard. I was glad at last to come to the top of a rise and see Kojonup spread out below, and to come abreast of a sign and see that it said KOJONUP. The motel unit was $27. It had a locked connecting door to the next unit and people there could be heard as clearly as though in my room.  ... Read more