Ravenswood

Cottesloe to Harvey, day 1, Monday 27 November 1978. I hoped that this ride would be better than 1977, learning from the mistakes of the previous year. Unfortunately I didn’t know what all the mistakes were. But one had certainly been, starting too late on a hot morning. So I decided to start at sunrise, which at that time of year is not long after 5 am. I had no definite objective, I was just going to see how far I could get in one day.

I rose at 4:30 and I always remember the cacophony of bird-song in the summer morning twilight. I got my stuff together, the same bags as before, the same hat, the same clothes, then set off as the sun rose.  ... Read more

Ravenswood in a small town in the Peel region of Western Australia. The town is located along Pinjarra Road and on the banks of the Murray River. The town retains the name it was given as a property which was established in the 1840s.

Waroona to Mandurah, day 12, Saturday 26 October 1996. I didn’t need to wake up or get going early, so after a nice breakfast enjoyed while reading and watching TV video hits, followed by another swim, then a hot shower, I rode away from the motel at 8:56.

The problem with the ratchet in the cluster, which hadn’t got much worse since Kojonup, took a turn for the worse this morning. In addition, I was getting along in top gear, the smallest cog on the cluster, and what started to happen now was that if I stopped pedalling the chain would suddenly flip back as though something had been wound up. This flipping could be so sudden that the chain would come off.  ... Read more