The return leg of my journey didn't get off to the best start. After waking up ready for an early departure, I managed to lock myself out of my room for 45 minutes and I don't really have any excuses either - it was completely my fault. Whilst heading outside to check the weather, the door …
Day 88 – Port Kenny to Port Lincoln….Halfway
I'm now in Port Lincoln which wasn't the original plan. The plan was to ride 100 miles as normal today then have a shorter day tomorrow to finish where I am now. Instead, I did it in one go. I'd be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind yesterday but I didn't …
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Day 87 – Ceduna to Port Kenny
I very nearly forgot to write this tonight, which is odd as you would have thought it was pretty much routine by now. When I said yesterday felt like the end of a leg, I think I let my guard down mentally. I woke up this morning feeling fine but with no real urgency to …
Day 86 – Nundroo to Ceduna
I’m not really sure what the wind was doing today, it seemed to keep changing but oh well, I’ve finished the Nullarbor Plains and am back in some kind of civilisation. I’ll no doubt head into the wind and out of civilisation again tomorrow but for now, I’m fairly pleased. My experience of cycling across the …
Day 85 – Nullabor to Nundroo
After an 8 hour sleep, I woke up feeling better than I have since Perth. Which considering I was having trouble eating last night, was a very nice surprise. The ride started where I left off yesterday and the first 2 hours riding into the wind were hard. After that, the road changed direction and …
Day 84 – Eucla to Nullabor
I woke up this morning to discover I hadn't recovered quite as much as I'd hoped. My body was still tired and I had a headache which stayed with me for most of the day. The situation did not improve as I started cycling. The wind had stuck around for a fifth day and the …
Day 83 – Madura to Eucla
The first couple of kilometres today were actually really enjoyable. Riding at sunrise with a completely cloudless sky is not a bad way to spend a morning. Unfortunately the headwind soon took its toll and my mood quickly deteriorated. The first 110 kilometres or so weren't as bad as the last few days. The perfect …
Day 82 – Caiguna to Madura
Today has not been the recovery day I was hoping for. I left about an hour later than expected/planned and after a few hundred metres I also lost 45 minutes on time difference. So despite having a slightly shorter day ahead, the prospect of a relaxing afternoon looked unlikely. This was emphasised by the wind …
Day 81 – Balladonia to Caiguna
Today has not been a good one. It started off well with a decent breakfast, but went downhill very rapidly once I started cycling. I've been looking forward to crossing the "90 Mile Straight" but every second of it was unpleasant. The boredom wasn't a problem - the wind was. It was as bad as …
Day 80 – Norseman to Balladonia
After adding about 4 kilos in food and water to my bike my confidence, when I set off, wasn't exactly sky-high. Having said that, I was looking forward to the Nullarbor in a weird way. For so long it's been a place I thought I'd never reach and now I'm here it's all a bit surreal. …
Day 79 – Esperance to Norseman
The first half of the day passed as normal - nothing happened. My legs took a couple of hours to wake up and I was a bit frustrated that the wind that would have been behind me had died off. Other than that, it was fine. Oh, I did also see the longest train in …
Day 78 – Ravensthorpe to Esperance
I'm aiming for an early night tonight, so I'm afraid this is going to be extremely short. The weather was cold, dull and occasionally wet and all this made for a very uninteresting day. (In terms of writing about it anyway). I also had a very strong headwind for much of it, so it wasn't …
Day 77 – Boxwood Hill to Ravensthorpe
I woke up in a tent this morning - so I was about as happy as you'd expect. I had planned everything slightly better than last time though - by this I mean I had absolutely everything I needed in my tent. The upside of this being that I didn't need to leave the relative …
Day 76 – Denmark to Boxwood Hill
Over the course of this trip I have discovered that any plans I make in the evening very rarely materialise. This morning for instance - I had set the alarm for 5am and had half hoped that I'd be able to get going at about 6.15... I didn't leave until nearly 7.00am. This morning was …
Day 75 – Pemberton to Denmark
I woke early to discover the inside wall of the outer layer of my tent completely soaking and instantly decided there was no way I was sorting it out with only a head torch. So I went back to sleep. I woke again just before sunrise. I think Pemberton is actually part of Antarctica on …
Day 74 – Bunbury to Pemberton
Riding out of Bunbury along the coast at sunrise wasn't a bad way to start the day. It was a shame this only lasted for about 10 minutes, as after that I headed inland a bit. Today's ride has been pretty good. The weather has been perfect; cloudless skies and temperatures in the mid-twenties have …
Day 73 – Perth to Bunbury
The last couple of days in Perth have been amazing and I need to start by thanking Damian, Lily, Jack, George, Lila and Annabel. I've had a brilliant time. Australia really has been great so far and the welcome I've received from pretty much everyone has been unprecedented. Perth has been added to a surprisingly …
A Summary of Leg 3 & 4 – Mandalay to Singapore
South East Asia has been great and leg 3 & 4 were both better (and easier) than the preceding two. I didn’t do a summary for leg 3 at the time so I’ll try to do it now.. Leg 3 - Mandalay to Hua-Hin: Distance: 1022.1miles / 1644.91kph Riding Time: 71:42:25 Av. Speed: 14.3mph / …
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Day 72 – Mersing to Singapore – End of Leg 4
I’ve reached Singapore and finished the fourth leg (This happened yesterday but I didn’t have time to write about it) The day started off with the rolling hills that I’d come across the day before. I felt good and I was looking forward to the finish but it wasn’t exactly easy (or fast) going. The …
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DAY 71 – Pekan to Mersing
Today started off really well and the first 50 miles passed in what felt like minutes. In fact that first 50 was probably one of the easiest I’ve ever done. I’m not quite sure what the wind was doing today, every time I went by a flag it was blowing in a different direction… But …
Day 70 – Dungun to Pekan
Today was good. I left early, and the wind was behaving for once. I must apologise for I am currently engrossed in the live updates of Paris-Roubaix so this write-up is playing second fiddle to that. Basically, once again not much happened considering I was out on the bike for over 6 hours. When the …
Day 69 – Bukit Keluang to Dungun
(Sorry this is late.. Just pretend it went up yesterday) I was shattered when I woke up this morning, despite having had the longest sleep I've had in about 4 days. I'd also served as a nice meal for about twenty mosquitos the evening before, so that didn't help. It felt a bit odd riding …
Day 68 – Belum Rainforest to Bukit Keluang
My legs didn't exactly get a warm up this morning. Pretty much straight away I was headed up a rather lengthy hill. It wasn't what I'd call easy going but it was good. Riding up through a rainforest with monkeys running across the road in front of you isn't something that happens very often. At …
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Day 67 – Alor Setar to Belum Rainforest
Today has finished very well, which I wouldn't have expected when I got up this morning. My legs were a bit stiff and the dates I'd bought weren't actually very nice. I didn't feel all that great when I started riding either. My arse was really painful and I couldn't get comfortable on the bike. …
Day 66 – Tamot (Thailand) to Alor Setar (Malaysia)
Another country ticked off, I have now made my way into Malaysia... The problem with this is that I have lost an hour on time difference, so I'm setting a new record with how late I'm writing this. I think I'm currently due to be getting about 5 and a half hours sleep so please …
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Day 65 – Somewhere in Thailand to Tamot
Today was very similar to yesterday. It was hot, not much happened and I’m now staying in another very basic place. When the days are this uneventful, the hours pass fairly quickly. The miles blur together from the start and my brain activity hits very close to zero. Now the downside is that I have …
Day 64 – Lang Suan to somewhere slightly south of Khao Niphan
The ride today was fairly uneventful. Once again it was seriously hot but I managed it a bit better than yesterday. I hit 10,000km very early on, but other than that, I don't have much to mention. My room tonight largely resembles a garage and apart from having air-con, I would've rather camped outside a …
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Day 63 – Bang Saphan to Lang Suan
Nothing really happened for the first half of today. As per usual, I’ve left this far too late to write so I’ll be brief. After about 90km, whilst taking a break, I met another couple who were also cycle touring. Matt and Casey, if you’re reading this, it was really good to meet you and …
Day 62 – Hua Hin to Bang Saphan
I know I haven't posted in days but I'm afraid this will probably still be a short one. The last five days with my family have been great. There was also a very good bike shop in town (Hua Hin Bikes). All problems have been fixed and it has been given a proper service. Other …
Day 61 – Don Tum to Hua-Hin – End of Leg 3
Sorry there wasn't anything posted yesterday. I didn't have internet and my parents were on a plane. Yesterday started in a bit of a thunderstorm and it was all a bit wet. I guess it's been a lot shorter than the other two, but it also didn't really feel like the end of a leg. …
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Tom Davies RTW 