It became apparent fairly early on that my plan to ride to Europe through Asia was going to be difficult at best and probably impossible for me. Myanmar has all its land borders closed so getting from SE Asia to India would mean going via China. The difficulties of passing through China as an independent traveler were too much for me to cope with. Add to this the Iranian/Israel conflict to complicate matters further. The option of travelling via Korea to Russia and crossing Mongolia to Kazakhstan really appeals but until the Ukraine crisis abates the risk of becoming a prisoner swap was too great a risk. Azerbaijan also has border restrictions in place that may have thwarted further travel there anyway 🙁
Irksome experiences and solutions:
1. One of my poorest decisions was to take a 2 wheeled trailer. The variable road shoulder and rumble strips restricted my ability to travel considerately with other road traffic. The left wheel on the trailer got a really hard time bouncing along the seal edge resulting in excessive tyre wear, spoke breakages, more energy required to pull it and stress on me that was unwelcome. An ExtraWheel trailer has been ordered.
2. Solar panels are advancing apace and as a result of changing the trailer I have elected to just have one 430W panel on the bike to replace the 2x 200W panels. The new panel is the same 2m length as the previous panels but just over 1m wide, an extra 30cm wider. This panel is not as flexible as the previous ones so will be travelling as oversize check-in bag. Worse case scenario is sending it as freight when travelling between countries but I am hopeful (having read the oversize criteria for AirNZ) that it will travel with me. This will make little difference to my footprint on the road as I will now be able to travel closer to the road edge with the single wheel trailer and indeed be able to travel between the rumble strip and road verge where many times I could not fit previously with the 2 wheeled trailer. I am looking forward to less electrical connections that can fail.
3. The trekking pole stand worked really well as a concept but the pole I was using had a twist lock mechanism that often failed when I didn’t twist it firmly enough or jammed tight when I twisted it too aggressively. I am looking for a flip lock option to replace this.
4. After 8 hours or more in the seat I experienced slight uncomfortable rubbing of the shoulder blades. I have added padding to the upper centre of the seat so the pressure is more on the upper backbone area.
5. Having a Nemo Osmo Dragonfly tent that requires setting up the inner and placing the fly cover over it afterward means exposing the inner to the rain (very occasional for a solar bike enthusiast 🙂 ) when setting up. The tent has many attributes that I really enjoy other than this so am working my way through other options but may well keep it and live with this inconvenience. Adding an extra guy line to the bottom of the foot panel on the fly stops the bottom of the sleeping bag coming in contact with the fly during the night.
Gear that worked better than expected:
1. The Varia tail light. I got repeated comments that I was highly visible from behind with the brightness and variable strobing of the light. Getting an audio and visual representation on my watch face (mounted above my phone) of anyone approaching within 140m behind me was invaluable when road conditions were challenging. I had it permanently powered by USB so it was always on when riding. The watch failed to connect to it when below 50% charged which meant charging it at least every second day but this was quick and painless as I charged the headphones and watch every night at camp.
2. The Abus Bordo bike lock/alarm. This provided much needed peace of mind and proved itself on at least 3 occasions to deter thieves by chirping at them thus letting them know that an alarm was about to sound if they kept meddling. I carry it mounted below my front stem so it is easily accessible for use at brief shopping stops.
3. Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are ‘the bomb’. After 13,330km the only tyre that I had to replace (in Perth) was the left trailer tyre that was getting hammered on the road verge. The rear tyre still has plenty of life left in it as does the front tyre and right trailer tyre. I suffered 2 punctures on the trip – both in the front tyre, probably goats heads as I couldn’t find any major holes. I installed Tannus Armour in the rear tyre (for peace of mind) while in Darwin and will have this in all tyres when I begin the next excursion.
4. Satellite comms. Using the InReach and having the folk at Focuspoint and TrackMe having my back made for positive decision making along the way and made comms possible in the many places where WIFI was sparse. I was able to travel without the hassle and expense of an ongoing cellphone plan.
5. Wise card. Easy financial management – became a local instantly.
Thoughts on my 3 pre-trip concerns…
Dealing with border crossings
Getting in and out of Australia was fairly painless although the packing and airline weights limits and rules were challenging to meet on both the inbound and outbound journeys.
Restocking while leaving the bike unattended
A non-event. I always parked right in front of the supermarket where I stopped in a highly trafficked area. Did any major shop first thing in the morning whenever possible. Used the bike lock. Never had any problems.
Getting run off the road/squashed by inconsiderate drivers
Interestingly the traffic can be categorised into three area’s:
1. In town – usually has cycle paths and low speed traffic always expecting bikes so was easy travel.
2. Further than 20km from a town – typically unstressed drivers who were for the most part considerate. Generally easy travel but variable road layouts made for constant awareness of other road users.
3. Within 20km of a town – stressed drivers travelling fast, typically bike unfriendly roads. Not for the faint hearted!
