Gees I have done it again!

just us said:

This guy must be well into his 60s or older, and has a trailer out back Oh
well, time to look at what to feed him I guess LOL

Picture please?

just us said:

Looks like the word is out. If you are touring around the Atherton Tableland
there is always a bed at ourplace.
LOL

If you need to fill the lungs with salt air and are heading towards Townsville let us know.
Intend to ride Tsv-Cairns in Children's Cancer Ride at the end of July, rest a few days and drive up to Mosman with wife and then ride around T'lands back to Innisfail.

Local knowledge of the roads will be appreciated especially since cyclone Larry and the "follow up" rains. Roads might have turned to total [censored] by then instead of just bearable [censored].

Cheers
Hugh

Here goes again! Hugh and wife, send me an email and you are more than
welcome for some pointers/bed/meal etc. We live just out of Atherton.
You are right about the roads. July is a nice time of year - South
Easterlies blowing 25knots and probably showers. But then again could be
clear blue skies, frosts and fires at night.
Kathy.

just us said:

Here goes again! Hugh and wife, send me an email and you are more than
welcome for some pointers/bed/meal etc. We live just out of Atherton.
You are right about the roads. July is a nice time of year - South
Easterlies blowing 25knots and probably showers. But then again could be
clear blue skies, frosts and fires at night.
Kathy.

The first time I toured around Europe I would knock on a farmers door and ask if it was ok to pitch my tent in his field for the night. I was always self contained with my own food but I was amazed at the wonderful hospitality that I was shown by the people that I met. It really made the trip.

A good way to offer cyclists a bed for the night and meet intersting people is to join the Warm Showers List The Warm Showers List is a list of Internet cyclists who have offered their hospitality towards touring cyclists. The extent of the hospitality depends on the host and may range from simply a spot to pitch a tent to meals, a warm (hot!) shower, and a bed.

We will be in the Atherton tablelands for the Queensland bike ride in September.

Cheers

Geoff

We should register with home hosting Australia and Warm Showers, who have a
few listings in OZ (Should be more though)

http://www.warmshowers.org/welcome
http://users.chariot.net.au/~gloria/home_hosting_australia.html#NSW

--
Bob C
"just us" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Looks like the word is out. If you are touring around the Atherton
Tableland there is always a bed at ourplace.
I think this is the fifth stranger with a bike that has ended up getting a
nice night at our house so far this year! I see them in the street, stop
and have a chat and next thing they are peddling out here with promise of
an innerspring bed, hot shower, home cooked meal!
We always think, what goes around comes around, so hopefully one day we
will be out on the bikes and get a similar offer. Most touring bikers are
very interesting people.
This guy must be well into his 60s or older, and has a trailer out back Oh
well, time to look at what to feed him I guess LOL

geoffs said:

SNIP
A good way to offer cyclists a bed for the night and meet intersting people is to join the Warm Showers List The Warm Showers List is a list of Internet cyclists who have offered their hospitality towards touring cyclists.

We will be in the Atherton tablelands for the Queensland bike ride in September.

Cheers

Geoff

Yes we are on the warm showers list. Put down that we speak a bit of French. Hope that I never get tested on that.
I will have to steal the twins from next door. They speak french at home all the time.

Was going to do the BQ ride but the logistic effort to get to Port Douglas just 5 weeks after riding to Cairns just 60km away put me off. Biggest put off was Day 1 - Rest Day - Day 2 Start midday and ride 30km of dead flat - WTF. Maybe I over estimate my capabilities but it appears to be a pretty slack start. That got me thinking that it could be a P155 up with a bit of a bike ride in the middle. Dont know and could be way off the mark.

Anyhow I would like to see the area without the legions.

Cheers
Hugh

HughMann said:

Yes we are on the warm showers list. Put down that we speak a bit of French. Hope that I never get tested on that.
I will have to steal the twins from next door. They speak french at home all the time.

Was going to do the BQ ride but the logistic effort to get to Port Douglas just 5 weeks after riding to Cairns just 60km away put me off. Biggest put off was Day 1 - Rest Day - Day 2 Start midday and ride 30km of dead flat - WTF. Maybe I over estimate my capabilities but it appears to be a pretty slack start. That got me thinking that it could be a P155 up with a bit of a bike ride in the middle. Dont know and could be way off the mark.

Anyhow I would like to see the area without the legions.

Cheers
Hugh

We are going to fly up to Cairns a couple of days early and stay somewhere that we can leave the S&S bags for the tandem. We will then ride up to Port Douglas for the start. The logistic effort from Sydney to Cairns is a wee bit more than the I really dont mind not riding the first day. We did this on the Gloucester to Sydney ride and it was much more relaxed. Normally it is a stupidly early start from the where we leave the car at the finish by bus to where the start is and we get zero sleep. It is a holiday after all.
I think there will be a few decent days of hill climbing that will provide a decent workout. These types of rides cater for all levels of fitness. There are those who see it as a personal challenge to be the first into town but I dont really see the point. We just have a great time socialising and drinking beer 🙂

The Americans who were on the BigNSW ride were amazed that we were riding on the first day as their start day is always the Sunday to allow for people to travel to the start withoout taking the Friday off work.
We will most probably spend a few extra days at Mission Beach then catch the bus back to Cairns for the flight home to Sydney.

Cheers

Geoff

Geoff
That sounds great. When you ride up to Port D, start early (I mean
early) so you are up before the tour buses get on the road. There's not
a lot of shoulder and a lot of traffic. It's also unbelievably
beautiful, so best done without too much traffic.
Donga

Donga said:

Geoff
That sounds great. When you ride up to Port D, start early (I mean
early) so you are up before the tour buses get on the road. There's not
a lot of shoulder and a lot of traffic. It's also unbelievably
beautiful, so best done without too much traffic.
Donga

Thanks for the info Donga as I had forgotten about that fun detail. I think it's about a 60km ride to Port D which riding loaded would take us under 2 and 1/2 hours to get there. The road looks fairly flat until some hills just before Port D from what I can see on Google Earth. If we started at 6.30am we would be in Port for breakfast by 9am. Is this early enough or is the road not as flat as it looks. We fly along fairly well on the tandem until the gradient is above 5% then we tend to slow down a bit.

Cheers

Geoff

Geoff:

Quoted message said:

Is 6.30 early enought?

I'm a little out of touch on that. I'd be trying for earlier - seem to
remember the rule being get off the road by 8.30am. Maybe someone local
can comment?

Donga

Just remember that a lot of buses carry people up to Port Douglas for the
reef trip so starting early is really essential as it is indeed a narrow
road and they scoot along it. Besides being one of the most beautiful rides
in the area is certainly is the one fraught with the most danger.
Maybe you could spend the night at Palm Cove, Ellis Beach or somewhere there
so that in the morning you can start asap and really enjoy the trip north
of Ellis - sunrise over the water seen from the Cook Highway is a great
site.
Had a look at the website and there are a few hills, but not long days. The
Rex Range is a great climb - especially on a tandem! \First time we did it
on the tandem we thought it would never end, but it gets easier. After that
it is fairly undulating all the way across that part of the northern
Tablelands.
The ride from Ravenshoe to Innisfail is just the best! Lot of uphills but
the downhill is just a terrific reward.
Kathy