Outback Odyssey 2019 – Before the Journey

Six years ago - the first Odyssey

Six years ago I started this blog mostly to record the journey of my first multi day cycling tour, namely the Outback Odyssey. Back then, I had no idea what I was getting into and so signed up for only part of the Odyssey, the Mini Mawson 2 from Burra to Melrose. Two years later I would tackle the Mini Mawson 3, from Melrose to Blinman, but due to injury, it would be four more years before the Odyssey was back on the calendar. And this time there would be no more baby steps, I would be doing the whole thing, Adelaide to Blinman, about 900km of riding.

Of course, I wasn’t doing it alone. Surprisingly I had managed to talk Mr Carl into coming along again, despite his dislike of tents. We were also undertaking the journey supported by Bike SA, and taking advantage of their deluxe camping, which meant all we had to concentrate on was riding, eating and sleeping. Oh, and drinking coffee! Because where would the Odyssey be without the unlimited supply of caffeine, provided by Rory at Let there be coffee.

Coffee!

We’d signed ourselves up for two weeks worth of riding and dealing with whatever the weather would throw our way. How on earth do you prepare for that while working, still racing our bikes and for me, trying to have a somewhat regular yoga practice? Well, we took all the opportunities to ride that we could, managing to squeeze in a few recon rides on sections of the Mawson trail that were reasonably close. And we went up Stone Hut Road. Nothing prepares you for a slog fest quite like the hike a bike that is the beginning of the Mawson Trail.

Training

I also took advantage of two excellent and optimistic physios, Jamie and Amanda, at Active Bodies Physio. Even when I thought that I was crazy for signing up for this, that it was going to break my body, they were there cheering me on and reminding me how far I had come in terms of core strength and body stability. Jeremy from Myocare massage tended to provide a more realistic outlook, having known me for longer, and offered practical suggestions for stretches along the way to keep me functional.

With all the training and prep work and training behind us, on Saturday 4^th of May, we rode into town, joining the 100 or so others crazy enough to take this on.