The Cycling Adventurer

   Perth-Adelaide 1997

Day 25   

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A false start adds to my frustrations

The best-laid plans do not necessarily work as intended. I am writing this still at the Mahar property. I had thought all systems were go mid-afternoon. Then I rode 100 metres down the track towards the highway and the rear end let go again.

I had no trouble getting hold of the Ceduna Sports and Outdoor Centre and the staff were as helpful as they could be without actually seeing the problem. They promised to send up what they thought was the appropriate bearing. It arrived at 1.30pm, and when I opened the small packet, my heart sank. The bearings, held together in a cage, were completely different from the original fitting in the hub. Being so far from "civilisation" and on a Friday, the only option was to try to improvise something to get me going.

Danny and I scrounged around in the farm's shed that contained bits and pieces of machinery and other farm equipment dating back more than 20 years. Amongst it all were old bikes and parts. We tried to salvage some bearings from a couple of rear wheels we found, but to no avail. We located some sealed car alternator bearings, but they were oversized for the remains on the cup in the hub. I tried to locate the new bearing cages just with the cones on the rear axle, forgetting rather foolishly that each cage actually needed something like a washer on the outside into which the cone would fit.

Anyway, my arrangement seemed to work all right with a quick unloaded ride round the front of the farmhouses. I loaded up my equipment, and bade my farewells. Then it all fell apart again, literally, as the bearings and their cages just flopped out of the hub and the rear wheel came to a grinding halt. I left the bike in its heap on the ground and walked rather sheepishly back to the yards where Danny and his father were drafting ewes ready for the breeding season. I relayed the bad news, then spent the rest of the afternoon helping out with drafting and mustering other mobs. It helped subdue my frustration.

Danny suggested as one last option that we take the lot to Penong and a farmer who may be able to help. The farmer had an accident while mustering sheep on a motorcycle some years ago, and spent 18 hours lying on the ground before he was found. Now he is confined to a wheelchair, but has created a reputation in the region as a talented engineer. "He does a lot of our stuff and he can even make bearings up from scratch," Danny assured me.

Today was warm, but not oppressively so like yesterday. The evening is cool enough to put on my windcheater. But I did miss a day of good westerly tailwinds, which seems to be my luck at the moment. It's ironic: I have brought a limited range of spare parts but having a spare bearing never crossed my mind. The learning curve just steepened again. By the time I have finished this adventure, I will know far more about the mechanics of bicycles, as well as myself.

I am now about 400km behind a 100km-a day average, but it now seems irrelevant. There is not much I could have done to avoid this mess except replace the axle and bearing before I left Perth. But now I have to look at staying perhaps two nights in Ceduna then set out across country to join up with the highway to make Adelaide in time to see my children. They are visiting the city from Hobart with their mother and stepfather who are involved in a veterans field hockey tournament. I also need to arrange the job interview by phone. Hopefully tomorrow will see me on the road in the early afternoon, and if the bearing work succeeds, I might not have to worry about the rear end again for the rest of the trip.

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