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The Sunburnt Desert: A Solo Bikepacking Journey Across Australia

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The Sunburnt Desert: A Solo Bikepacking Journey Across Australia

Crossing any foreign country alone is a daunting quest. In shaky moments I turn to my heroes, the women who boil their fears until they evaporate into courage. Legends like Robyn Davidson, who famously walked her camels across the empty Australian outback to the Indian Ocean and wrote about it in her book “Tracks,” whose pages revealed the mayhem and mystique of solo desert expeditions. Upon reading her account, I envisioned my own voyage across the country. Where Davidson chose camels, I chose a bicycle.

Heatwave induced mirages are nothing outside of the norm in one of Earth’s harshest desert environments. Many times while cycling Australia I caught my thoughts drifting back to Africa, on my first monumental bike voyage from Cairo to Cape Town. The similarities of the two lands were palpable: Australia’s outback terrain akin to sand dunes of the Saharan Desert, and Down Under roadhouses seemed close cousins of remote Sudanese cafeterias. In both places the feeling of complete surrender to mother nature’s extreme weather arsenal was nearly identical, and total. Nevertheless, an unmistakable boundary separated how I approached the two journeys: a traditional touring outfit in Africa versus a lighter bikepacking setup in Australia.

Striking a Different Kind of Gold in Beechworth: Tor Bikes Shop Visit

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Striking a Different Kind of Gold in Beechworth: Tor Bikes Shop Visit

With the headlights pointing north, I departed at sparrow’s fart, my destination: Beechworth. It’s a little over a three-hour jaunt from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The drive is punctuated by rolling hills, bouncing kangaroos, and petrol (gas) stations. Historically known for the gold rush of the late 1800s, I was heading there in search of the slightly less precious metal of steel – crafted by the hand of Shane Flint of Tor Bikes.

Custom With a Conscience: A Shop Visit with Terra Rossa Gear

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Custom With a Conscience: A Shop Visit with Terra Rossa Gear

It’s 8am and we’re out in the not-so-salubrious outer suburb of Campbellfield, a 45-minute drive north of Melbourne CBD. A bruised-up Subaru sits parked outside an industrial workshop with all its doors flung open, and the sound of Don Williams’s country classic “Tulsa Time” fills the air. With some trepidation, we draw closer. A pair of skis erupt from the passenger side window. Anoraks and half-finished sleeping bags lay strewn across the backseat, while a huge roll of fabric pierces through the car, like that motorway scene in Final Destination 2. Did we take a wrong turn somewhere off the highway?

Singing with Don as he walks down the stairs, Evan spots us loitering by his car. “Hey guys!” he shouts. “Welcome to the Terra Rosa playground! Apologies for the car, it’s not stolen. There’s been an unreal dump these last few days and I’m getting ready for some snow adventures in the high-country.” Of course we were in the right place: we were standing at the palace gates of Terra Rosa Gear.

FYXO Builds: A Surly E-Ogre Year-Round Commuter

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FYXO Builds: A Surly E-Ogre Year-Round Commuter

Curating custom bikes for people is something I’ve done, dare I say, “since forever.” For nearly 20 years the most common way a custom project lands on my plate is someone desiring a build akin to my current ride. In the early years, it was track bikes, singespeeds, and classic road bikes. More recently, popular interest seems to have shifted to e-bike conversions capable of carrying small humans, bulky gear, or a combination of both.

Among the Eucalyptus Trees: A Shop Visit with Framework Designs

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Among the Eucalyptus Trees: A Shop Visit with Framework Designs

I’d only started dating my partner Sam for a matter of weeks before we left to cycle around the world together. Red flag? Romantic? Stupidly spontaneous? – I’ll let you decide. I’ll concede that a multi-year bike tour isn’t exactly a traditional way to start a relationship. But with precisely zero bike touring experience under my belt, cycling around the world with a stranger was ironically the least of my worries. I had to find a bike, learn how to ride it (yes, I’m serious) and figure out how the hell I was going to pack my life into two panniers and a basket bag.

To say I made some mistakes would be an understatement. I mean, who knew hair straighteners and a hardback copy of The Power of Now wouldn’t be suitable for a bike tour? That said, I also made some damn good decisions, not least my choice of basketbag: The Sight Seeker from Framework Designs. That bag has travelled halfway across the world with me, weathering everything from tropical monsoons in South East Asia to numbing snowstorms in Nepal. So when Sam and I returned to Melbourne three years later, I couldn’t wait to check in with Framework Designs Founder, Tia Evans on how the business was going, visit her home studio and, of course, share it all with you.

42 Deg South: Hazards to Hells Gates; A Bicycle Overlander’s Route Across Tasmania

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42 Deg South: Hazards to Hells Gates; A Bicycle Overlander’s Route Across Tasmania

Overlanding is traditionally a term that describes the forging or following of a route for moving livestock long distances from one location to another. These routes were created to send the livestock to market or to another location for feed or weather events such as floods, drought, or bush fire all common occurrences in the harsh Australian outback. This movement of the livestock along these “overland” routes in the Australian context is known as droving.

In creating this bicycle overlanding route and story I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today. I would also like to pay my respects to Elders past and present.

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Twenty-One Twelve: A Human Powered Adventure Across Australia

We all know that a bicycle can do a lot – grocery runs, pick your kids up from school, group rides, casual commuting – and now we have the bicycle as a support vehicle. In 2019 Katie Visco ran across Australia (her second transcontinental run) with her husband Henley Phillips as support crew pedaling a Surly Troll+Ted trailer. Their route followed the rough Outback tracks from Darwin through the Tanami Desert, into Alice Springs, through South Australia on the infamous Oodnadatta Track, finally ending in Adelaide 4 months later. The two filmed the journey entirely on smartphones and cut together a short documentary with the help of Yellow Tent Nomads. 

Presented by: Bedrock Sandals.

A Prova Cycles Titanium Pinion Rigid MTB

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A Prova Cycles Titanium Pinion Rigid MTB

In the lead up to the Handmade Bicycle Show Australia (more on that later), I dropped by 412 – the collective home of bicycle excellence in Fairfield, to chat with Steve (Velocraft) about the logistics of getting my bike to the show. Even though the paint was close to 2 years old, Steve was enamored enough with it for a host of reasons that it was his choice to represent his work.

Prototipo Works Ultra Low Profile Bidon Cage Bolts

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Prototipo Works Ultra Low Profile Bidon Cage Bolts

There’s custom and then there’s deep custom. Protipo Works is based in Australia and they manufacture small hardware pieces to fully lace out your bike in subtle ways. Take these Ultra Low Profile bidon cage bolts which are ultra low, slim and discreet, made from 316 stainless steel. These new bolts tout some improvements over their previous versions, which include diamond burnished heads and a super strong cold forged-rolled thread. They run $14.95 AUD for a set of bolts and are open for pre-order now with a delivery date slated for the next few weeks. See more at Prototipo Works.

Castin’ Lines: Mountain Bikefishing in Victoria, Australia

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Castin’ Lines: Mountain Bikefishing in Victoria, Australia

‘Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride’ is one of those famous quotes by John F. Kennedy, famous perhaps for the wisdom that it carries, more than for the person who said it.

All those who have recreationally ridden a bicycle should know that Kennedy was right. However, the ex-president didn’t realize (and possibly neither many of us) that something that may be compared to and even surpasses that addictive pleasure is to combine pleasures.

A bicycle is a freedom machine that allows us to carry out different activities while simultaneously enjoying the bike itself. It is up to each one of us to choose those activities that generate the greatest pleasure. For example, in my case, a good bike packing trip combined with a fly fishing session does it for me. What in this world could compare to this pleasure overdose? A new adventure was being cooked.