ROC The Mawson!

The ROC winter session has come to an end! The last trip ran from Alice Springs to my hometown of Adelaide.
Coming down through the eerie downunder town of Coober Pedy, along the famous Oodnadatta Track which follows the Old Ghan's train path to the awe-inspiring Flinders Ranges. Here we got off the road and onto the Mawson Trail, one of Australia's finest cycle paths. Through gorges, hills and crags it weaves and not a car insight. The steep descents, creek crossing and abundant wildlife are all you need to watch out for. As well as taking your eyes off the stunning views and actually look where you are riding.
The Mawson trails took us into the ancient Wilpena Pound and back out, then back in the bus to the Clare Valley wine region where we rejoined the path along the Riesling trail.
Great wine, delicious food, amazing views and brilliant company, what better way to end a trip.So that is it from me for now, but if you too would like to experience the Mawson Trail and can't wait till the end of next year, we are running a ROC the Mawson in March 2009.

The Land of the Sundowner

The last Gibb River Rd trip for the year is over and its been a hot one as it always is at this time of the year. But this comes with a few perks, warm nights, longer days, the odd thunderstorm and rain, and hours spent in the cool waters of the Kimberly gorges. As is often said up here, another gorgeous gorge.
The minimum temperature was a chilly 18 degrees one morning which had several of us in jumpers. We also had a full evening and half a night of rain, which cooled things down a little and forced us into close quarters under the kitchen tarponal, which with the help of an open esky quickly turned into party.Twenty four hours later the clouds were gone and we were on the limestone ridge up from our camp watching the sunset onto the Bungle Bungle Range. As I do little to no riding myself my highlights are often these Sun Downers, celebrating another stunning day in the bush.

It’s getting hot up here!

Having just finished the Katherine Gorges and Kakadu trip from Alice Springs to Darwin I’m glad that this trip’s itinerary is packed with stunning swimming spots, as it has started to get pretty warm up here.
Leaving the flattened Alice Springs, which had been hit by 160 km winds two days previously, we took off up the Stuart Highway. Stretching away from the wide open plains of the desert with their cold nights and made our way into the steamy tropics where at the end of most rides we were welcomed with some of natures most beautiful swimming pools. A real incentive as the thermometer rose into the 30’s.
Taking a day off riding half way along, we beat the heat by going for a walk over the Nitmiluk National Park escarpment country and swim in the Katherine River in the morning. Then followed this with a twogorge canoe trip up the river.
Amazing sunsets are as much a part of the top end as the plunge pools. This photo is the perfect example taken from the Yellow Waters Billabong Cruise in Kakadu. The sun setting over the wetlands through a cloud of rising smoke while a huge salt water crocodile swims into view. As the ad says, you’ll never know if you you never never go.

The Western Deserts never cease to impress

Another beautiful trip across the desert from Perth through the gold mining town of Kalgoolie to Yulura, the township that sits next to the stunning Uluru and the Olgas. A great trip in every regard; great company, warm days, cool nights, great roads for riding and for driving too and lots of wildlife. We saw almost as many live Kangaroo’s as flattened ones around the one pub ghost town of the northern gold fields.
Amazingly rain has been through only a week ago, a whole inch. Meaning the last trip of the season in six weeks time will me a flowering green mass! (In desert standards that is)
Perhaps it was the rain, but I have not see so many camels in one trip before. Herds of 30 and 40, with a handful of baby camels in tow, with legs longer than body. These funny looking creatures always put a smile on your face, especially when they attempt to run. Described by one of the passengers as a horse put together by a committee. Now I have one day here in Yulara with views of the famous rock formations on top of every sand dune then it continues along the Western Mac’s Ranges to Alice Springs.

The hidden gems of the West - Broome to Perth

Wow! What a great ride it is going to be! Next year we will have a seven day cycling trip from Broome to Exmouth, then another 7 day trip from Exmouth to Perth. I have been exploring this section extensively since last year and well before that.
Having now arrived in Perth after having driven through this amazing country again I am excited about what is to come. The Pilbra is an area so far from any large towns that it is largely unexplored. When you get off the highway on well maintained dirt roads the scenery is spectacular. Long ragged ranges with pronounced crisp white gums standing tall amongst the dark red rock. The landscape looks like a dot painting, speckled with spinifix clumps, dispersed amongst them are shrubs and bushes, some flowering in bright colours like the cookwood.
The country isn’t flat and monotonous like it often is along the highway, it is undulating providing great views and a carpet of red rocks and sand as if the sun is always setting.
The ranges of Karajini National Park are bigger still, the abandoned mining town of Wittenoom has an eerie feel, the waters within the magnificent steep gorges is blue as if they have flown from a glacier and cold enough to believe it too.
Further west is the warm coral filled waters of Ningaloo Reef, a coastal landscape of dunes and domed termite mounds. Then further south before Perth is the quaint seaside town of Kalbarri, where great riding and long gorge walks are plentiful. Now its time for a brief repose, a fresh clean and set up before another trip across the Great Victorian Desert to Uluru.

The Mighty Michell Falls

Another great Gibb River Road trip again. This one going up to the Mitchell falls, El Questro Station and a few other gorgeous gorges that we don’t look at on our Bungle Bungle Gibb River Rd trip. Spectacular riding, especially up on the plateau where the rain fall is twice as high as down on the Gibb River Rd and the tracks are lined with lush Livistonia Eastonnia Palms. The Plateau definitely shows a different side to the Kimberly, as I believe the Bungle Bungles do too. Both are definite highlights of each trip.
This last trip went without a hitch, not even a flat! Which is a rarity when you see what the roads are like out there. Great to ride as you can hug the smooth hard edges, but shocking to drive. One can not complain too much, as this is one of two reasons why this place is still only lightly visited by tourists, the other is that it is Australia’s most remote wildness thousands of kilometers from the nearest city.
On a trip south through the Pilbra and along the coast back to Perth now, which will be a ride next year.

On the Road Again

Hey hey,
The ROC session is back in full swing! Now on my second circuit, after having done a few extra Gibb River Road trips on my first Perth-to-Perth Loop for the year. I've been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to get to much blogging, but I will be on more often from now on.
Currently up in Darwin and yes, it is beautiful and sunny unlike a lot of Australia. The endless summer that the ROC bus seems to chase is truly a huge highlight; just to get away from the rainy grey days is a holiday in itself. I know this after battling the rain and wind for week in Perth.Short and sweet, I'll throw you a photo of a sunset on top of Gunlom Waterfall in Kakadu only a few days ago. Hope to see you soon.

ROC gets New Bikes!

New 2008 bikes everywhere. So I have been getting out of the office when I get a chance and trying to catch up all the riding I missed out on when I was running ROC Tours last year. To motivate me a little further I received a beautiful Carbon fiber Competitor 2.0 from Avanti. This bike needs to be ridden often and preferably fast, just to do the price tag justice.
This is quite easy really.
I have also tried a few new things out and been seen riding a road bike on occasion.
Don't feel as if the ROC riders have been forgotten. We have some nice Dual disc brake Avanti Escapes on order to kick start the 2008 season!

Here is a little preview.

ROC Heads South

Blew the dust off the trusty ROC bus in mid-January. Perhaps a little overly equipped for the job, especially since the bus didn't leave the bitumen. The Tour Down-Under got the wheels rolling for a very busy 3 weeks. Supporting a group of riders from morning till the afternoon, before dropping the passengers back to their soft beds at the Hilton.
Great breakfasts, delicious lunches, beautiful rides and serious Pro-Tour action. We were run off our feet, in the best possible way. The one challenge we had was trying to keep up with the Pro-riders with the bus, as they were forever ahead of schedule. Now that the Tour Down-Under is part of the World Pro-Tour, this race is no longer a pre-session holiday down south.
A day after the Adelaide hustle and bustle ended, we took off on our first summer trip from Adelaide to Melbourne along the classic coast. Short driving, very diverse and beautiful riding, great local food and some walking and Kayaking to get to places even bikes can't go. A really nice trip all round and am looking forward to running a few more of them in the future.
More news on summer trips to come.

Blogging Ben

Hi everyone,
Ben's Blog has began. What have I been up to? Where have I been? What is NEW?
Since finishing the ROC Session in November last year with a trip across the mighty Nullarbor I have been back in our office with Peter and Emma. On the road with ROC or back in Adelaide there is always plenty of variety. Putting together videos for Youtube, visiting many a bike shop, creating new and exciting rides and plenty of other things that seem to fill every day.
The earliest of our new rides is the Nullarbor 1200 running in March-April and takes in the heart of this iconic trip. Then there is the ROC summer itinerary, so you can ROC all year round! We are also working on another epic ride. An all asphalt West-East ride.
It hasn't all been office work though, you might know I can't go very long before doing another trip. More in my next Blog.