Bike It in a Dress — Getting Out There

Epilogue — Media coverage in “The Courier”: Ryan Moore bikes in a dress to raise money for girls charity — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide

Fri, 04 Oct 2019 08:00:00 +1000

Some more local media coverage of my ride. It was actually written up in the Murray Valley Standard (Strathearn, 2019b) [Strathearn, 2019b: Why Ryan Moore cycled from Melbourne to Adelaide in a dressThe Murray Valley Standard Ryan Moore had never been much of a long-distance cyclist until recently, nor had he typically worn a school dress. But the Ballarat man gave both a go over the past fortnight, riding from Melbourne …], and appeared in The Courier (Strathearn, 2019a) [Strathearn, 2019a: Ryan Moore bikes in a dress to raise money for girls charityThe Courier Ryan Moore had never been much of a long-distance cyclist until recently, nor had he typically worn a school dress. But the Ballarat man gave both a go over the past fortnight, riding from Melbourne …] this morning as well.

Ryan Moore had never been much of a long-distance cyclist until recently, nor had he typically worn a school dress.

But the Ballarat man gave both a go over the past fortnight, riding from Melbourne to Adelaide in a dress to raise money for girls’ education in west Africa.

The marketing student, and father of a teenage girl, had previously raised money for the campaign simply by walking around his home city in a dress, but had wanted to do something different this year. … read more at The Murray Valley Standard ¹ or The Courier ¹.

This article sits behind a paywall. ↩︎ ↩︎

Pushing beyond the limit, and arriving in Adelaide — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 10

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 22:11:16 +1000

Today’s ride was by far the toughest, most gruelling bicycle ride I’d ever undertaken, and pushed my body to limits I hadn’t exceeded for more than ten years.

I packed up camp and left Murray Bridge early this morning, knowing how far I had to ride, and suspecting I’d be in for a rough go. I had a GPX route I’d received online from an Adelaide-based cyclist loaded up in my Garmin Edge 520 GPS bike computer, had plenty of nice cold water in all four bottles, plenty of bananas and a full tub of fresh scroggin from the local IGA.

As I headed out of Murray Bridge, I noticed the GPS on my iPhone was trying relentlessly to get me to join the M1 freeway, which is off-limits to bicycles, so my ‘back-up’ to the Garmin was essentially useless without stopping. Nevertheless, I headed up the Old Princes Highway, past the Monarto Zoo, and towards Callington. And that’s where things started to go wrong…

The GPX route I’d received took me through a copper mine. A miner, on his way into work, gave me some directions to proceed along the highway to Kanmantoo, where I could stop and plan my next step. I got to Kanmantoo, which was a very beautiful little heritage town nestled at the foot of the Adelaide Hills. The iPhone GPS still wanted to take me to the M1, and I had the wrong topographical map for this area, not being able to source the right one before I left (as an aside, Geoscience Australia in their ‘infinite wisdom’ will soon stop printing these maps entirely, relying on digital maps only — what could go wrong?).

The local general store in Kanmantoo told me that pretty much any road except for the main highway would lead me astray, so I decided to stick to the highway and press on through Dawesley, to Nairne and then Hahndorf. By the time I reached Nairne though, I was absolutely buggered. It had been 2.5 hours since I’d reached the copper mine and turned around, and I’d been averaging a paltry 7 kilometres per hour. My water was completely consumed in that time and I still felt dehydrated as the sun blazed down and the mercury kept rising. It wasn’t so much the steepness of the hills but the unrelenting, slow ascent over many kilometres, just sapping my energy. I arrived in Nairne and stopped at the service station to replenish my water bottles — a couple of awesome blokes at a roadworks just before Dawesley gave me some water as well — and smash down a Powerade sports drink, before heading up to Hahndorf. Nairne was a very beautiful little town full of nice old sandstone cottages, and I vowed to return for a better look around one day.

Hahndorf was a kitschy little place, a German-themed tourist town that on first appearance was kinda interesting, but the traffic and the crowds were just relentless, there were heaps of idiots on the road and I received a lot of honks and screams to get off the road and out of the way, to which I yelled back, “You want a European experience or not?” I couldn’t even stop to post an Instagram update, opting instead to ride just out of town where it was slightly more peaceful. In the end I wasn’t very impressed with Hahndorf, it seemed overly touristy, and just reminded me of Lorne in the Christmas holidays — i.e. an over-run, over-rated and over-priced circus. It was interesting to pass the Beerenberg farm though, being a very well-known brand of jams and such that we eat all the time at home.

From Hahndorf, I really started to get lost. The GPS was useless. There was no signage to help cyclists navigate their way towards Adelaide, no little blue signs with a bike icon and an arrow, nothing. I crossed under the M1 and headed up Mount Barker Road, through Bridgewater and Aldgate, at which point I was finally on my topographic map. I weaved through the little streets and towns, beyond exhaustion as I faced hill after hill.

I was a few kilometres short of Crafers when I couldn’t ride any more, and pulled over to dismount and push my bike by foot. I fell over and must’ve passed out, completely ‘bonked’ as the cycling vernacular puts it. A wonderful bloke by the name of Andrew Gordon had seen me struggling and helped me sit up, get some more water and scroggin into me, and helped me get the bike up and going. He then spent more than an hour driving in front and behind me, as a support vehicle, ensuring I reached Crafers. We stopped at a café in Crafers where I bought him a Coke and a coffee and we had a quick chat whilst I replenished my food and got a breather. Then he resumed his adopted role as my support vehicle and showed me where the dedicated bike track along the old disused freeway, down the hill from Crafers into Adelaide CBD was. During this time, Andrew missed an appointment with his daughter, but was unwavering in his insistence that he help me out and ensure I got to the bike track safe. This guy was a bloody legend of the highest order, a true and kind Australian gentleman, and I doubt I would’ve found the bike route without him. He even donated $20 to the charity, as if he hadn’t done enough already. Wherever you are Andrew, thanks a bundle mate, you’re a star.

Having reached the bike track, and having long since surpassed the limit of my endurance, both for this day as well as the accumulated ten-day journey in general, flying down Mount Barker Road alongside the freeway, having to ride my disk brakes the whole way to stop my trailer from wobbling too much from the sheer speed, was beyond exhilaration and I fist-pumped the air as I realised that I’d done it — I was coming into the city of Adelaide.

I rode along the city streets down Glen Osmond Road and then Pulteney Street like a conquering Roman caesar as I beamed with pride, appreciation and satisfaction, stopping at Rundle Mall and achieving what I’d set out to do six months earlier, with nothing more than a rough sketch of a plan and a crazy idea to ride to Adelaide in a school dress.

So many months of planning, so much hard work and so much pride. I wanted to show my children, Declan and Anneliese, that even ordinary ‘old’ and fat dads can do something to help, can do something bigger than themselves and push themselves.

Resting in Murray Bridge — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 9

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 16:23:59 +1000

Today was scheduled as a rest and recovery day, to allow me to a) recover from the past eight day’s journey, and b) rest in preparation for tomorrow, which might turn out to be the hardest day’s ride yet.

So I stayed another day at the Murray Bridge Marina & Caravan Park on Roper Road, Murray Bridge. The park generously provided me with one night’s free accommodation if I stayed for two (i.e. half price) to support the charity ride.

With nothing planned for the day, I spent my time fishing down by the Murray River, reading No Friend But The Mountains by Behrouz Boochani in my hammock, doing my laundry and eating the rest of my provisions, and re-packing my bike and trailer for tomorrow’s last leg.

I also received some interest in a newspaper article from local journalist Peri Strathearn, of the Murray Valley Standard. He came out to the caravan park at about 1530 and interviewed me about my ride and the charity, etc. It was a nice chat, and Peri struck me as quite a decent guy. We took some photos in my school dress and bike and then I changed again and settled back into the day’s rest.

I didn’t catch any fish today, but thoroughly enjoyed myself and am nice and relaxed, and about to cook up my dinner and spend another evening by the communal campfire at the park.

The Mighty Murray! — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 8

Mon, 30 Sep 2019 19:18:01 +1000

I left Coonalpyn this morning feeling pretty awesome. I’ve gotten a large portion of my journey out of the way, I’ve stayed at some great places, met some lovely people, and seen some beautiful sights.

I stopped at the Coonalpyn Silo Café for a coffee, and it’s the nicest one I’ve had on my trip so far — highly recommend! Had an interesting chat and bummed a ciggie from some lovely locals out the front.

From Coonalpyn the ride was still pretty flat, much like the trip from Bordertown to Coonalpyn the day before. I was swooped by a hell of a lot of magpies today, so my first reaction when I arrived at Tailem Bend and a wedge-tailed eagle flew over me and followed me for about 150 metres was to fear it was a magpie and cringe, but I realised pretty soon after that what was going on and had one of the moments of the entire trip. Just the sheer beauty of these birds… glorious!

The next moment of the trip wasn’t far away: as I pulled into Tailem Bend, on my left the houses cleared and I got my first glimpse of the Mighty Murray River, which I’ve never seen this far west before. I love the Murray River, I call it ‘home’ and feel a deep connection to it, so this was a wonderful moment in the trip when I struggled to control my emotions and my happiness at having made it this far.

When I pulled away from the river to continue my journey and bang! my trailer’s tyre blew out, I wasn’t even miffed. I was still on such a high from the eagle and the river that I simply replaced the tyre with a smile on my face and kept on rolling…

I stopped at this kitschy little pioneer village tourist attraction, mostly to gawk at the nice old vintage cars parked at the front. I grabbed a cold drink from the café/gift shop there and kept going.

It was at the turn-off to Murray Bridge that the highway becomes off-limits to cyclists, so I rode up the back road to Murray Bridge, crossed the Bridge itself and found the information centre in town. With no available free camping, and the thermometer showing over 30ºC, I decided to cycle for a little while looking for a place to camp on the sly, but ended up lodging at the Murray Bridge Marina & Caravan Park, who provided me a second night for free.

With tomorrow set aside for some R&R, fishing and not much else, I made camp and settled down for the evening…

A hangover to Coonalpyn — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 7

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 20:07:20 +1000

I woke up this morning with a bit of a hangover, but nothing too bad, and got my laundry done pretty early. I wandered around town for a while, checking out the Bordertown train station, a stop for the Overland Train I’ll be taking back to Melbourne this coming Friday, and was saddened at how run-down and in need of maintenance the neglected but beautiful heritage station was.

I popped by the IGA (called Foodland in SA) for some bananas and Powerade, then visited the house Bob Hawke was born in, which was just down the road from the Bordertown Hotel. With all that done, it was still only 0830, hehehe, Bordertown is a nice little town and I really liked it, but it’s not overly big.

0930 came and I got my bike out of the locked shed, said goodbye to the hotel, then hit the road. My worry about the time quickly disappeared as the terrain was fairly flat, and I made good time at about 21 kph average. The countryside here is beautiful, slightly barren and sparse but I like that kind of country, and I enjoyed the ride immensely. I stopped at Keith for some lunch, and Ki Ki for a rest stop.

Otherwise I pretty uneventfully made it to Coonalpyn by about 1630, where I took some photos of the painted silo mural, now a relatively-famous local landmark and tourist attraction. I was betting all the way here today that there’d be a café or roadhouse near the silo called the Coonalpyn Silo Café, and I wasn’t disappointed!

I was disappointed, however, at receiving my first really negative response to my school-dress-clad journey: I’d parked my bike in front of the silo, taken some photos, then sat down for a quick breather just as an elderly couple pulled up in between my bike and I, to take a photo themselves. I asked the male driver if he wanted me to move my bike so they could get a clean shot, to which he replied, “No, no, no! Fuck off you bloody f****t! What the fuck are you?!”. I just said “No thanks will do” and his wife admonished his rudeness and vulgarity, but it still left a bad taste as it’s the first negative response in nearly a week. I guarantee this bastard voted ‘no’ in the same-sex marriage plebiscite. Anyway…

Crossed the road to the Coonalpyn Hotel, where the lovely proprietors gave me a free room and I had a nice wood-fired pizza and a beer. Some great locals donated about $40 to the charity as well, which helped restore the faith a little.

Watching Toby get chewed up and spat out by a Tiger — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 6

Sat, 28 Sep 2019 14:17:17 +1000

After the hard day yesterday, today was brilliant! Awoke refreshed, with not a lot of distance to cover to finish off Leg 4 — about 40 km to Bordertown, SA. I left Kaniva early and headed out for the border between Victoria and South Australia at Serviceton. I was soooo happy to finally reach the border. Although I’ve already covered half the distance of my journey, in my mind the border has always been the ‘halfway’ milestone.

The border rest-stop was good — a nineteenth-century dispute over 3km of the border between Victoria and South Australia, which made it all the way to the High Court and then the Privy Council, made for an interesting read, and might explain some of the early animosity and rivalry between the two colonies. I stayed at the rest stop to brew a coffee (what better way to mark leaving Victoria) and forgot to put my watch back, so was 30 minutes out for the rest of the day until I realised.

Stopping at the quarantine bins for fruit at the border, I met a German couple in a rented campervan on their way to Adelaide, then Uluṟu. From what they told me I’m fairly certain they’re going to climb it, but I didn’t push back on the issue. I did, however, warn them to take crocodile warnings seriously, as our salties seem to love the taste of German backpacker.

I arrived in Bordertown just before midday (although I thought it was after 12, of course, because of my watch on Victorian time) and decided to pull into the pub for a beer and some lunch, and to watch the AFL Grand Final between the Richmond Tigers and the Greater Western Sydney Giants. The plan was to find a campsite and get my laundry done after the game. Today was meant to be a total rest day, if I had’ve made it all the way yesterday.

Sitting at the bar having a few frothies in my school dress, I provided plenty of amusement and laughs to the Bordertown locals there to watch the game and cash in on an arrangement whereby those in the pub’s footy tipping competition during the season received free drinks — beer, wine, spirits, everything — for the duration of the game. So you can imagine, there were some great local characters in there to get “their money’s worth”. I finally realised my watch was late when the game started half an hour early (by the pub clock)!

Whilst drinking, eating a nice chicken parma, and thoroughly enjoying the on-field defeat being doled out to Toby Greene, the publican Catherine Wheeler offered me a free room for the night! Bonus!! It was a wonderful development, as I was having a lot of fun and meant I could keep drinking. Hehehe…

The only catch to the free room is that I can’t get access to my bicycle until 0930 tomorrow morning, and will therefore have to really get going once the bike is out of the shed, to allow for my inevitable hangover. That’s OK though, I’ll sleep in and get my laundry etc. done before I leave.

At the border between Victoria and South Australia

Having a coffee at the border

The great Bordertown Hotel

The silent ‘h’ in Nhill — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 5

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 18:29:15 +1000

Today was a very hard day. It started off nice enough — awoke to kookaburras and cockatoos once again, and as I packed up my hammock I saw a little possum mother climbing the tree my hammock was on, with its baby on its back — unfortunately, the possums had also taken the liberty to piss and shit all over my tarps during the night. Taking the good with the bad, I guess…

I set out from Dimboola and before long reached Loch Iel, more commonly known as the Pink Lake. This salt pan is home to a type of algae that reacts to the sun by showing a pink hue, making the entire lake varying shades of pink depending on time of year, sun position, etc. It was very beautiful…

Despite my early start, the wind was directly in my face at 40 kph, gusting to 50–55 kph, and any time I saved in the morning was quickly consumed by my struggle into the strong headwind. I figured out why Nhill has a silent ‘h’ — the hills are ‘hidden’, in that it seems nice and flat by car but on the bike, especially with a headwind, those hills are enough to wear you down.

By the time I reached Kaniva, near the Victorian/South Australian border, I was utterly exhausted. Desperate to reach the border today, I was very disappointed to have to call it a day at Kaniva, and I booked into a local motel for the day. My body had just had enough, and it’s unsafe to be riding along a highway when you’re mentally and physically exhausted.

Kaniva is a weird little town. Today is a public holiday in Melbourne (for the AFL Grand Final Parade) but I’m not sure if it was being observed in Kaniva. There were some pretty dodgy looking characters getting around, plenty of meth heads walking the streets with no shoes and no hopes. Again, it could’ve just been a bad impression left by a public holiday but I was given the distinct impression of Kaniva as a bit of a dead town. The surrounding countryside is pretty enough though. I popped by the little pub for a meal then hit the sack.

Dimboola — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 4

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 22:15:19 +1000

I started this morning in the worst possible way — disaster struck my rear axle. I snapped the Burley Balls rear axle bolt, which was made out of cheap metal, as I went to depart the Darlot Motor Inn! I was devastated — this could easily have been the end of the adventure right there. I was completely immobilised. Without a rear axle I couldn’t even walk the bike to the local bike shop. I rang my partner Danielle in despair.

Luckily, after some wrangling with the local taxi company, I finally got onto a friendly cab driver willing to try fitting my bike and trailer and gear into the back of his maxi-cab. Just fit by about half an inch. We got to Horsham Cyclery, where the very-awesome Damian saved the day with a replacement bolt, jury-rigged to fit the Burley adaptors. Real steel this time! I feel so relieved, so grateful to Damian and the Horsham Cyclery guys, and so incredibly pissed off at Burley for compromising a $600 product with a 10c bolt. Damian, ever the helpful legend, charges me a paltry $5 for his 20-minute repair job, so I bought a few extra things from the shop to say thanks and give a little support right back.

With a light day in mind, of just camping by the Wimmera after pulling up a little sore and worried about the weather, I headed off to a laundromat, then a local café called the Cheeky Fox. It looked very nice from the street, but was incredibly loud inside, and the service was standard at best. The coffee was enormous though — when they say large, they ain’t kiddin’!

As I said, I was in for a light day of camping on the Wimmera, so I headed off for Pimpinio, with the view to then head due west from there to the Wimmera and just free-camp. I stopped in Pimpinio to fill up all my water bottles and 10L bladder for the camp, at a little caravan dealership called Ansu Leisure. I ended up staying for a cup of coffee and a great chat with the owners, Andy and Tanya. Andy’s dog was a beaut, performing a fun trick where she jumps on Andy’s back for a piggyback ride. Andy suggested I push on to Dimboola, as there are more suitable camping areas and better roads. After my experience on the corrugated gravel in Langi Ghiran State Park the other day, I agreed to take Andy’s advice and strike out to Dimboola, effectively starting my Leg 4: Horsham to Bordertown section early.

I ended up enjoying a beautiful, leisurely and thoroughly enjoyable ride to Dimboola, following the railway tracks — big thanks to the freight train for giving me a supportive toot as they passed — and I even saw the helpful cabbie from this morning along the way.

I arrived in Dimboola caravan park just as the sun was about to set. The manager, David, offered me a free berth in support of the charity cause, and I picked a spot just outside the park grounds where the trees were the most suitable for my hammock. I met a nice bloke from Adelaide, Jim, who was an electrician on a camping trip ahead of his wife and daughters, from Adelaide and Melbourne, who joined him later in the evening. Jim invited me to share their campfire, and I gratefully accepted. They were yet another lovely family I met along the way.

Tarps are lightweight and very adaptable shelters, perfect for bike touring

Freight train passing on the Western Highway between Horsham and Pimpinio

A boombox can change the world…

My camp setup in Dimboola on the Wimmera River

Camp setup under a tarp to keep my gear dry

Hammock under the tarp

Cooking dinner in Dimboola

Cooking dinner in Dimboola with my Furno stove

Horsham — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 3

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 19:12:42 +1000

I awoke early this morning to the sound of kookaburras laughing, and then cockatoos having a screaming match, so much better than an alarm clock! I love the bush!! Enjoyed a beautiful sunrise through the gum trees as I packed up camp and had a muesli breakfast. The family I’d met, the two little fellows were up bright and early like me, so we enjoyed breakfast together before I headed back down the gravel track to the highway. Lovely people!

I stopped alongside the highway at the Djab Wurrung Embassy, a protest camp against the cutting down of sacred, 800-year-old birthing trees. The camp is on the Western Highway on the incoming side to Ararat’s township, but I didn’t have the time to do much more than take a photo, wave and encourage them not to give up until they received the respect they deserve; I had to move on, with over 110 kilometres to cover today.

On this ride today I really started to feel the cumulative fatigue of the past few days. My quadriceps are burning and my right hand, particularly the ring and pinkie fingers, has gone completely numb and I’ve lost a large amount of my strength in that hand. It is difficult to write this entry, and to use the hand in general.

The scenery as I ride past the Grampians is beautifully picturesque, even if the weather is rather dreary. As I came into Great Western, I stopped at the Grampians Estate Winery for a toilet break and to hopefully grab some wine for tonight, but alas! I could only carry a very small bottle or can and they only had the regular sizes; my plan to have a little tipple of wine with dinner: foiled. I settled on a tiny jar of spiced pear paste instead. I also garnered some donations from some kind fellow travellers as well.

I also stopped at the Giant Koala in Dadswells Bridge, a funny tourist spot in the vein of “Big” things like the Big Marino, the Big Pineapple, etc. This one is a huge concrete koala with a shop underneath. I bought some little souvenirs that could fit in my pack and kept moving. I try to buy something at these places as most people pull over, snap photo, and drive off, and local businesses like this are important to these little towns.

I stopped for lunch in Stawell. Now, to be fair to Stawell, I was in a slight hurry, but I’ve never really enjoyed the town very much and I opted to simply stop at the information and rest area and cook some noodles on my Furno stove than a local eatery, having seen nothing particularly appealing on the way in.

I am still finding the truck drivers to be incredibly courteous and considerate towards my presence on the road — most of them, and whenever they could; it wasn’t always possible for them to give as much room, but many tried to give me as much as they could manage. The ‘grey nomads’, on the other hand…

By the time I arrived in Horsham it was rather late to be out scouting campsites, so I booked into a very budget motel, the Darlot Motor Inn. It was pretty basic, the kind of place Norman Bates would adore, with gaps in the ceiling solved by the complimentary bug spray on the bench. The shower however was magnificently high-pressure and it was a warm and dry roof. I crossed the road to the Toy’s Garden Restaurant, the kind of Chinese restaurant that most Aussies grew up with, and the food was pretty good, the service excellent. Then off to bed for a good night’s well-deserved rest.

The second departure — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 2

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 21:24:46 +1000

Slept in slightly, then as I was leaving from home and not coming back, needed to double-check that everything was packed into the trailer and the gear was all ready to go. Thus I arrived one hour late for my own send-off at Ballarista in Lydiard Street, Ballarat. I had my coffee and said my goodbyes, then departed up Sturt Street, following Remembrance Drive all the way through Lucas, onto Cardigan Village and joining the Western Highway. I did forget to pack more bananas, so stopped by Wilson’s Fruit & Veg in Lucas on the way.

I had a nice, but relatively uneventful (except for some roadworks) ride into Beaufort, which is about 50km from Ballarat. On the highway entering Beaufort I was pulled over by a police squad car, though luckily the local Beaufort cop just wanted a chat and to see what I was up to. I told him I was planning to stop at the bakery for a pie, to which he highly recommended the Pyrenees Pantry café across the road. I decided to try his suggestion as I hadn’t eaten there before, usually returning to the bakery for their awesome chunky steak pies, but I should have heeded my own advice on this one — the coffee, whilst OK, was nothing to rave about, and the service and attitude from the young bloke working there was pretty poor. Ah well! Maybe they put more effort into the policeman’s order, which is probably a good policy.

I headed out of Beaufort and enjoyed a nice ride into Ararat, or just shy of, where I pulled off the highway at Langi Ghiran State Park to camp for the night. Rode my bike a few kilometres up a corrugated dirt road — hell on a bike! — to the formal (but free!) camping ground. I met a nice family whilst camping there. David and Nicole were from Lalor, in Melbourne, and were camping with their little boys, Sam and Charlie, 5 and 3 respectively. They were good kids, especially little Charlie who had fantastic manners for a child his age, and was great seeing them enjoying a camping trip with their mum and dad. Dad sang them a song on the guitar to put them to sleep — which I was informed by Nicole was a regular nightly occurrence, not just a camping thing — and then had a great conversation as they shared their campfire with me until the late hours of the evening, when I finally dragged myself away from the campfire and hit the hammock at about 23:00. The hammock is comfortable enough and very warm, but being my first night camping in a hammock, I still need to get used to the sleeping angles.

Up the hills! — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide, Day 1

Mon, 23 Sep 2019 22:30:12 +1000

I arrived at the Royal Exhibition Centre in Carlton this morning with no small amount of nervous trepidation¹, as well as some weary eyes, after catching the 05:20 train with my partner, Danielle. We said goodbye with a big hug at Southern Cross Station, and I rode from there to Carlton, and parked at the big fountain to the south of the Exhibition Centre.

Not long after I arrived, Bec Yandell, responsible for looking after Ambassadors at One Girl [One Girl (One Girl Australia, 2022): One Girl — Educating Girls to Change The WorldOne Girl At One Girl, we break down the barriers that girls face in accessing an education. We do this by running girl-led programs in Sierra Leone and Uganda to drive positive change for girls and their …], arrived and we walked around to Gertrude Street to grab a last coffee from The Donkey Café. By the time we returned, One Girl CEO Sarah Ireland, and Fundraising & Relationships Manager Kara Gibbons had also arrived, as well as a student and fellow Ambassador who’d come along to help send me off, though unfortunately, I didn’t quite catch her name.

Sarah was also on a bicycle she uses to commute, and we compared bikes a little, then got right into posting on Instagram, and taking as many photos as we could, then we all walked around to the other side of the Exhibition Centre, as the south side was off-limits to cycling. Once on the Museum side, we took some video footage of myself riding the bicycle, then we all said goodbye and I started off on the ride at about 08:30!

I got to the major Flemington Road roundabout, and got caught up in the traffic flow a little and was forced to make a few u‑turns and circle about a bit before I got going again down Flemington Road towards Moonee Ponds. I headed up Mount Alexander Road, past Moonee Ponds Junction — which is a bit special to me as I was born nearby! — and Essendon Station, in the area where I grew up. It was nice to be able to start the ride off in my old stomping ground. I headed along Mt. Alexander Road along my old paperboy route to Keilor Road, and through to Niddrie. I’d misplaced my legwarmers, so picked up a pair at one of my old childhood bike stores, Rapido Cycles², which is still operating in Keilor Road.

I crossed the Calder Freeway into Airport West and headed along Fullarton Road to Keilor Park, where I coincidentally rode past my Aunt Robyn, taking a morning walk! What are the odds?! Stopped briefly to have a quick chat and explain what I was up to, then headed off, again crossing the Calder, past Brimbank Park to old Keilor Village, and up to Taylors Lakes. Along this stretch some young hoon decided he’d show off his awesome manliness and fully-sick car by burning off a dude on a bicycle. What a legend! I bet all he gets all the ladies…

I rode through Taylors Lakes, keeping an alert eye on the SUV traffic through Watergardens and the outlying estates, and arrived into Melton about 11:30. Apart from strong (45kph) headwinds and very dodgy road shoulders, as well as the usual Melbourne level of roadworks, the ride through Taylors Lakes and Melton to Bacchus Marsh was fairly uneventful. I spoke to a nice lady at the NAB in Melton when I stopped for a quick lunch of scroggin (otherwise known as trail mix) and water, as well as a couple of local cyclists.

I followed the Old Western Highway down to Bacchus Marsh from Melton, and it started raining. I came into Bacchus Marsh past the orchards, and struggled a bit with the Grey Nomads getting annoyed at not being able to get around me due to the lack of a shoulder. Saw plenty of Asian pickers in the fields wearing traditional rice paddy hats. Decided to ride around the back way through Bacchus Marsh and Maddingley to Ironbark Road, rather than try to deal with the Pentland Hills via the highway in the rain. At the rise of the hill just before Ironbark Road (McCormacks Road), the road condition here was shockingly unsafe, and I was forced to get off the bike and walk it up the hill, as trucks were passing me with no notice and no room to move and each time I tried to veer off onto the gravel I struggled to control the heavy trailer and bike combination at such low speed and gearing.

Parked on the side of the road at Bacchus Marsh

Stopping for a break and a bite to eat at Ironbark Road train siding

Panoramic view from the top of the hill at Ironbark Road

At Ironbark Road, what I’d thought was pretty flat in the car was hilly enough to be a problem into the headwinds, and after stopping by the V‑Line railway track for a bite to eat, I started to realise just how bloody sore and tired I was getting. However, with my heart set on attending a Kris Kristofferson concert at the Civic Hall in Ballarat tonight, I pushed on! The headwinds got to 50kph gusts and I started to really struggle. I managed about 6 or 7 kph at most, and by the time I stopped for a rest at the Ballan roadstop on the Western Freeway, I’d decided to join the freeway at this point. I’d eaten so many bananas and scroggin I started to fear I might de-evolve to an ape-like form, as I headed along the Western Freeway, very sore, very tired. My legs were burning as my quads started screaming at me “WTF are you doing?!”. Even my lungs were burning as all thoughts of Kris Kristofferson were a distant memory. I just wanted to actually make it to Ballarat in one piece. And this was just Day One! PUSH ON!

I passed the Bungaree turnoff, and called ahead to Danielle to meet me at the Woodmans Hill Secondary College on the corner of Fussell and Victoria Streets in Ballarat East. I nearly got cleaned up by a light truck at the 80 kph road sign near the Mill Markets, but felt elated as I came down the Ballarat-Burrumbeet Road from the Western, knowing I’d made it to Ballarat in the one day, and in time for Kristofferson too! I showered, dressed and headed off to see the Silver-Tongued Devil live, thus ticking off one of my Bucket List Items, but I could barely walk and with my western-styled outfit and cowboy boots, the manner of my walking must’ve been hilarious to watch for the other audience members who had no idea I’d just ridden 120kms all day, and must’ve thought instead I was just too far into costume! Very funny indeed…

Off to my own bed, and ready to hit the road for the ‘second departure’ tomorrow morning.

Otherwise known as shitting oneself, or wondering what the fuck I was smoking when I said I’d do this?! ↩︎
I think Rapido Cycles may be a Trek store now. ↩︎

Prologue — Media coverage in “The Courier”: Ballarat father of two preparing for ride of a lifetime...in a dress! — Bike It In A Dress: Melbourne to Adelaide

Fri, 03 May 2019 08:00:00 +1000

A bit of media coverage this morning went a long way to help drum up some awareness of my ride. Big thanks to The Courier for the article (Gliddon, 2019) [Gliddon, 2019: Ballarat father of two preparing for ride of a lifetime...in a dress!The Courier A BALLARAT dad is planning to literally dress up in a bid to raise awareness of the plight of girls education in Africa. Ryan Moore, "a six-foot-four, 100kg" father of two will later this year ride …].¹

Photo by Kate Healy

A BALLARAT dad is planning to literally dress up in a bid to raise awareness of the plight of girls education in Africa.

Ryan Moore, “a six-foot-four, 100kg” father of two will later this year ride from Melbourne to Adelaide in a school dress to raise awareness and money for the One Girl’s Do It In A Dress campaign.

“I am hoping the sight of such a bloke riding along the highway in a school dress will let people have some fun, and be enough to stop people and at the very least raise some awareness,” he said.

… read more at The Courier ¹

This article sits behind a paywall. ↩︎ ↩︎