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Terra Australis Bike Epic

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25.01.2022 PAUL LESTER OUT! At 4280k our final solo Terra Australis rider Paul Lester has had to abandon the course. Paul crashed, falling heavily on his forearm and doing some serious soft tissue damage through his shoulder. Fellow TABE starter at Cape York Peter Gargano [resident of Coffs Harbour and our thanks again for the pics Pete] caught up with Paul on his arrival in town for a brief catchup before he headed to a GP Clinic for some appraisal. Riding one handed through beachside... towns, currently busy with school holiday traffic or taking another few days off the bike isn’t possible. Paul’s already had his daily progress reduced with a likely Giardia infection through last week and again pulled up short in Woodburn on Saturday after a bout of nausea. Well done Paul on a mighty effort to complete two thirds of the course by day 30. Rest up, get well and thanks for sharing your spirit of adventure for the past month. Cheers Steve

25.01.2022 Big day from Paul Lester as he arrives at Gilberton Station. Gilberton is a working cattle station but supplements income with some drought proofing resort accommodation offering some coal face exposure to life in remote central Queensland. Paul won't be in the 'resort' accommodation but the worker 'Donga Huts'. After several days of free camping it will feel 'resort'. A shower, laundry and some good home cooking from hosts Rob and Lyn French. The next leg down to Hughenden [320k] is a decent days ride but Lyn has the fuel for the ride. Another 20k of tough rolling scrub farm tracks in the morning on the way out of Gilberton that links over to Glenmore Station where gradually the country transitions into predominantely flat open pastoral country, better faster roads and the delights of Hughenden.

25.01.2022 FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER UPDATE Solo racer Paul Lester seems to have made almost a full recovery from the gastric issue that slowed his progress earlier this week. He’s made good time since crossing into NSW yesterday and for the challenging crossing over the Border Ranges NP and down to Byron Bay Australia’s eastern most point and the commencement of the penultimate leg of the 6,250k Terra Australis Bike Epic. For Paul its day 28 of his journey south.. from the limited contact h...e’s had with family he’s as determined as the day he started to get to Wilson’s Prom. One of Paul’s highlights was recorded on his Insta page at the SHELL Cafe in Woodenbong yesterday.. when he’s supposed to be out riding Paul spends his spare time as mine host of the Shell Servo in hometown Cooma. No time for the bright lights and cafe’s in Byron for Paul he’s already heading south down to Ballina for his first ferry crossing and onwards down the south coast. For the moment he’s got a pretty decent 25kph Northerly helping him south. Further down the coast Mark Riley is passing through the smaller holiday towns south of Port Macquarie and will swing west away from the east coast beaches tomorrow for the crossing of The Barrington Tops. Peter Gargano [thanks Pete] caught up with Mark on his way through Coffs Harbour yesterday and reports he was up for a five minute chat, in good spirits and riding extremely light. Mark is an experienced Audax rider and no slave to the contemporary latest cable gears on the down tube! Rider profiles are on the TABE website. Jeremy Barbe had an extended stop in Singleton arriving on dusk yesterday after crossing the Barrington Tops from Gloucester. Jeremy finally got the rubber rolling after midday perhaps getting some work done on the bike this morning then had a quick off route detour into Denman and is now back on the race route and pushing up into the Widden Valley. Matt Sheather who has led the trio of last Sunday’s Byron Bay starters scratched this morning after some navigation issues. Matt’s put in some decent 200+k days since and I’m sure he’ll be back for more when the opportunity presents. Nice effort Matt putting away over 1000k since 7:00am last Sunday morning.

21.01.2022 Paul Lester is making a steady recovery from a gastro episode.... another short day to Tara yesterday and a visit to a medical clinic. Today he's made decent time on the way through to Millmerran so hopefully well on the way to recovery. Our fourth Byron Bay starter Mark Riley got under way late this morning and is now through Ballina and on the way down to Evans Head. Like Matt Sheather and Jeremy Barbe, Mark is riding drop bars. Not a bad choice on this leg though there w...ill be some nervous moments through the Barrington Tops and the Wollemi National Park roads. Matt Sheather now in Taree has currently opened up a 100k gap over Jeremy who is battling the sand traps along the NP trails between Crescent Head and Port Macquarie. Peter Gargano has again abandoned with a recurrence of the saddle issues encountered on the Cape York-Mareeba leg. As obvious in his bike pic opposite the Big Banana, Peter swapped a new Brooks saddle on to his bike only to discover it's no instant success. A new Brooks saddle needs a year or so of loving care and regular riding to mould into a supple cherished ultra distance saddle.

21.01.2022 Looking fresh and rested Paul Lester heading off into the morning sunrise at Gilberton Station [1,800k] after going for the full cooked breakfast. Paul arrived a little before 8:00pm last night and is now half way across the paddock trails that cross into neighbouring Glenmore Station at the 1,825k. Glenmore run a couple of road graders and have their dam access roads around the property in good nick. If you switch your map view to Esri World Image on Maprogress the Glenmore Station homestead and outbuildings are clearly visible at 1,856.5k. A further kilometre on, Paul will exit back on to local council roads and make his way across to Blackbraes National Park [1,886k]. After the huge wet season in Nth Q this year the birdlife through here should be stunning.

20.01.2022 Our solo Terra Australis racer Paul Lester has taken an enforced early stop in Condamine suffering from a debilitating energy sapping tummy bug. Paul’s hoping the early stop and good overnight rest will be enough to get him moving again [on the bike] in the morning. BYRON BAY - CANBERRA 1462k SUNDAY START TIME is now 7:00am Byron Bay Lighthouse... We have four riders registered for the this leg that commences tomorrow. After consultation with the riders it has been decided to bring the start time forward one hour to provide a window of opportunity to make the final Iluka Ferry crossing over to Yamba at 4:00pm. Three riders will head off at 7:00am. Brisbane rider Mark Riley will not commence riding until Tuesday as he’s in transit back from Europe and won’t fly into Brisbane until Monday. Destination sunny Canberra awaits! The earlier start will allow an additional 1 hour [Total: 9hrs] for riders to attempt to cover the 149k’s to make the final 4:00pm Iluka Ferry crossing over to Yamba. In the interests of forward progress if riders fail to make the Ferry they will be permitted to take an alternate longer route via the Pacific Highway and cross the Clarence River bridge to reconnect with the race route in Yamba. This circumvents a 16h:45m wait for the first 8:45am ferry on Sunday. The alternate will not be available to Paul Lester or Mark Riley as they are in control of their own timetable and aren't constrained by a fixed Byron Bay start time. Peter Gargano one of the original trio starting in Cape York three weeks will resume his adventure from Byron Bay and may also do the final Canberra-Wilsons Prom leg if the body holds up. Rider and Bike profiles are on the Terra Australis website for those who enjoy the detail. Good luck, safe riding and let’s hope solo ride Paul Lester is away again in the morning to give chase.

15.01.2022 RACE REGISTRATIONS @ 12.1.20 Terra Australis Bike Epic FULL COURSE Starts Tuesday 1 September... David Waugh 48 Armidale NSW Cairns - Longreach Starts Sunday 6 September Brendan Corbin 32 Gladstone Qld

14.01.2022 TERRA AUSTRALIS HALF DONE! Pleasant riding conditions today for our Terra Australis solo racer Paul Lester. Mid twenties temps and a gentle head breeze shouldn’t be too challenging as he commences a 50k south section before swinging east and then NE on his way up to the Wombelbank Gap crossing to his next refuel at Injune. This section of the course at 346k is one of the longest of the entire race route. Paul spent almost 2 hours in Tambo yesterday provisioning for the leg ...and will likely stop this evening a few hours out of Injune with the need to catch the Supermarket opening hours tomorrow morning after a shower and breakfast at the Caltex Roadhouse. The country he’s in at the moment is very remote, at best, one car a day and maybe a station hand out checking water and gates. Importantly Injune at 3123k marks the halfway point of the Terra Australis race route. Tomorrow brings a predicted [windy.com] northerly wind shift that looks to be strengthening and holding through to the weekend as Paul makes his way south for the crossing into his home State of NSW. A might fine achievement, it’s half done and from the little contact he’s had along the route reports are the fire burns strong to get it all done! As you might suspect Paul rides free of the constraints of social media though his wife and family keep a close watch on his progress and relay encouragement from followers and friends. On Sunday at 8:00am four riders will join in from Byron Bay for the 1463k leg down to Canberra. It’s going to be close wether Paul will be Byron Bay before they head off. The off-set for our solo rider is that from Miles [the town] south the roads improve with more paved sections and for the first time along the entire journey south regular towns for food and water thus reducing the need to carry bulk amounts. There is however the imposing challenge of the climb over the Border Ranges National Park that might be slower going on legs with 3,900k in them.

09.01.2022 Mark Riley’s arrival at the forecourt of Parliament House this afternoon at 5:05pm after completing the 1463k journey south on the 4th leg of the Terra Australis route from Byron Bay to Canberra closes out the 2019 Terra Australis. Congratulations Mark! Mighty effort first up on a testing multi day bikepacking route. Mark had a delayed start from the official 4th leg start time finally getting away from Byron Bay around Noon on Tuesday 24 Sept taking 11d:5h for the journey.... After a brief phone conversation with Mark on his arrival he conceded he would make a few different choices next time round with gear. Although his bike performed flawlessly he might reconsider the choice and go with some more rubber on another day. As indicated earlier Mark comes from an Audax background, doesn’t ride a Mountain Bike and figured this wasn’t the appropriate time to deviate from his comfort zone and known capabilities. Go with what you know! Jeremy Barbe also rode through to Canberra finishing last Tuesday Oct 1. Jeremy had his phone [and principal navigation device] stolen in Singelton causing a lengthy delay. He eventually resumed riding but bypassed several sections of the southern route in order to make a time deadline. Jeremy’s tracker point is returned to where he left the route. Overall the route was awesome, the sand and 'the link' path over Gloucester Tops were the difficult highlights. That link path had so much tree litter you couldn't ride, it took 4 hours to cover, constantly pulling branched out of my frame, wheels and derailleur. Congratulations Jeremy another sterling effort first up! I’ll do an extended wrap on the TABE website blog page [sign on via the website for updates] in the coming weeks. 2020 Terra Australis start is set in concrete for 6:00am Tuesday 1 September . don’t think about it. DO it! Entries will open 1 January as in the past.

07.01.2022 UPDATE SUNDAY 22 @ 7:30pm Paul Lester has had a lay-day off the bike in Condamine recovering from his gastric issue. Reports are he’s feeling better this afternoon and will resume racing tomorrow morning subject to continuing recovery progress. His intention is to continue down the race route to Tara and evaluate wether he needs a medical consultation or not. Let’s hope today’s progress continues and we see him back in action through the day tomorrow. The Byron Bay leg riders... got away at 7:00am this morning on schedule and with a strong NE breeze on their tail made quick work of the run south to met the Iluka Ferry before the final 4:00pm sailing. Matt Sheather even managed to make the 2:30pm crossing and stole a nice one hour gap over the chasing pair who were in Iluka a little after 3:00pm ..... no doubt put the time to good use topping up with fluids and snack foods. As darkness descends, Matt has ridden straight past the Brooms Head evening meal at the Bowlo option and now has a solid 80k of National Park tracks and forest roads ahead of him before some take-away food options tomorrow morning at Corindi Beach. Jeremy Barbe has just arrived at Brooms Head and reports he’s managing Matt’s lost property collection. Looks like he’s going for the Chinese at the Bowlo. Peter Gargano V2 was a couple of K’s behind and looks to be joining Jeremy for the chow down.

05.01.2022 Just when you declare he's not on social media ... he bobs up like he's a pro ... and flashing a body cam! https://www.instagram.com/p/B2fIzLBhEYs/

04.01.2022 Here's a man who has a ride water plan .... and putting it into action. 6:01 this evening and a couple of hours to Muttaburra. With 10 minute tracking gaps on the race tracker you don't often catch these moments ... great to see from the couch!

02.01.2022 You can’t get anymore Central Queensland than Muttaburra, it’s the geographical centre of Queensland the cross roads of North South or East West if you happen to be riding a bike out there. Paul Lester our Terra Australis solo rider is away on his third week of riding since departing Cape York on August 31. Now half way down from Hughenden to Muttaburra it’s dry, hot, dusty and often a headwind it seems which ever way you’re riding. For the well prepared bikepacker food resu...pply is critical and the challenge is to hit the towns during shop/pub hours. Paul’s got a light easterly cross breeze at the moment maybe with a little on the north quarter which will be a blessed relief after plugging into a southerly into Hughenden all day yesterday. He should make the Pub for an evening meal and the promise of several days of moderate Northerly winds for most of next week to push him south towards the NSW border. Contrary to the dramatised accounts of riding out here there is plenty of water along the way whichever direction you’re riding. The probability of drowning in a dam or stock trough is greater than dying of thirst. if you’ve done your homework! A quick count from Hughenden to Muttaburra from satellite images of bores, tanks, troughs, dams, stock yards and a few billabongs tallys as many as 37 possibilities probably more and another 15 down to Longreach. All of these are within a short walk or ride off the race route. It’s much the same heading East-West. With contemporary filtering devices the modern day bikepacker riding light and fast with 2-4 litres of water can cover 200-300k a day and do a water top up almost as and when required.