Vanderpants Oz Tour

Distance: 90.06 km’s

Avg Speed: 17.1 kmph

Max Spd: 50.2 kmph

Calories Burned: 1142

Time in Saddle: 5hr:15mins

Elevation Gain: 634 mtrs

There’s a few reasons I want to blog this journey and one is to give back to cycling/touring community as I have taken a lot from the online cycling community and not given much back so if anyone reading this wants to know anything at all….hit me up and i’ll respond to all questions. Secondly, it will help me keep touch with reality and also – i can’t wait to share this with you all so you can live through this with me….all the highs and the lows – no shiny BS – just the real ME. A good friend of mine (thank you bestie) gave me a set of cards and I am going to start each day with one one them as they will help keep a positive frame of mind so here goes……card 1 ‘And suddenly you know: IT’S TIME to start something new and trust the magic of new beginnings’ You couldn’t get any more of a fitting statement than that right?

Oh My God – it’s here and I can’t believe it. Many mixed emotions today it was crazy. The last 9 months has probably been for many reasons the toughest of my life and its a tad overwhelming for a massive dream like this to actually be happening. I have spent the last few weeks having a farewell here and there and it’s been really nice saying a proper goodbye to as many people as possible which made this feel so real early on. Not as real as 3am this morning when I couldn’t get back to sleep and was wide eyed for a couple hours before my alarm went off. 10 years of dreaming and 2 years of planning has all come to this one day. I can’t believe it’s here. It’s been 8 years since i’ve seriously toured before and I probably should not have rode over 5 hours on the first day but i really want to get to Normanville and see my Mum and Tonnie. The weather was wet as I started off and I told myself ‘this is what it’s going to be like so harden up Adrian’. The weather was really wet and windy and it rained on me about 7 times and the wind was relentless…but not as relentless as my tenacity on day 1. I forgot what this feeling was like to ride with a fully loaded bike and my hammy’s, shoulders and back are sore….but not as sore as my cheeks from smiling.

I saw a lot of my friends along the way and it helped soooo much so thank you to all in the video below for the warm goodbye along the way. The eyes were welling but the soul was happy to see you all and also say hello and goodbye. I was a bit unsure if i was going to tackle it all the way to Normanville as i’ve been really sick lately and it’s been a long time since i’ve fully toured and I want to ease into it but I tackled it slowly with plenty of stops and tomorrow will be not as hilly and I can do a few less k’s. After a hard day on the bike emotionally and physically, I made it normanville and may or may not have welled up (just a little) knowing I’m gonna see my mum and say a proper goodbye. It was a blessing and I was met with a lovely welcome and AMAZING food like soup, bread, cheeses, water, wine, coffee, yoghurt, fruit OMG —–I ATE IT ALL nom nom nom- so good to ease into day one without a tent in the pouring rain let me tell yah. I want to do a video like below every few weeks to give you an idea of what it’s like and also show you the real side of touring – the ups and down. Thank you to everyone reading this right now (and I know who you all are) – it helps more than you know knowing that you’re all there helping along to push that crank over one more time regardless of what i’m going through.

I hope you enjoy the journey and if you want to know anything don’t be afraid to send me a message anytime

Much love – Vanderpants

Warning – my speling will be terrible and i don’t care – i need to get these toughts out on paper in my tent when its wet and cld or really hot so as long as you can read in between the lines – so be it – I won’t let grammar get in the way of a good story hahaha. Ok that said………..