Vanderpants Oz Tour

Well well what a great last couple days. We ACTUALLY MADE IT……..We both said to each other that of course we knew we would make it however, it’s different when you’ve actually experienced it. We both agreed that it certainly was an EPIC adventure that surpassed our expectations and thinking you’ve got the grit to complete it and actually completing it are two worlds apart of emotions with 25 adventures each day to navigate through. For me, it was nice to share something so big and unique with a best mate who shares similar mindsets and humour. I’ve always done this alone and whilst I can blog as much as I can about what it’s like (in my very unedited, raw and never once re-read ramblings), it’s nice to laugh and talk about this with someone that ACTUALLY gets everything that comes along with unsupported bicycle touring. It’s a very unique passion and Alex now ‘get’s it’. Thanks Alex mate……thanks for adapting in 1 bloody day like a pro and for helping with planning routes, keeping things upbeat, the coffees, for smirking at my shit blog edits hahaha, for giving me shit, for your stupid random songs at 5am, for cooking, navigating, thinking ahead and also for listening to my ENDLESS DRIBBLE about all subjects in life ALL DAY NON STOP 🙂 Anyone that can listen to me on high energy for that amount of time and still laugh with me is a special human being. Your touring score for the trip is 9.9/10 why not a 10 you say? well – there’s only room for one of those people on this trip 🙂

It was really refreshing to see Alex’s firsts…..first everything with touring and first time to Melbourne. The look in his eyes when we actually made it and cycling in the big smoke was priceless hahaha. Seeing Alex have a blast the whole wayonly made it better for me.

The last couple days were logistics, making it to the MCG YEWWWWWW, shopping, cafes and coffees), St Kilda sightseeing, Some GP droning, cycling through all the streets, eating and planning. Cycling to Melbourne, Out of Melbourne, In Melbourne is A BREEZE. Melbourne is spoilt with amazing safe bicycle lanes in the heart of the city and on the outskirts are amazing bike paths fololwing creeks and nature. So many gravel bikes here too as some paths are dirt but easy riding. Everyone is up for a chat too. I wish Adelaide had that…After cycling in so many countries around the world I will say that Adelaide is not a safe place ride. Melbourne to me feels like I blend in, people are aware of you as they are used to bikes, it’s designed with cycling in mind and navigating is a breeze. It was refreshing. I won’t say i’d live here because I LOVE ADELAIDE for all it has to offer with lifestyle and living etc but, Melbourne is the bomb for visits and ESPECIALLY by bicycle. Oh and the pastrie and yummies. You know when you eat or drink something that’s so good you CAN’T NOT SMILE……it was that good. So i’ll be takimng a break from blogging for a while whilst I chill out and hang and enjoy some time with friends and i’ll be abck on the road when you see my insta post come up again – to be honet I already miss the road so when I get back on, solo eeep, I am looking forward to the next Vanderpants chapter minus an awesome Redleg but it will be a new different. I’ll have to get more creative with my blogs hahahahaha

I don’t want to go on too much because Alex has written a little about his experience on this little trek and he has summed it up perfectly so without putting a second spotlight on the wrap up, read on for Alex’s take on everything. I share the exact description of the whole thing…..MIND BLOWN……………….the video says it all…..see you everyone waves like forrest gump on the shrimp boat

Hey all! Alex here, I thought I would take this oppurtunity to include my take on the past 3 weeks of adventure … and why not wait until the last blog post to do so, right? Far out … where to start!!!

I think it goes without saying that both Adrian and I have had THE BEST time over this trip, from when we wake up to when we go to sleep we dont stop talking shit about anything and everything … if youre reading this we have probably given you shit too! Hahaha noone has been safe. Literally a person we meet on the road could be the nicest to us and 2 seconds later we are hanging shit on them and having a laugh about it. Our sense of humour is almost identical and some might think thats a bad thing, but it has helped a heap over the weeks.

We also share a lot of the same personality quirks too, not just our sense of humour … our sense of adventure, brilliant at planning, not afraid to give ANYTHING a go, resilliant, stubborn, loud and our can do attitude. I think the main reason why our trip has been as amazing as it has been would be our attitude towards the trip, the journey and to each other … On top of our attitude is a lot of respect and love for each other and it shows in the videos and the blog posts. We are an amazing team.

Actually “team” might be a better way to describe us. We made the perfect team on so many levels, not just time on the bike but the 1,000 other things that need to happen everyday for the trip to succeed … we took it all on and even if it was hard, we took it onboard and dealt with it. The end result was a string of perfect days, with each day comprising 30 different adventures. I think its important to recognise how well we have both done, I know I am proud of Adrian for everything this trip has been but Im also proud of myself for being right there with him, as a team, every step (or pedal) of the way.

On that I think its also important to acknowledge how well Adrian has done with the challanges on this trip. What is seen is a very fit, strong and capable guy (which he absolutely is) but he has gone through the same amount of hardwork, sweat and grit that I have … and the mental challenges this brings about too! So while he carries himself in a positive and strong light, its good for his peers to take a step back and give the man all the kudos and accolades he deserves for the successes too.

Has it been hard for me? Absolutely it has. Its no secret that im no slim line model so working through the extra weight on tour wasnt easy. But it didnt beat me, and it never will. I hope that in some way seeing someone my size getting out there and going toe to toe with a tour like this will resonate with some of you. Everyone is capable of amazing things, just getting out there and doing it is most of the battle won. I also run ultra marathons too, I bet you couldnt have guessed that by looking at me! Its taken me a long time to accept the rig that I have but also knowing that this rig is just as capable and strong as anyone elses (actually more capable and stronger!!! roars haha)

I am looking forward to seeing and supporting Adrian as he continues his journey around the big oz. If the past 1,450kms have been any indication he is going to have a great time!! My journey on this tour has come to an end, and its been one of the best experiences of my life and to be able to share it with a mate who you love and respect makes it even that little bit more sweeter. My adventures dont stop here though, im gearing up for a 10 day pilgramige hike through rural Japan towards the end of April … which will be amazing! While I wont be putting up a blog like Adrian has been, I will be posting on Instagram as I go (usually just to stories) so if wanted to connect with me on ig my handle is @therealmolloy.

Thanks for the support and well wishes through our journey, its been a blast.

Cheers, Alex.

Mechanicals:

Alex had 3 flatties (only 1 as the other two was a faulty tube)

AV had a slow leak on his rear and can’t work it out but it lasts two days hahaha

THAT’S IT

Places we Visited (and stayed):

Strathalbyn / Meningie / Coorong / Kingston SE / Beachport / Abondened Town Hall haha / Nelson / Portland / Port Fairy / Cobden / Princetown (GOR) / 12 Apostles / The Otways Offroad adventure / Winchelsea / Geelong / Flinders (Monrinton Peninsular / Philip Island / Koo Wee Rup / MELBOURNE – WHOAH!!!!!

Well well well – I told Alex that I will DEFINITELY lose the drone somewhere along my trip and today was the day……..GUTTED! So early on in the piece as well. So there we were….just finished our coffee and about to do a drone fly over the bridge with the ‘track me’ function on. Stupid me (it’s my fault) didn’t think about the overhanging lights on the bridge. There we were cycling over, drone tracking beautifully, I sped up and we went down the other side of the bridge and the drone normally gains a bit of height to keep us in the picture and that it did, however, it doesn’t have incident detection from above so it lifted and BOOM….hit the top of the pole and down she tumbled down into the Bass Straight never to be seen again. We just looked at each other in complete silence and shock. It took us a while to work out what actually happened but after sitting down for a sad face coffee near the ‘crash site’, it dawned on us that the above is exactly what happened. So lesson learned. When tracking, ensure there’s nothing ABOVE the drone. For ages the drone tracked me though forrests with so many more obstacles but never did I speed up causing it to lift quickly, they were all slow manouvres. No use crying over spilled milk…..lesson learned, onwards and upwards. Adrian will purchase another drone tomorrow as – WE WILL BE SUPER CLOSE TO MELBOURNE (the actual goal of this whole trip) and it all starts again. This time, I will buy insurance which I didn’t know until today, covers a one time incident like this. Will I change how i’ve been using it ………………………. NO hahahah I’ll still do everything APART from tracking….if there’s anything above the drone whilst tracking – just fly it somewhere, sit it there and hover and film……DONE!…….The things we learn (at a high cost) hahahaha. Alex was just as gutted as me because we both cycled pretty quietly for a while afterwards with a few “Man that sucks” thrown in at random times.

So unfortunately there is no amazing drone footage today and the shots are terrestrial. Having said that, we only took a few nice roads today and there wasn’t much to see actually. Half highway, 1/4 off road and 1/4 secondary roads. Alex and I are two days away from Melbourne….YEWWwwwwwww what an accomplishment. We cycled over 60 km’s today and after the death of droney, we rode a few dirt roads to hit the highway and we BOMBED down into town sitting at 30 clicks which is awesome for loaded bikes. Alex had the directions up today and at one point I asked him how long till the next left to which his repsonse was ‘left at the shearing shed’……I was like ‘yup got it’ and that’s how it is sometimes hahahaha I LOVE IT.

Not only the Drone loss but also something else made us a bit quiet today and after talking about it, it was that this is almost ending and the last two days including this one will probably be hum drum get it done no fancy sights to see kinda touring (it might not be) but today was and our minds are on the ‘next thing now’. We are still making the most of it but it feels like we are just going to bomb into Melbourne and the sights are now just highways and towns which is still so awesome however, after reflecting on ‘our mood’ that is the reason why I think. We are still upbeat but I really don’t want this to end but like all good things, they always do. So Alex and I are making the most of the towns we see until we hit Melbourne and BOOM WE MADE IT….YAY

1,350 km’s so far and so much of that was offroad – bloody crazy hey….there’s a lot more to come but this has been an AMAZING little adventure. One of my most enjoyable to be honest and I know Alex shares that feeling.

Having said that, this will be my second to last blog for a couple weeks I am going to take a short break and visit some friends and family and then i’ll be back………Drone purchase tomorrow, one last blog then it’s Redlegs and Vanderpants signing off for a while and I’ll post up on instagram when i’m back on the road heading north SOLO….holy shit….SOLO time – it will be a change that’s for sure – I will have to adapt back to talking to myself again hahahaha. The few things i’m looking forward to (and slightly uneasy about) will be right up top North with all those remote roads, the vast distance between towns and what it takes to stay prepared and safe on the bicycle, road trains on the nullabor and also completing Munda biddy Trail (1,000km’s all offroad from Perth to Albany) https://mundabiddi.org.au/ . Apparently, it’s supposed to be pretty tough and i’m not scared but I do think about the toughness required to complete these things sometimes. If it didn’t scare me a little (just a little) I don’t think I would actually be doing such a huge adventure. I want to be challenged with these things – some part of me wants the hardship and see how I handle it and conquer those things. I’m hungry for it. I’ll regret saying that hahahahaha. Alex absolutely wants to join me at some points through the tour too, which would be amazing. But I understand his plate is as full as it gets but am crossing my fingers we can tour again together!

So stay tuned for Droney Two (any new possible names for Droney Two will be welcomed please) because if I name it AND get insurance, better luck will be bestowed up on me right 🙂

See you tomorrow (or the next day when I blog) for the FINAL POST of us hitting our goal I can’t bloody wait – i’m so impressed at the big man for getting this far – so impressed………**waves** byeeeeeeeee

Distance: 75km’s (including Ferry)

Avg Spd:17.3

Max Spd -64.2 (some killer descents today)

Saddle Time: 4:18

Elevation:510 meters

Total Distance: 1,300 km’s woooooooooooooo

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Good evening to all the people who enjoy reading the ramblings of two hot red heads.

Another great day. I know right? how can that be hahaha.

As we woke at 6 and packed and gone (nescafe blend 43 down the hatch too blerrrg haah) – we were gone by 7 and I personally was excited to get some sunrise pics n vids in. Pre drone days I always loved sunsets however, moreso now and it gets me out of bed early to try to capture more of the day and it’s been so good having another perspective on the things I see. I get enjoyment out of the fact that I get to show you guys everything we see. When I first started touring I lobbed myself into a small village in Italy thinking I was this fearless man ready to take on the world and after the first three corners I was ringing my girlfriend (at the time 🙂 ) about how lost I was and if I done the right thing. A few tears were had thinking what the fuck have I just done and can I do it. So many different languages, currencies, so many unknown places to sleep and when am I going to wake up in an ice bath with one kidney gone and a note on the sink saying ‘take these drugs if you want to live’. Don’t even talk to me about Wolf Creek either hahahaha

The reason I am talking about this is because that was before sat phones, drones, laptops, google, getting around was more of a challenge. I had a paper map, an international phone plan that had no data at all so I was basically going off those paper maps and supposedly going to cycle around 13 countries in Europe. Some would say these were the best of times as the adventure really unfolds that way and is uncomplicated – you are definitely right there however at the time I was overwhelemed, scared, overpacked and had too much energy haha. After a few weeks, I overcame almost all of that and let go of the fears and let the day bring what it brings. The days unfolded and the people were super friendly and helpful (moreso thanm I thought in my own head) and that gave me the courage I needed to push on…….fast forward to now…..

The research is at your fingertips but sometimes a bit too much where you can plan EVERYTHING and it not go to ‘your plan’. Sat Phones, Google, Smart phones, drones etc etc etc….it’s so easy to get around these days. I find ‘some’ planning of an A and a B with flexibility works best for me now. Quick planning of here and there, water, things to possibly see and then just head in ‘that’ direction, has served me so well and trusting your intuition and the most important is having a sense of curiosity about the ‘adventure’ and knowing that they are all lessons be it good or bad is how I like to travel. It gets me talking to people and seeing what’s around the corner – even if it’s just having an awesome day in the sun – I LOVE IT. OK i’m rambling now, the point is…..it’s amazing I have this technology not only for memories sake, but that you all can see what a day in the life is like and also experience Australia a bit more with me – AMAZING.

We took some amazing rainbow, rainy, sunrise pics and really enjoyed the quiet morning especially after stopping for coffee and talking about the last 30km’s and how you don’t see that shit every day. Coffee was OK – service was forgettable. We ordered two banana breads and it took ages – that’s ok no probs I’ll just walk in and check on that (before I go all Leon Byner on her hahaha). I said ‘oh hi are those two banana breads coming still’? to which the answer was ‘you only ordered one’. (I heard Alex say two)
So Adrian says – that’s ok no probs 1 is fine. The answer I got was ‘Well only ONE (emphasised one) was ordered so that’s what I did’ I laughed and went ok no problems hahaha and then replayed the whole conversation to Alex, which we then deconstructed and hung shit on, then got on with bombing up and down some hills to get to the Ferry to go to PHILLIP ISLAND Yeewwwwwww

We took the Ferry to Phillip Island because the night before we mad some plans over a red wine and it looked ok. Booked the Ferry and the rest we worked out along the way. Never been there, didn’t know anything other than the GP and when we landed away we went. First thing we noticed was a big lack of shoulders to ride on. So strange when a town that brings in big tourist dollars has no sealed shoulders. I must say though, it was fun bombing around almost all of the outskirts of the island and seeing it from all angles. We wanted to see some penguins but noticed that it’s on too late for us to get back to so we just stopped for some home made lunch and went on our merry way. Still a beautiful ride to get there and back but onwards we went to see what the Moto GP track looks like them bomb again to our campsite. We spent about 5 hours in the saddle today plus some ferry time and it was all in all a great day. AGAIN…..another shitty day hahaha bouncing around on those pedals just lapping it all up. I was saying to Alex today if you think about how many summers and sunsets and great days we have, they go so quick – there’s not many when you break it down like that….when I think like that, it helps me really enjoy every frikkn minute of this trip (well most of those minutes hahahah)

One thing that’s been weird and of course I never watch the news so what would I know however, bowls of hot chips are scarce in Vic. Only chips with your meal and no extra due to the flooding, potatoes are difficult to get a hold of – they are my favourite so that’s been a shame hahaha normally i order a meal with chips AND MORE CHIPS hahah. Those floods have done way more than just causing a potatoe shortage I know however…….I miss those chippies 🙂

You would think that not having a shower for a day or three that we would stink right……I tell you onw thing, Merino wool is THE BEST for touring. I’ve said this before and i’ll say it again….it breathes, keeps you warm, keeps you cool, AND it just doesn’t smell – i’m amazed at that when you’re cycling 5-6 hours a day and just no smell – I would know, I like smells sooooooo – although maybe we do but just can’t smell ourselves…….ALTHOUGH, after dinner tonight we walked back to our tents and then opened them and OMG – that woft……we both went PHHHWOOOAARRRRRR…….but at least it wasn’t our shirts hahahaha. Could be my half eaten roll that’s been in my bags for two days or food stashed away plus dirty laundry hahahahaha

All in all today was a dream……cycling amazing NEW places, wildlife, sunrises, good food, great laughs, moto gp track, a ferry, a walk after dinner, cycling around an island – what more could one ask for….Also, there’s this bridge that connects Phillip Island to San Remo and of course being a Civil Designer Alex had to bloody take pics from this angle and that angle and then the sunset came so all the angles had to be taken again and i’m like ‘IT’S A BRIDGE’ hahahaha but it was a nice walk…i’m just takin the piss bcos he is an engineer geek and I am well NOT.

we are soooo close to melbourne now I can smell it – I actually really can hahahahaha

enjoy the video people, I hope it does justice to the day…..

see you all tomorrow

85 clicks today

5 hours saddle time

3,000 calories burned (means more beer for meeeeee)

1,200 km’s so far woohoooooo how cool

Avg Speed 16kmph

660 meters climbed today

Good evening everyone

Today was ANOTHER wicked day – they just keep coming – literally just one after the other – we keep kicking ourselves saying ‘Nah tomorrow will be a get it done kinda day’ BUT NO, that hasn’t happened yet. Each day has delivered multiple supprises and adventures and endless stories to keep us entertained to relive over and over whilst on the bike. I say relive however, too many amazing things have happened that rehashing over and over hasn’t occured yet because the next best thing comes along and on we go. That’s how each day feels like 20 adventures in one…..the stories keep rolling and today didn’t dissapoint.

Started off SOOOOOooooo hard……wake up at 6 – coffee – pack – leave at 7 and we hit a rail trail immediately – HEAPS HARD 🙂

We trundled towards the sunrise to what we knew would be 20 km’s towards a coffee van that had great reviews (in vid). We were spoiled with awesome views, different trails and quiet roads towards coffee. Drone was actioned and coffee and dog pats were had (especially my favourite, the whippets. If you want to keep me around forever, just own a Whippet and i won’t leave). Many pats and drone action plus coffee were had but it was time to push on. I say push but really, more railtrails along lakes, dirt roads, forests, and countryside for another 20 km’s. I must say that Geelong has very very good entry and exists into and out of the city for cyclists. It was a breeze in and out and very picturesque. Again Alex and I were smiling at each other about how SHIT this trip has been hahahahaha. Shit sights, shit people, shit roads, shit food, shit coffee, shit beaches, shit adventures and shit banter 🙂 hahahahaha. It was really lovely. The smells and sights along the way were rewarding to say the least. I say smells because people who know me know I LOVE SMELLS hahahahaha. I love the smell of a rainforrest just after it’s rained or when the rain just hits hot pavement and i’m cycling through it, or today the smell was a freshly built home – that fresh wood smell mmmmmmmmmmmm. Is it weird that I love the smell of new clothes? You may even have caught me smelling a shirt that’s on a rack that I don’t even want to buy – is that weird 🙂 not at all right….Some people have even quoted me saying ‘I can smell around corners’. With a sundial like mine it’s easy to believe huh —– anyway – So I could talk about all the amazing smells of nature (and clothes hahaha) throughout the 1,200 km’s completed so far have filled me up at least for a while hahaha.

So onwards we went along the rail trail all the way to Queenstown where we took the Ferry to Sorrento. A 40 minute welcomed rest, coffee and toilet stop really. We were greeted with a disgusting view of the Sorrento area and clip went out cleats fixing our shoes into the pedal and cranked those wheels over to begin our trek towards Flinders on the Mornington Peninsular….it certainly delivered a beautiful ride along the coast with again, more smiles and us repeating for an hour ‘heaps shit adventure’ hahaha

It was perfect weather, wind was minimal, the view was to die for, we had a destination and all was even in the world

Today along our ride we discussed that we have taken so many alternate routes this trip……nothing has been direct and so many unfarmiliars – this has been the best. It’s like the path we take in life is not always a direct one….we go down a road, we get lost, we take hills we didn’t know, we get rained on, we meet certain people on that path we wouldn’t if we didn’t take that road etc etc and generally the hard road is the right road. It strengthens us and teaches us more things. That very bad analogy of mine is the same in touring and life. The rewards for self are greater on that hard road if faced head on with a good attitude as often as possible…….ok enough life talk – back to smack talk now – This isn’t a platform to talk serious cmon now – this is for talking shit and fun ahahaha

After we disembarked off the ferry we cycled the opposite way (the hard road remember hahaha) to do soe Droney drone at a memorable place in portsea for one of Alex’s friend. It was there we met a photographer/film maker named Sean who we got to talking for 45 minutes about all of life of course as you do whilst on an epic adventure. In case you didn’t know already hahaha I do love talking to people. I love learning about what makes them tick, why they do what they do and where they come from. It’s always interesting to know why they do what they do and everything else in between. I think I need 4 years for this tour because it takes me that long to keep going as I enjoy a yarn a bit too much. So Sean gave us some great hot tips in film making and how to edit my vids quicker and also a few websites to inspire us – Thank you Sean – It was a lovely break from pedalling to share a few stories together.

It was time to keep going though (as Alex reminded me hahahahah – I do need that reminder because I lose track of time and then nek minnut i’m in someones house and we are talking about life and drinking red wine hahahahaha)

So we knew we had some climbing to do to get over the island and onto the other side to Flinders. So after Climbing ‘Arthurs Shelf’ for an hour PHEWPH (some climbs were 15% today) it was time to descend into Flinders……..I made the decision to go off road instead of the main road with no shoulder. It was the wrong decision because unbeknown to me, it was a private road (which i’ll still debate till the cows come home) – There were no private property signs and it was an actual road. It was rough i’ll give you that, rocky and difficult for Alex with his thinner tyres hahahaha. I could tell Alex was ready to get there. I could see it on his face hahaha. I felt bad because I made the deicsion to go down that road and it was not easy. All of a sudden a guy comes running out of his house yelling ‘STOP STOP’ I knew what he was going to say regarding ‘this road is private property bla bla bla bla’ and I was going to just keep riding and ignore him but I knew Alex was behind me and I didn’t want to leave him with ‘that’ hahahaha so I stopped and internally rolled my eyes as the owner told me i’m not allowed on this road. I know I am but I didn’t say anything and just said we are just passing through and google led us down here and we are just heading to the main road. He kept on going and going and we just slowly rode off, apologised and headed to the main road where we descended a few kilometers into another awesome coastal town hahaah

Immediately went for a dip in the water up to waist height for recovery and relive the day that was, do some droney drone, eat some tea then tuck in for some blogging, a shower and now some well earned rest after 80 odd km’s

What another great bloody day.

Enjoy the video peoples……..lots of love from the Redlegs.