Cape to Cape Day 2 - 23 Oct 2015

The second day of the Cape to Cape - forest singletrack, limestone rocks and more sand.

We started towards the back of the 6th group, I think there was one other group behind us. First up was a longish steady climb on tarmac then fire trail. Again, being road riders we passed a lot of people going uphill. Annie's legs were working better today so I had to work to stay with her.

Then we reached the first singletrack section, Sam Hill Downhill. This was a bit hairy and being the first section of technical track of the day I was taking it easy. A few guys behind me weren't too impressed with this and they were yelling to let them past. This is all very well and good but it's hard to let guys pass when you're going downhill on technical singletrack with no places to pull off.

After the brief section of singletrack we were back on roads with some more climbing. We tried to take it easy and let some of the boys with big egos pass us.

We then rode back into the singletrack and soon came to a quite long climb that had a long line of people walking. It was perfectly rideable but there were guys on handcycles tackling the climb and they are a bit slower uphill. Annie and I managed to ride at walking pace all the way to the top of the climb, which was an excellent test of our bike handling skills. Got quite a bit of kudos from our fellow riders too :)

The next 15km or so was lovely flowing singletrack interspersed with connecting tracks. There were a few little jumps that I may have even got some air on, or at least gone over at speed without freaking out! The uphills were rideable and the downhills were fun without being too technical. Plus we'd found ourselves in a good zone without too many other riders. One fun section, called The Tunnel, had lots of low hanging branches and forest close on either side, with a few twists and turns. It was fun and a little bit technical without being too hairy. 

The track then headed west again out to the coast. And you know what that means - more sand. By this stage my confidence had improved and after all the riding on sand yesterday I decided that sand is my friend. Plus I was determined to stay on the bike and ride as much as I could. I did pretty well, staying on the bike and weaving around the guys who were walking. There were just a couple of sections of deep sand a few metres long that I had to walk through.

Then we came into the limestone rocks, first uphill then downhill. I discovered the benefits of full suspension over the rocks, helped tremendously to even out the ride and let the bike do more of the work. 

After the sand and limestone sections there was another long steady hill climb along the coast. Great views. And I had time to appreciate the view as my riding partner was hampered by stomach cramps, she eventually figured out it was something in her drink.

The last 15-20km were relatively straightforward, mostly fire trail and non technical singletrack, and the climbs were not too steep. There was a fun short section of singletrack with some "whoopdies" (not sure if this is the correct technical term - where the trail goes up and down like a BMX track). These usually freak me out but today I was brave enough to tackle them.

Then we got to ride through some more farmland on the edges of the vineyards. Quite fun pushing up the hills and flying downhill. Then back onto fire trails and bitumen before the turnoff to Xanadu winery and the finish line.

Today we rode 57km. Our average speed was around 13kph and it took a little over 4 hours. Could have been faster had we not been held back by stomach cramps, but this event for me is not about racing so I wasn't concerned about the time. Just about enjoying the ride and riding with friends.

Cape to Cape Day 1 - 22 Oct 2015

Day 1 of the Cape to Cape can be summed up in three words: dust, hills and sand.

We started at Cape Leeuwin lighthouse just after 12.30pm. It was great to see the long line of riders waiting to head off. Very classy by the organisers to have a jet fly around the headland, timed exactly with the start of the elite field. Something special to start the event. 

We started towards the back, as I knew my technical skills wouldn't be as good as most people, and I was already getting annoying at guys with big egos passing us heading to the start line. 

Not long after the start we headed uphill on tarmac then on gravel. Our ride plan was to enjoy it and not race it, so we rode a good tempo pace up the hills - and still passed lots of riders. Then we headed downhill on a fast and very dusty section - and all those riders passed us again. I have this crazy notion that I actually like to see where I'm going, so I was trying to ride slow enough for the dust clouds from other riders to settle. That was definitely not fast enough for most other people! 

Then we got to a sandy bit with lots of people walking, which turned into an endless sandy hill with lots of people walking. Me included. It was so tough I had to take a break partway up and take some photos. This was Heartbreak Hill.

This pattern continued for the next 20km or so. Ride down some dusty and sandy hills. Get passed by a bunch of people. Get to a tough uphill and ride as far as you can then walk the rest, gasping for breath with calves burning. Get back on the bike and ride some more.

I was very happy to be able to ride up some of the steep sandy hills and I got better at going down them as well. I was feeling pretty confident ... then we reached the pre-dunes before the beach. They were properly steep with deep sand. Impossible to ride up. So trudging uphill and downhill in shoes filling up with sand.

Then ... the beach. One of the most anticipated parts of the whole course. And we were in luck - apparently it was the firmest the beach had been for all the years of this event. I knocked the sand out of my cleats, clipped in and headed off. It was great fun! I was passing everyone, timing my speed to avoid most of the waves, and with some good momentum I managed to pedal through the boggy bits of sand. I rode the whole way along the beach, then got some photos of Annie as she approached the end of the beach.

We had some more food - then more trudging uphill through deep sand. Eventually I got to some rideable sand so back on the bike. Good thing I was getting better at riding on sand because there was still lots of sand, downhill at speed and uphill at a snails pace riding around people who were walking.

Annie was struggling a bit with cramps in her calves and quads by this stage, so I found a good shady spot to wait and empty the buckets of sand from my shoes. Annie had caught me up on the downhills though so she was there in moments.

The next section was The Farm. This was quite fun, riding along ruts through grassy fields with sheep in the next paddock. It was a little undulating but I was still feeling pretty good so I set a good pace. 

Then we came to Hamstring Hill. I started trying to ride up it, but it was sandy and steep and I was getting tired. Plus I knew Annie wouldn't be able to ride it. So we trudged some more up another long tough hill. 

Finally, back on the bike for the last downhill section before the finish. I got stuck behind a guy who had broken his chain (he was using his bike like a scooter) and a guy on a handcycle. I was super impressed with how fast the handcycle guy went downhill - much faster than me, and he would've been eating loads of dust!

I got round those guys and re-joined Annie and we finished together. Very happy to reach the finish in Hamelin Bay. Today was 42km. I don't even know how long it took, my Garmin was so dusty at the finish that I couldn't read it. We were given a sticker for Group 6 for our seeding for the rest of the event.

Today I felt strong almost until the finish. I was very happy to improve my ability to ride on sand and extremely happy to be able to ride the whole beach section. The weather was also awesome. A great tough day on the bike.

Munda Biddi - Days 7-11, 16-20 July 2015, 220km

Start of the ride - smiles all round

16 July: Lake Brockman Tourist Park to Yarri Campsite

We set off from Lake Brockman at 11.30am. My bike rack was rubbing on the rear tyre so we had to stop and fix that after only 5km. We didn't re start again until 2pm, after Annie the mechanic worked some magic with a lot of patience and some selective use of scissors. 

Mechanic Annie

The trail was beautiful, nice trees, lots of small bridges over creeks.

Bridge over a creek

Emma walking / pushing her bike up
 a steep rutted hill

There was one steep section coming up and down to cross Harvey River - I had to walk up one rutted section but managed to ride the rest. 


The trail was not very technical - mostly on single lane vehicle tracks. Even the single track was not technical. Beautiful and we were able to go relatively fast to make up for lost time. Got to Yarri Campsite at 5pm.

Average speed 12 kph, 3:40 riding time for 45 km. 

Annie riding an uphill section of trail that I'd just walked up

17 July: Yarri Campsite to Honeymoon Pool

We left the campsite at 9.30am. First stop was after an hour and 8km of riding for morning tea. Before lunch there were a few hills, we crossed a railway, and we rode along powerlines in a few sections. 

Riding along powerlines

Crossing the railway

LARGE tree trunk

The weather was mixed with a few spots of rain and lots of sunshine. We stopped just after the turnoff to Collie for lunch. After lunch we found ourselves on a section of singletrack which was quite rutted and loose in places. Not much fun. And we somehow missed a sign so we spent a lot longer on the singletrack than we were supposed to. We finally got ourselves back on track by following a dirt road along a railway then taking part of a bitumen road to rejoin the trail. 

Rutted singletrack through lovely bush

Then there was some more nice trail and a narrow singletrack section through some very overgrown spindly shrubs. This section was quite undulating and by now I was getting tired. 

Narrow singletrack through spindly shrubs - lots of ducking! 

Then we got to a "hard" section. It was quite steep uphill and downhill along the side of a ridge. I managed to ride all the uphill and most of the downhill, but on the downhill sections there were lots of hairpin bends that I dismounted to take. By this time it had started raining in earnest and it was about 4pm and getting darker. Not much fun doing hairpin bends downhill in the rain and low light. After about 2km of the hard section we found River Rd, where we turned to ride to Honeymoon Pool campsite where we spent the night.  

Average speed 10 kph, 5 hours riding time for 51 km. 

18 July: Honeymoon Pool to Donnybrook

Mist / fog at Honeymoon Pool
before we set off

It rained all night but by morning the rain had stopped. Everything was wet and it was very misty/foggy. 

The first 4km today were tough - long hard climb (15%+) then switchback descent then much more climbing. We stopped at Nglang Boodja campsite after 4km to replenish water stocks then another 2km of climbing. By the time we left the campsite the sun was out and it turned into a beautiful day.  

Bush affected by fire

Today was a day with numerous long steep climbs interspersed with seemingly never ending flatter but still undulating roads. The scenery was beautiful, particularly in the morning - rolling green hillsides with black cows and white sheep. There was also a fun section of singletrack right before lunch at Crooked Brook Forest but by that stage I was tired and needed food. We had a mega feast for lunch which gave me some energy. 

Rolling hillsides

Lunch was at a picnic table in the sunshine where we spread all our wet clothes out to dry - much to the amusement of picnickers who came by while we were eating. It was so sunny I applied two coats of sunscreen for fear of getting burnt. 

Part of the trail - non-technical gravel road

Most of the afternoon was on bitumen through small towns - an excellent road surface which helped eat up some miles and increase our average speed from 7kph (first hour of the day) to an average of 12.5kph for the whole day. However, it was a hard slog mentally and it was a relief to get to Donnybrook by a record early time of 4pm. We then cleaned the bikes, had our first shower in three days, and had a lovely meal at the Apple Tree Café.

Enjoying the ride

Average speed 12.8 kph, 4:10 riding time for 53 km. 











19 July: Donnybrook to Nala Mia campsite (Jarrahwood township)

It started raining while we were in bed this morning contemplating getting up. We packed up and headed off to the Apple Bakery for breakfast - bacon and egg roll, coffee and apple slice to get through a few hours of riding! With rain forecast all day, our plan was to snack throughout the ride but not stop for a meal until we got to the hut. With only 45km of "easy" riding to do, we figured this would be achievable. 

Breakfast of champions at Donnybrook Bakery

Annie crossing a large puddle / lake

Thank goodness it was easy riding today, because it wasn't so easy with the trails so wet. SE training up gentle slopes through boggy wet sand. LOTS of large puddles to cross - one that had a boggy bottom that I almost fell into (had a bit of a paddle up to my shins). And as the day got later and the rain got heavier, the trail became more like a river. 

In spite of that, it was quite a nice day. A section of bitumen to help eat some miles, some riding near farms and through a pine plantation. And the singletrack sections were fun without being too technical. Quite twisty, and the first section was so new that it was marked with flagging tape. 








We reached the Nala Mia campsite by 1pm. A bit of an odd hut location as it is in the middle of Jarrahwood townsite - although the town is pretty tiny and there didn't seem to be many people about. Just lots of rabbits feasting on lush green grass and bird life.

Average speed 11.4 kph, 4:00 riding time for 45 km. 

Bike covered in dirt and making odd grinding noises

Gear and panniers covered in dirt and mud
- a good test. They are water proof even
when partially submerged in a large puddle! 

Emma covered in mud but still smiling
- happy to be under shelter and soon to
be in warm dry clothes. 

"Picnic" lunch at Nala Mia hut in the bed area - as the tables were in the rain

Our awesome tent set up a Nala Mia campsite

20 July: Nala Mia campsite (Jarrahwood) to Nannup

Another great day for a bike ride - intermittent heavy showers. Although we were lucky and had mostly dry conditions and sunshine for our ride.

The trail today was entirely on a rail trail, relatively flat and consolidated. The trail was slightly elevated from the surrounding land so it didn't have too many puddles. However, in one area the trail wasn't elevated and there were some large puddles - one which was quite deep and a bit soft on the bottom and I lost control and half dropped the bike in the water. Lucky my shoes were still soaking wet and muddy from the day before, so it didn't matter that they got another soaking in muddy water. 

As the rest of the trail was straightforward and we were keen to finish up and get home, we pushed the pace quite high and worked hard. Our average speed was 18kph - flying! - and we did 27km in 1:30. Done by 11.30am.

Finished in Nannup after 5 days on the trail,
and still sort of smiling! 

Lunch in Nannup - we earned it! 

The completed section of trail (blackish squiggly line)

Munda Biddi - first overnight trip, days 3-6, 30 May - 1 June

Planning for the first overnight trip on the Munda Biddi started more than four months ago, with researching light-weight camping gear and racks and panniers for the mountain bike. Finally, it was one week before the first multi-day trip, which was going to be three days (two nights). The last batch of online orders arrived the day before the trip. It took me a whole day to plan and prepare all my food and decide exactly what I needed to take, then how to pack it into two panniers.

Food for three days - focus on lightweight, small volume and tasty 

Luggage for the Munda Biddi

Clothing - focus on layers, with only a change of base layers each day. Everything else was worn for three days. I was pretty smelly by the third day!

Luggage - included bike spares, first aid kit, cooking equipment, lightweight and compact sleeping bag and mat and a luxury travel pillow :)


My luggage all up weighed approx 16kg, which included 3L of water in my Camelbak and 2kg of food. My bike was carrying 11kg and I carried 5kg in my backpack. This was a good weight for me, although after the first day I took some of the heavier items out of my backpack and reduced the amount of water in my Camelbak as the straps were digging into my shoulders. I discovered that the weight on the back of my bike actually helped me riding through loose gravel, which was a nice change. It was definitely tougher and slower going up hills, but I never ran out of gears when climbing.

All smiles before we started

I had two travelling companions for this trip, Wayne and Annie. We left home in cars at 7am to drive to Lake Brockman (our finishing point), leave a car there, then drive in another car with bikes to the starting point in Jarrahdale. After getting our bikes all set up with luggage, we finally headed off at 11:30am.

The first things we noticed after starting on the bikes were that the bike handling was different with panniers, and it was much harder to go uphill!

On the first day, we did 33km to Dandalup hut. We did 615m of climbing in those 32km! Our average speed was 7kph with a riding time of 4:40. This was much slower than I had anticipated, as we averaged 10kph without the panniers. With breaks for snacks, this meant that we didn't arrive at the camp until 5pm (total time 5:40).

Catching our breath after a hard climb. 

The route was quite technical, and particularly the uphill sections were rutted and steep and involved a lot of walking and pushing a 20kg bike and luggage up gradients of 10-20%. There were at least ten sections throughout the day where I was walking and pushing my bike, and some of those sections were so hard that I had to stop every 5-10m to catch my breath and prepare for the next push. There was also a small "river crossing" (large puddle) and lots of deep pea gravel. By the end of the day, I learnt that steering is option through gravel, just relax and let the bike find it's own way.


In spite of the challenge of the route, we enjoyed the forest scenery and found some nice spots to stop for a picnic snack and some pretty rural scenery.

Morning tea

We take the green "touring route" option - which was quite technical enough, thank you. 

We were very happy to see the dam at the Dandalup picnic area, which was not far from our camp site. The weather was ideal, not a breath of wind stirred the waters of the dam.

Bikes at Dandalup dam

Happy to see Dandalup - nearly at the camp! 

View from the Dandalup hut

Sunset and stars coming out

I was so tired by the time we got the turnoff to the Dandalup hut that I decided to walk some of the technical downhill sections as I didn't trust my bike handling skills. It didn't take me long to get back on the bike though. By this stage it was only 30min before sunset so it was hard to see where the trail went with setting sun in our eyes. However, the campsite was in a terrific location - perched on the edge of the ridge looking west. It was so great to get there and discover we were the only ones there. In fact, we hadn't seen anyone else on the trail all day.

 Dinner was re-hydrated spaghetti bolognaise sauce, pasta and parmesan cheese. Followed by mini chocolate bars, milo and port. We earnt it! 

Dinner - re-hydrated bolognaise sauce, pasta and parmesan cheese. Yum! 

Breakfast at the Dandalup hut

Day Two - started with porridge on the camp stove. After a sleepin til after 7am, by the time we made breakfast, packed up camp, packed up the bikes and had a last toilet stop, we got going at 11am. We rode 45km in 4:20, with 680m of elevation gain. Average speed for the day was 10kph. With breaks, including a cooked lunch, it took us 6hrs to reach Dwellingup.

I walked at least seven sections on the second day, and I lost count of the number of times I came off my bike. No major damage, but lots of bruises. Reasons I came off included climbing on technical sections and losing my nerve or not being able to keep the bike on track, and skidding too fast in gravel. I learnt that faster is not always faster, if it means that you come off and have to take the time to pick yourself and your bike back up, dust yourself off, ad check for damage.

I was very happy to reach Turner River mountain bike park, where we stopped for a cooked lunch. This meal was two minute noodles with tinned tuna, plus rice cakes and peanut butter. Followed by a cup of coffee and a mini chocolate. Enough fuel to tackle the rest of the trail!

Picnic lunch

Sadly, one of my companions didn't continue on after our lunch stop. Wayne pulled out as he was totally cooked. This was his first back-to-back days of hard riding, and he didn't have the energy to continue on. He phoned his dad, who had his car, to pick him up.


Annie and I continued on to Dwellingup. There was a long tough hill after lunch, so it was a good thing that Wayne did pull out. However, after that we had some long sections of downhill and rail trail, which helped our average speed. There were also some beautiful fast and narrow sections of singletrack winding through the forest between Turner River and Marrinup. After Marrinup, the trail was closed so we had to take the roads to Dwellingup.

In Dwellingup, we were staying the luxury of a motel room (thanks to Wayne who booked it a few days earlier!). We arrived at 5pm, so it was great to not have to put up tents or cook our own dinner. Shower, then to the pub for dinner :)

The next morning, we set an alarm so that we could get going early and finish at a reasonable hour. We started at 8:15am after a coffee at the local cafe and it was cold! We had all our layers on, and we needed it as the day started with a long downhill.

Setting off from Dwellingup

Day Three was a long day - 62.5km at an average speed of 11kph with 890m of elevation gain. Our riding time was 5:30, with total time from start to finish 8hrs including stops for food and approx an hour looking at maps and trying to figure out where the trail went.

Annie cresting a long climb - note the steep descent
sign (for the reverse direction) - 10% gradient. 

Emma enjoying the trails

We had some beautiful riding on the third day. It started with a non-technical trail through the forest, but there were some hard climbs to contend with.












We then headed past and through Lane Poole Reserve, where we got mislead by some confusing signs. Thankfully we spotted a Department of Parks and Wildlife Ranger who pointed us in the right direction.

Enormous mess made in the road by 4WD vehicles. 

After that was a quite fun section on North Junction Form, which was a highly compacted road used and abused by 4WD vehicles. It was easy riding but you had to watch the trail the whole way as pot holes would appear out of nowhere in the shadows.

We saw more than a dozen 4WD vehicles in an hour on the road and as we stopped for lunch at a beautiful granite outcrop. Picnic lunch included a cup of hot milo, rice cakes and peanut butter and cream cheese.

Technical downhill section  with rocks and gravel

Right next to the granite outcrop was a technical section of downhill. The photo doesn't really do it justice. The tricky thing about technical downhill sections is choosing a good line, as you are going downhill and trying to maintain the right speed. Then applying your bike handling skills, carrying 15+kg of luggage, to get your bike to take the line you have picked. Momentum helps with rolling through but it meas everything happens more quickly!

Tunnel with bike lane

After the 4WD road there was a lovely section of singletrack alongside Nanga Road. It was fun with a few tricky bits that made it interesting. We also went through a tunnel with a dedicated bike lane. There should be more of this in Perth!





The next 15km were unsealed roads connected by fun singletrack. Some sections of sand, where all the riding though pea gravel paid off with my bike handling. Annie and I were both getting pretty tired by this stage, with a few stops for food to replenish the stores and give us energy to get to the end.

The last 8km of the day were on an unsealed road, which was a detour due to construction work on Logue Brook Dam. It was definitely the least fun part of the three days, as we were tired and it was a corrugated unsealed road with sections of deepish pea gravel. Tiring after 55km and 4 1/2 hours already on the bikes.

Finally we reached the car - what a relief!

It was a fantastic trip. I couldn't have done it without my travelling companions Wayne and Annie, who were very keen to take up the challenge of three days off-road. It was much harder physically than I expected and I certainly appreciated reaching the end every day. I was also surprised how long each day took - next time we will try to leave earlier in the day so that we are not feeling rushed at the end of the day to reach our campsite before dark.

I'm six days into the Munda Biddi adventure of 2015 - and already planning the next multi-day trip!