Hi,

I'm Dirk from Newcastle, Australia.

I started cycling in October 2008 and I'm working hard to get fit and put some serious kilometers on the clock. This year, 2009, I want to cycle from Newcastle to Brisbane (800Kms) and next year from Perth to Sydney (4,200Kms) in a bid to raise money for Thamsanqa.
Up until July last year I was smoking close to 40 cigarettes per day and as a computer programmer I've spent most of my adult life behind a desk with hardly any exercise. When I started cycling in October, I struggled with a 5Km ride to the office. Now I've been 7 months smoke free and the last two Saturdays I've cycled 103Kms and 95Kms each, so I am making progress. I also weighed 131Kgs in October and now my weight is between 118 and 121 depending on the time of the week.

My aim is to buy a trailer for my bike and take weekend trips away. As I understand from other cyclists with trailers, they constantly get asked about the trailer at petrol stations and wherever they stop along the road. So anybody who asks me about the trailer will be a prospective victim to sell an Actions For Orphans shirt to. Oh no, reading this makes you a prospective victim, so do you want to buy a shirt? I don't have an online payment option yet, but send me a message and we'll make a plan:) I also hope to get some sponsors when I do the longer trips and see if I can raise some money for Thamsanqa.

Cycling is my new passion and it is, in fact, all that I think about lately, even though I'm still a newbie. I also love scuba diving, but don't know when I'll ever get the opportunity for that again.

Unlike Eric, I do not have a seperate blog, but this forum is my home now. I get on every day at least to update my training and I'll be more active as other people join the forum. Have you registered yet? It costs nothing.

You can follow my progress towards the Newcastle to Brisbane cycle tour

Hi Eric,

Originally the plan was to cycle up to Brisbane around August, just after winter as I was pretty certain I could be fit enough to cycle 100kms+ per day by then. When I managed to do Bulahdelah and back over a weekend, 90Kms each day, I thought I may be able to move it to before winter - middle of May. However, due to some financial problems I just can't go right now.
So now the Brisbane trip is set for August again.

I know I haven't been doing well with the diet lately, but I still hope to lose the next 10Kgs by the end of May. I know 800Kms is nothing great and I won't get major sponsors for that, but I do hope to get something. I hope to go to a local radio station and local newspaper and say "Hey, look at me, I'm trying to raise money for orphans. I've already lost 20Kgs and gone from smoking 40 cigarettes per day to cycling more than 100Kms per day. Please give me some exposure to help me get sponsors...". Well, that's the plan anyway :)

The Perth to Sydney trip will be in August 2010 for a number of reasons. Firstly us working class only get 20 days leave per year. If I travel 150Kms every day, it'll take me 28 days to cover the 4,200Kms, which is 20 working days. However, on top of that I need to fly to Perth and probably spend a day or two on that side before the time and two days afterwards so that I can get rested before heading back to work. I think 150Kms per day is a bit hectic, so I want to give myself 35 days to cover the 4,200Kms + a couple of days before and after.
Second reason for August is the wind direction. I've been told that it makes a considerable difference and in August/September your chances are better to have the wind against your back traveling from West to East.

The leave seems to be my biggest restriction, though I'm dedicating all my annual leave to cycling until I've completed the Perth to Sydney trip. The way I see it, I should be able to do the Brisbane trip in August, do another one week trip around April next year and still have more than 25 leave days to spare for the big trip.

I've been thinking about cycling around Australia over the next couple of years. Not committing to this yet, I'm just toying with the idea. If so, I'd do something like this
Newcastle to Brisbane in August: 800Kms
Brisbane to Mackay in April 2010: 960Kms
Perth to Sydney in August 2010: 4,200Kms

Mackay to Cairns is 750Kms, Cairns to Darwin is 2,600Kms, Darwin to Broome is 1,900Kms and Broome to Perth is 2,200Kms, so I'd have to work out a plan for each of them but it certainly would be a major achievement to say that I've cycled around Australia!! For now, however, I'll have to return to reality and make it to Brisbane first:)

Hey, Dirk
Sell me a shirt (if you have one small enough!)
Jim