Arrived in Melbourne last night, Kickbike safely by my side with plans to complete the Great Victorian Bike Ride with my sister-in-law, Linda, who is riding a standard hybrid bicycle.

The ride is an annual event covering varying terrain throughout Victoria, Australia, and this year’s ride covers 550km in 8 days of riding from Portland to Geelong – part of that being the Great Ocean Road. Since it’s beginning in 1984 there have been riders on standard road bikes, mountain bikes, fixed wheel bikes, tandems, recumbents, tandem recumbents and a few brave unicyclists! But no one has taken part on a scooter… yet!

Coming from Brisbane’s typically predictable humid, hot summer I was hit with Melbourne’s typically unpredictable not-summer weather! It’s cold with pouring rain and an expected hail storm. Hail! Great! Just what we need on a bike ride! I phoned hubby back in Qld to report on the weather forecast. Being his usual positive up-beat self he assured me that hail was perfect for a bike ride – I atleast had a helmet to combat the sky’s icy rock balls!

Knowing that we had 9 nights of camping on the ride… and being a not-so-gifted camper, Linda and I practised putting the tent up – in the living room of her house. Ok…

“What’s that loop thing for?”

“What the – ???”

“How the hell are you supposed to get that in the clip?!”

“Geeze – we’ll have to be careful not to skewer anyone on the ride with the tent poles!”

“What are the ropes for?”

“You peg them to the ground.”

“Do you know how to do that?”

“Nope.”

“Isn’t that pole supposed to thread through that loop thing on top?”

“How the hell am I supposed to hold the pole up, loop that thing and thread the other thingy through at the same time?!”

“Dunno – ???”

“Who’s idea was this anyway???”

A while later our home for the next week and a half towered above us in all it’s tent-like glory. Job well done! Now if I could manage to get my sleeping bag into it’s storage bag as easily and with less cursing I would be a happy woman!

Thank goodness assembling my kickbike is a much easier affair! Riding an old Millenium I only needed to attach the front and back wheels and then pump up the tyres (having deflated them for the plane trip). I’ve pimped the bike up with a Mavic Helium wheel on the front with a Michelin Krylion tyre, and the good old Kickbike wheel on the back with a Comet Primo tyre. While the Michelin Krylion (116psi) isn’t as fast as the Michelin Pro 3 (also 116psi) that I usually take on a public ride, it is dependable in the wet and is more puncture resistant. Using high pressure tyres my only hope is that I don’t get a flat out on the road and need to spend the next hour pumping up a new tube using one of those mini hand pumps!

After an intense debate over whether or not to sleep in the tent that night to get used to it – we opted for our beds. Afterall, why subject ourselves to sore butts and hips any longer than is necessary?

Off to Portland tomorrow – a five and a half hour drive to get to the start. Fortunately, Linda’s hubby is all prepared to drive us – packets of Snakes for snacks, thermos ready for coffee, Iphone filled with 70′s, 80′s and 90′s rock music… and now for a good night’s sleep.

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