Coast to Coast ride - we made it!

just us

Well Hubby and I have just had a wonderful experience - we went on the Coast
to Coast ride, which goes from Cairns to Karumba, 850km over 6 days and WE
MADE IT! We have a 1990 Burley Tandem, which we have really been flogging
ourselves on for the last 3 months, with 200kms plus rides most weekends,
fully laden with camp gear as we were not sure how we would cope with an
extended ride.
We found that we had "overtrained" if that was possible and the days rides
were ok, our bums survived which was a great bonus. The food was incredible
and although we were tired by the end of the week it was more from the 5am
starts rather than the 100 - 150 kms days on narrow bitumen roads in the
heat - 33 degrees on one day. We both put on weight, much to my
disappointment - just ate so well.
This was our first experience at pack riding and if there was one criticism
it was that we had no comprehension of how/why it was done, and so for the
first couple of days most of our pack floundered, but once someone in the
know came and rode with us, we enjoyed pack riding as found it very social.
I think we have started a new time of our lives, finding ourselves looking
on the net for another challenging bike ride and even talking about doing it
again next year. If anyone out there wants to enjoy a wonderful week of
sharing the road with riders from all over Australia - see you next year!
Kathy.