Proud supporter of two minute noodles: Day 1: Cycling the Mereenie Loop to Uluru

Prologue

After hiking the Larapinta trail I had one week to burn before I returned home to Perth, all I had was my hiking gear and a single speed commuting bicycle. I had toyed with the idea of cycling to Uluru but I wasn't too sure on what route I'd take, my bike was not suited to off-road conditions, but the monotomy of riding on the Stuart highway was not appealing to me. Looking at my map from the tourist information centre I had this lingering desire to cycle the Mereenie loop, a 650km alternate route taking you through Kings Canyon with the catch of 190km of unsealed road. I asked the information centre about the conditions of the road, and the lady behind the counter simply told me that it wasn't possible to do by bike but I had other ideas in mind.

I asked myself whether I would regret not giving it a shot, this simple question cemented my decision and I went back to the information centre and obtained the relevant permits to pass the area, the lady gave me a weird look when my vehicle licence plate was simply filled out as `bicycle'. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, I was riding on 32c tyres, all I had was a small front rack and my backpack on my back.

My Permit with `Motor Vehicle Details'

Reflecting back on my journey, cycling from Alice Springs to Uluru was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was a five day journey that led to many flat tyres, heartbreak but eventually euphoria. The following account follows my journey along the Mereenie loop along with some excerpts from my diary.

Day 1 ~ Alice Springs to Bush Camp (10km from Hermansburg) ~140km

"I really wasn't sure what I had ahead of me, my setup is totally experimental and my knowledge of the roads ahead is a bit limited. But I'm determined to try it out and go on a little adventure."

As soon as I hit the road, I noticed that one thing I missed about bike touring was the ability to enjoy the views without the risk of tripping up on yourself and eating grass. The first day of my adventure was one that covered a lot of miles, time was my limiting factor for this trip so I wanted to get the initial bitumen section out of the way. The day was really hard and monotonous, riding down Larapinta drive, time went by very slowly. I stopped for lunch at a floodway, I remember that most of my food was hiking orientated to save weight but I wasn't sure if I'd get enough calories in, sudden flashbacks to the days of when I ate a whole loaf of bread a day came to mind, and there I was sitting with a box of crackers and a tub of peanut butter. What did I get myself into?

I eventually arrived in Hermansburg, the last point of water before Kings Canyon. There I stocked up with ten litres of water, soon after Hermansburg I encountered the start of the gravel roads which was a pain in the arse, only 190km of it to go!

"I had to constantly stop to readjust the gear in my front rack. Stuff kept falling off. Just before I was about to find a campspot I got a flat tyre due to a pinch flat. Fixed it up and found a quite spot to camp on the side of the road. A long but good day on the bike!"