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Report of a self-supported and self-planned bicycle tour on the famous Birdsville Track, Australia. Monsoon rains added an unexpected degree of difficulty...

Summer, Sun, Sand and Mud - cycling the Birdsville Track, Australia

Waltraud
2004-03-05 13:53:55

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dialect, that this year was the rainiest year since 50 years. The monsoon cyclones were coming unusually far south this year, leading to the unusual rain events in Central Australia. The farmers are very pleased, but we start to worry how we can get out of this desert when the tracks are unpassable…

Five kilometers after Betoota one of the tires bursts with a loud bang. The side was damaged. Was it the dried out hard mud constantly clogging the space between brakes, frame, and tire? Who knows, it was a prototype tire we had for testing. The tire is replacement takes half an hour, mainly because we have to clean the rim and tire from the solidified mud, not to introduce any mud clumps between the tire and the inner tube. After another kilometer of hard work on the soft track, we reach a river running in a river bed which had been dried out for years. The river is one meter deep and about 300 m wide and has a very strong current. It takes an hour for us to carry gear and bikes across. But we do take the chances to wash the mud off the bikes. After about ten crossings each, we are exhausted and decide to build up camp, keeping in mind that we would have a source of water for cooking. As we were about to refill our water supplies after cooking about three hours later, the river has totally disappeared. Only small puddles of water are left. This is how fast rivers appear and disappear in the desert – I would not have believed it.

The distance we can cover is decreasing, today we made only 58 km.

One rainstorm after the other

Rain, rain, rain – but we are in the desert! It was raining this night and this morning. We cannot yet start, and have to wait until 9 o'clock for the track to be somewhat dry. Even the riding is hard for the first few hours, since the tires still cut in deep. Two cars pass us, and in their track we can ride easier. The terrain is now more hilly, not anymore only flat plains. We then reach ...