The epic ride starts at 10am on Sunday, 10 April from Coogee Beach south of Fremantle. Of course there will be a coffee and cake with the Sunday social riders of the Cycle Touring Association of Western Australia (CTAWA social rides calendar) to start the ride.

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The usual last day buying of the things put off till the last minute;

• a better saddle than the one supplied – the WTB Pure V supplied was well cushioned but the sitting area was very short with what felt like a ‘T’ shaped support area. The replacement Specialized Avatar (Specialized saddles) has a much longer support area with a deeper central channel which is all much more comfortable, for me),
• the third drink bottle holder to go under the downtube and
• a camp cutlery set.

Once home a busy afternoon of last minute adjustments.

Experience on the shakedown cruise had shown that the pannier rack bolts were prone to working loose. Accordingly, I replaced the short  pannier rack bolts supplied with longer high tensile nutted bolts and Loc-tite’ed them in. I also finally figured out how the tyre pump mount was supposed to be fitted (two cable ties under the bottle bidon) so put that on.

Then the packing started.

Clothes and camp gear were dead easy. Two pairs of knicks and three shirts to ride in, a cotton shirt and expedition trousers for off the bike andloose boxer shorts for modesty were rolled into those indestructible and waterproof courier envelopes and shoved in the panniers. Tent/sleeping bag/groundsheet/sleeping mat just shoved in.

Remembering the spare parts list (tubes, foldable Schwalbe Marathon tyre), multiple patch kits, spare pump, spare chain links of the right length, spare brake and gear cables, rear cluster remover, multi-tool, chain lube took more time.

Personal support items including chamois lube, multi-vitamins and toiletries filled more spaces.

Last in was what seems to be a staggering array of electronics including  phone, satellite tracker, torch, solar panel, electric shaver and camera, all with their respective cables and chargers.

Finally it is all stacked on and the Wayward Cape York ‘Bicycle of Awesomeness’ is ready to go. Currently there isn’t room for camp food or the extra 15 litres of water that will be needed on the longer dry stretches. However, I know from experience that over the first few days of the trip various bits will move from pannier to pannier and room for the water and food will  appear.