The dream begins.

I haven't lived in Australia for over a decade and as the years tick by I find myself becoming more nostaglic about might childhood here and Australia's incredibly unique fauna and flora. The idea to cycle Australia's top end has been an idea growing with momentum in the back of my mind, like the way a cargo ship is simply a blip on the horizon at first and becomes unstoppable and intimidating when it reaches you.

The rough plan is to cycle the ~4000km over 60 days. Breaking it down into 40 days of ~100km and 20 days off. It feels achievable, but, honestly I have no idea how realistic it will be in practise. The wet season, 2023, has been a very wet one and, as of July, there are still parts of the road with water warnings. So the roads could be slow, and the challenge of being so remote without any of moden lifes luxuries may prove too much mentally to even finish.

I have convinced my german friend Daniel to join me, which I hope he won't regret. I am hoping that travelling together will make the long lonely sections more enjoyable. As a seasoned road cyclist from the Black Forest I am nervous he will not find the lack of mountains too boring and the vastness inspring. Secretly though I am glad for the company.

We have spent weeks buying all the neccessary gear and we'll be carrying very similar stuff on very similar bikes.

In May 2023 I cycled around central Japan. Up to the snowy passes in Nagano, through the streets of Kyoto & Tokyo, along the Beaches of Tokushima and through the countless valleys in between. Japan truely is a unique gem on this planet. A thriving juxtaposition of tradition and modernity. Peaceful and chaotic, human and anonymous, kindness and frustration. I am grateful for the experience.

The food

I threw my vegetarian beliefs out the window, shut my eyes and embraced the cuisine. One of the most known things about Japan is its fantastic food. A land of ramen, sushi, yakatori and countless other specialities. But experiencing this as a vegetarian can be incredibly disappointing, once you leave the tourist parts of the big cities the choices are scarce. I found it easier to let it slide, however after 6 weeks I couldn't take it anymore and started craving the wide vegetarian options on offer in Berlin.

The people

The Japanese are incredibly kind and friendly, I continuosly ran into people excited to see me and eager to help. Ironically they will nearly kill you when passing in their cars. It was quite jarring to have a near death experience when cycling one of the large passes and then receive a round of applause from those very people when I reached the top.

The cycling

Good roads, vending machines around every corner, free camping, clean public toilets, convenient stores open all night, late night ramen, hot baths and beautiful scenery make the land of the rising sun a great place to cycle. Ideal for beginners and road cyclists. If you are looking for gravel or long sections which require the methodical planning of resupplies, this is probably not the place. If you like climbing mountain passes or cruising from city to city along the coast you'll get what your looking for here.

Map

Tracks

I used a few different existing routes to navigate around. Below you'll find what I actually rode and the gpx files that inspired me. Kudos to all the authors!

My Nordest Sardinhia II Ti, lovingly named Lilli, is my latest touring bicycle after a broken thumb I had to retire my Salsa Fargo Ti. Frank had served me well for thousands of kilometres but after my surgery riding on the brake hoods just simply hurt too much and forced me onto a flat bar. She was built with all of Frank's parts that were compatible.

The fork is custom built by @drustcycles in Berlin and painted by @orlo_cnc_frames. The result is better than I could have hoped. The bike looks beautiful, its light and the fork can carry a serious amount of weight.

It is running a range of SRAM Eagle models, DT Swiss rims, A SON28 dynamo & a cheap bar and seatpost.

The frame and tank bags are handmade by me. I accidentally cut a hole in the side of the frame bag, so I had to sneakily cover that up with a patch.

Lilli's maiden voyage

Some choice photograph's of Lilli in Japan

Parts

• Norderst Sardinhia II Ti
• Drust Cycles Steel custom fork
• Chris King headset
• Thomson stem
• Salsa rustler aluminium bars
• Ergon grips
• Tektro levers
• Jagwire Compressionless housing
• TRP Spyre disc brakes
• Hope bottom bracket
• SRAM GX shifter
• SRAM Eagle XO Crank
• SRAM Eagle X1 Derailluer
• SRAM Eagle X01 Chain
• DT Swiss XM-481 Rims
• DT Swiss Rear hub
• SON 28 Front hub
• Seat post
• WTB Saddle
• Tyres are forever changing