Ever wanted to just get chuck it in, get on your bike and ride? Me too. So after four years working in Angola, Kosovo, Sudan and now Afghanistan for a mineclearance non government organisation I am going to head off on a ride back home, to Australia. I am aware that there are significant bodies of water in between Kabul and Melbourne but we will cross that (ahem) bridge when we get to it.

The plan has had several iterations starting out with a grand multi-year round the world journey and ending with a slightly more realistic six month journey from Central Asia through China and South East Asia with a finish in Singapore. Depending on time and motivation I may do a little time in Indonesia or in Australia before heading back to Melbourne.

I am currently based in Kabul so have decided I will head off from there with the first month of the trip being a ride north over the Hindu Kush and in to Tajikistan, along the Pamir Highway, through part of Kyrgyzstan on to Kashgara in Western China. From there I may take a short break and long train ride to organise some visa’s in Hong Kong before returning and heading south east on bike. Specific routes from there are a little hazy but I hope to cross in to Laos a few months later and then Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Or something like that.

I am not in a screaming hurry but would like to do it in about 6 months because I will need to start working again after that much time away. I also know that as an Australian, who grew up in a family of four boys, I have an instinctive competitive streak and will naturally need to find ways to challenge myself on the way. One of those ways is the reason you find me on this site.

Powercranks…the reason you are here on this site is probably because you own or are considering owning some Powercranks (PC). Before I started working in the landmine clearance world I used to compete in triathlon’s. I have a couple of Ironmen under my belt (although with four years away from competition that belt is a little bigger) and I hope to return to racing when I get back. About 6 months before I left Australia I tried a pair of PC’s for a month and found them to be intriguing to say the least. I also fell off the bike after I first tried them because I had trouble lifting my leg over the bike to get off.

I am going to ride home on PC’s. This will certainly be a test on the first and second day of the trip I intend to go over the Salang Pass (in the Hindu Kush mountain range), and no doubt for the first month as it will be a challenge to adapt while on the road. The Salang Tunnel, at 3300m, is one of the highest tunnels in the world and will require me climbing 1500, from Kabul. I hope to stay part way up on my first day in order not to blow a valve too early in the trip.

If I was smart I would have been training some long distances on PC’s prior to departure. However, I don’t have time, the organisation I work for has rules about these things in Afghanistan, and I am limited to being on my wind trainer trying to adapt in three weeks or so… it’ll be OK I’m sure. The upshot (I guess) is that I am not cycle fit either and I will be adapting to the cranks at the same time as I am regaining cycle fitness, so perhaps I won’t blame the cranks when I bottle it at 10km for the day and decide to sit down and cry in the gutter instead.

Rough timeline and adaptation plan from now (end first week in June 06)

1. Second week of June ride on PC’s for a few days on wind trainer and get up to at least 1 hour constant peddling.
2. 3rd week of June, away from Kabul handing over responsibilities (no training)
3. 4th week of June try and work up to a couple of hours constant riding.
4. First two weeks of July, go to Uganda, see girlfriend and her daughter, enjoy myself, do some running and forget all about the pain I have committed myself to for the next six months.
5. 18th of July, return to Afghanistan
6. 19^th of July commence suffering, oh and trip many dreams.
   

I will write as and when I can but I will not be doing a relative assessment of power outputs and VO² max and the like. As fascinating as all that is I am just not going there. Don’t have the tools, and frankly it is not relevant to what I am doing. Perhaps this blog will offer something a little different. I hope you enjoy my journey with me.

Dan, Kabul