03/04/2019
My tour in hindsight
One month ago, on March 3, I rolled my bicycle up in front of Sydney Opera House as the perfect ending to my 2000+ km tour from Adelaide. Perfect, because I was greeted by my wife Kate and seeing her in front of Sydney Opera House was a fantastic way to end my tour. The love of my life in front of an iconic building designed by a fellow Dane, couldn’t be better.
In front of the Opera House I could also conclude that I did get out of my tour what I had hoped for and that I had gone through a major change. When I left Adelaide January 29th, I was mentally exhausted, but my legs were fine. 4½ weeks and some 2000 kilometres later that had all changed.
Now I was physically totally exhausted, but mentally I felt just fine as my head had the rest it so badly needed. The change was no surprise to me, as the same thing happened five years ago, when I took leave from my job in Denmark and push biked 10,000 kilometres through New Zealand and Australia.
My head needed a rest as 2018 was mostly happy, but at the same time very stressful year for me. I married Kate (whom I met on my tour five years ago), submitted a partner visa application to immigrate to Australia, wrote a 400 page book about my tour and published it myself. At the same time I continued to work as journalist in Denmark, did presentations about my original tour and thought a million thoughts about the impact of resigning from the job I love, leaving family and friends behind and moving to Australia so Kate and I could finally share our lives in the same country.
I arrived Adelaide early December 2018. Not long after my arrival, I told Kate that I wanted to - and needed to - do another bike tour as my head needed a rest and it could get that by going on a bike trip. I just love the simplicity of push biking. Get on the bike and your legs will do the rest – and you don’t need to think a lot, so your head can relax. Tour biking is certainly hard work, but it is really not complicated.
At first Kate did not like the idea at all as she was worried both for my safety and why getting a job wasn’t my priority but after thinking about it for a while she agreed, and she was my number one supporter throughout my tour, but far from the only one. Several times I stayed for free or at a reduced price in hotels and caravan parks, as the owners wanted to show their support for my project.
Their support and support from people I randomly met were some of the highlights of my tour. Another one being the support I got from all you good people donating to my fund raiser and/or following this page. Your support meant the world for me, because it IS hard work push biking in Australia. Lots and lots of hills combined with head wind almost all the way from Adelaide to Melbourne really did test my will power and I am happy to say that I passed with flying colours and you good people played a big part in that.
It is hard for me to describe how much your support meant to me but believe me it was a lot. I especially remember one day that was particular tough. I was riding from Policeman’s Point to Kingston. It was very hot, I had a flat after 20 km and another one after 60 km, which obviously did take quite a bit of time to fix and on top of that I had to fight a terrible head wind, especially the last 25 km going into Kingston were tough. A 40 km head wind right in your face in an open landscape is just not what you are looking for – and it is times like those when a little sound from your phone can give you a boost of energy. When the sound indicates that we have received another donation for the fund raiser, so thank you for all your support, highly appreciated.
Another highlight of my tour was revisiting people some good people I met on my first tour five years ago. I hadn’t been in touch with them since but wrote them a mail saying I was doing another tour, and I was welcomed with open arms and it was just like meeting old friends, fantastic. I had a fantastic day with James in Bermagui, NSW and a lovely time with Lisa & Trevor in Stanwell Park and they even rode with me on the last stage into Sydney and guided so I “only” had to focus on pedalling,
I was certain that I would benefit from the tour and very happy that I did, but why should I be the only one benefitting? That is why I chose to raise funds for Parkinson’s SA and so far, we have raised more than $4,500 dollars and you can still donate:
https://frankdownunder.everydayhero.com/au/frank-down-under
Having recovered from the tour I am now ready to boost the hunt for a new job, preferably as journalist/communications consultant, but being new to the Aussie labour market, I am open to other opportunities, including temp and/or part time positions. But job hunting is not all I’ll be doing in the near future.
As it is a month ago since I finished my tour, I “celebrated” by doing something today that I really haven’t been that eager to do: to get my bike out of the box it was put in for the flight back to Adelaide. Now it is out of the box, next step is to assemble it, but no hurry. 2000 km in 4½ weeks was enough cycling for quite some time. I have said it before: Tour biking is really not complicated, but boy it is hard work 😊
I ride my bike for my health, both physically and mentally. I love the simplicity of biking. Jump on the bike and your legs will do the rest. To me it’s a perfect way to unwind and give my head a good rest from everyday stress and the deadlines I have to meet as a journalist. I look forward to rid...
