andy jennings

This blog is prompted by a recent tweet by @bikeaboutuk. They are part of the way across the Gobi desert. It’s tough, and they were openly describing how they felt. How they were struggling. That there had been “one too many days in the desert”. I liked their post, because it shows we all struggle at some stage. We have all had those days where the headwind just seems relentless. That the energy tank is just totally empty. At 11 o’clock in the morning, having only been on the road for 3 hours, you stop. Pitch the tent and lie in it, and go to sleep. I’ve done it. There is a school of writing about adventure that is of the “macho” variety for want of a better name. It’s not exclusively written by men. But it emphasises achievement, and is in the vein of overcoming any obstacle. I don't want to single anyone out as being unworthy - it's a style of writing. But I wonder how it leaves most of the population thinking about adventure? Every time I pull up to a caravan park I get ...

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world .... as in being able to remake ourselves.” Mohandas Gandhi All proceeds from the sale of 2023 go to charities promoting renewable energy. You can buy it here In the novel 2023, Australia is isolated in the world. It is threatened by the new, clean, green economies. They have lost tolerance with Australia’s continuing persistence in both burning fossil fuels and exporting them to those parts of the world that continue to burn them. India and China, and Europe have transformed their energy systems to almost completely renewable. The rest of the world, lead by Australia, lags behind. Just this week, in Australia, we have had news of climate change scientists being moved to a secure location as a result of death threats. Sectors of the media have created a whole atmosphere of “hate speech” surrounding climate change.  Still, it is a long way from the scenarios of 2023. Even with the space of ...

I  like the opening sequences in the movie “110 hours”. The mad rush to exit the city, to get away, to get to the start of your real trip. It’s a characteristic of a weekend escape. Limited time. You have a destination that you have to be at by a certain time. To get back to work. It sets the tone for the weekend: go, go. On my latest tour, I consciously decided to slow it down. Yes, at a stretch I can do 90km plus. But I aimed for 70km per day. This time I went from Ballarat to Mt Buangor State Park to Maryborough and back to Ballarat. Yes, a circular tour. Why are circular tours good? Well if the wind is strong, it’s unlikely to turn around in a circle and follow you each day. But how to slow down? The challenge of slow anything is to get the mindset changed. I find that having a definite place to stop at the end of the day helps. Google Maps, and Google StreetView is your friend. Many times I’ve picked out a camp at the side of the road using StreetView. Havin...

Here in Australia it is Autumn. In the south this means that it is getting wetter. We actually had a wet summer, for the first time in a very long time. So wet weather riding is on my mind. Pannier Bags. I gave away my fancy waterproof pannier bags to my daughter. I've made do with cheap $50 bags for quite a while now. I'm fanatical about putting everything in plastic bags anyway. Would I substitute Ortlieb? Maybe if I was touring for months on end. I think the reliability would be the main deciding factor. Mudguards? Yes, definitely. It's a point of transition from when you think you are a racing cyclist to when you become a touring cyclist. Racers don't have mudguards. I have the cheap plastic version. They work fine. Waterproof pants? Yes. Definitely. If it is at all cold, and you have to ride all day in the rain, they are essential. But I can't see the need for very fancy pants. I just make do with cheap waterproof plastic pants from Aussie Disposals. Wh...

Here in Australia the days are getting shorter. The nights a bit colder. So naturally thoughts turn towards ... lights. I run with two lights at the front, and two lights at the back. Surely this is a bit paranoid – why two? I'm talking about lights for commuting in a major city. With mostly bright street lighting. Not for touring. When the sun gets low in the sky I think of only one thing: stopping and putting up the tent. I don't like doing this in the dark. I used to be an Audax rider. If you are planning on doing all night rides, then look up the rules for Audax lighting. They know what they are doing. Some of my set-up comes from that background. Let's start with the back lights. Nothing special there. Running on rechargeable batteries, I have one on the seatpost and one on the frame. They are both visible when the bike is fully loaded. Why two? Well rechargeable batteries have one problem – when they run out of charge, they usually do this fai...

In 1989 I moved to Japan with my family to start work at the Kansai Advanced Research Centre, in Nishi Akashi. This was south of Kobe, a new research centre. We had an apartment about four or five kilometres from the lab. To get to work I could  get two buses, which took quite a while. But I decided to ride a bike. I hadn’t ridden a bike for a long time. But I just thought I would try it. Several times at the start I got lost. People always insisted on coming with me to show me where to go. Such kindness. It was in early Autumn. I can still remember struggling up the steep hill on the red bicycle. It was just a standard household bike - no gears. It took a long time for me to be able to make it up the hill without getting off and walking. But I was determined. I kept riding all through the winter. Even when it snowed. Coming down the hill at night, the sun setting early it would be really cold. A couple of times I couldn’t feel my fingers. Then I couldn’t fee...

The movie “127 hours” is about a weekend trip. I really relate to that rush at the start to get to where the trip starts. Lately I have been reduced to weekend tours. Just Saturday and Sunday, since I have work stuff on both Mondays and Fridays. It occurred to me that this is the situation for a lot of people, so I share here both the tour itself and how I plan them. It’s highly individual what people carry and how you go about things. But I find it valuable learning from what other people do. If you live or visit Melbourne and you want to do a two day tour, then this might be useful. Or even use parts of it for longer rides. This ride is from Cowes, across to Morwell. Cowes is south of Melbourne. In my case I got the train to Stony Point and then the ferry. It’s nice to get out of the city to start. In fact I find the outer suburbs really tough. There are usually not bike paths or bike lanes and the traffic is pretty intense. Ideally I’d like to start about 300km fr...