Well, 11 days to go – gulp! I hope I’m ready.
The trailer is built and tested. I do need to make sure I pack it properly to make sure there’s not too much weight on the tow bar, but handling is a breeze… a little heavy at take off, braking seemed OK (although I haven’t tried an emergency stop), and at crusing I barely know it’s there. Fuel consumption is impacted by about 3km/litre – not bad methinks.
I went for an over-nighter down to Nanga Brook Campsite (located here) to test everything out. A lovely facility run by DPAW nestled in the Dwellingup State Forest.
I took a wrong turn and found myself heading down a gravel road. Not the best choice on my part… it had a very loose surface of ball-bearings on top. My bike has barely seen a gravel road in its 96,000 km life, and to take that towing a trailer was, let’s say, “exciting”. The front end was all over the place… it scared the crap out of me. I did need a new front tyre – so maybe that was the problem (although I doubt it). I eventually found a place I could turn around and headed back to the sealed black stuff.
While I probably should have chosen to go north, it was a good test for the cooler climate of Tasmania – it was fricken freezeing! Well, not quite – but it did get down to about 4C overnight.
I went to bed with the brook bubbling in the background (only 30m away), and woken up at dawn (my time anyway) by the local kookaburras – ah the serenity.
Key learnings:
- Keeping canned food in the trailer as an emergency is a good idea (having left the night’s dinner in the fridge)
- Keep away from gravel if I can – I have a GPS – use the damn thing properly!
- Take a beanie – the follicly-challenged noggin needs some protection in the cooler climes.
- Take a tarp to put under the tent – I can’t believe I left it at home!
- Take the bike cover – the battery struggled in the morning
In the end, all good…. can’t wait!
