Blog 8 20th – 22nd April Aralsk to Akespe Distance: 141km Total Distance: 1981km Aralsk is the only major town in the region, developed as the northern port on the Aral Sea. It was connected to the southern port of Moynaq, about 500km across the former sea, in Karakalpakstan (a part of Uzbekistan). In Soviet […]
adventure
Far away and over the Seabed
Blog 7 15th – 20th April Barsakelmes Island diversion, Karateren to Aralsk Distance cycled: 121km Total Distance: 1840km From the former fishing village of Karateren I had planned a two day 4WD excursion to Barsakelmes Island and Kaskakulan. The Aral Sea was often referred to as the “Sea of Islands,” virtually all of which are […]
Life along the Syr Darya
Blog 4 30th March – 5th April Kazakhstan Border to Turkistan Distance: 406km Total Distance: 871km The border crossing between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan was even more chaotic than the Tajikistan-Uzbekistan crossing a few days earlier. We had to walk my bike and lug all our baggage through passport control and security screens for both countries, a […]
A dam collapse and the accidental lake
27-29 March 2025 Total distance: 408km From Tashkent the plan was to drive back to Buka, the town that we stayed in on our first night in Uzbekistan, as I didn’t need to cycle the same road twice and rejoin the line of my journey there. Rather than heading straight for the Kazakhstan border, I […]
BREAKING THE CYCLE CENTRAL ASIA – Introduction
Welcome to the first blog for what’s going to be an epic journey through the heart of Central Asia. I’m writing from my room in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, soon to travel 300km north across the Fann Mountains and down to the ancient city of Khujand, a 2500 year old city founded by Alexander the Great, where I […]
Turning the tide (& thank you)
Blog 20 Days: 101-102 Dates: 20th-21st September Denham Total Distance (2021 + 2023) : 8617km Between spending a couple of weeks in Western Australia with family and friends post-expedition and returning to life in Melbourne, it has taken a while to write the final blog – so here it is. I was introduced to Tidal […]
Mount Augustus to Steep Point
Blog 19 Days: 94-100 Dates: 13th – 19th September Distance: 732km Total Distance 2023: 7089km Total Distance (2021 + 2023) : 8617km Tracking map by ZeroSixZero: https://z6z.co/breaking-the-cycle-australia/ My apologies for taking so long to publish the final two blogs – here’s the first one. Having just completed an intense week of cycling to cover the […]
Off the Map
Blog 18 Days: 86-93 Dates: 5th – 12th September Newman to Mount Augustus Distance: 731km Total Distance 2023: 6357km Total Distance (2021 + 2023) : 7885km Originally I had planned two days off in Newman but because we lost three weeks with the vehicle breakdown earlier in the expedition, I’d had to trim the extra […]
Jigalong and the Rabbit Proof Fence (Part II)
Blog 17 Days: 80-84 Dates: 30th August – 3rd September Kumarina to Jigalong Distance: 388km Total Distance 2023: 5626km Total Distance (2021 + 2023) : 7154km Days 80, 81 220km (113km, 107km) From Kumarina Roadhouse it was 220km to Jigalong. I first took the Great Northern Highway heading north for 50km before turning off on […]
The Rabbit Proof Fence – Part I
Blog 16 Days: 77-79 Dates: 27th – 29th August Cunyu Station to Kumarina Distance: 222km Total Distance 2023: 5238km Day 77 (Day 1 on the Rabbit Proof Fence) 88km It was great to have a bed for the night at Cunyu Station, a pastoral lease of around one million acres with a carrying capacity of […]