South Warwickshire man’s 3,000 solo miles on a bike… and a 200m lift from a Spider
RICHARD Lucas, aged 57, from Wilmcote has cycled solo from Singapore to Alice Springs to raise £2,800 for Shakespeare Hospice in memory of his father, Tony, who died from cancer last August.
Richard’s cycling marathon covered 3,208 miles during which he had one puncture, used one bicycle chain and had to repair one broken luggage rack with bamboo and cable ties but he still cycled to his mum’s house in Wilmcote from Birmingham International Airport when he landed back in the UK in time for coffee last Tuesday morning.
Having flown out to Singapore on New Year’s Eve, Richard set off on his ride shortly after with the target of reaching Alice Springs, Australia, by the end of March and he’s met many people and has many memories everyday he got on his bike and was on the road again.
Richard told the Herald: “There were so many encounters with different people along the way, overwhelmingly positive, that it's really hard to pick one, especially as I'm too lazy to keep a journal and have probably forgotten most of what happened to me. However, one place from the Australian outback that really stands out is called Barrow Creek. It's a not a town or village just a tumbled down roadhouse – a petrol station combined with pub, motel, shop, campsite etc - it’s on the Stuart Highway about four days cycle from Alice Springs. I was there for a few days because of the awful weather. By UK standards it's fantastically remote as well as terribly neglected and a few kilometres from the scene of the Falconio murder; in fact it's the place Joanne Lees sort help when she escaped her partner's killer. Despite this, I can't think of many places where I was made to feel more at home.”
Many Brits have some experience of the Aussie nation and its culture either through travel, television, the arts or sport and if anything, Richard’s travelogue and his host’s hospitality, confirm he was made more than welcome during his time in the outback, especially at Barrow Creek.
“The people there were wonderful,” Richard said. “Johno, the manager at the roadhouse was every inch a Northern Territorian who could have walked off the set of Crocodile Dundee. There was Mark, an ex-hospital nurse from Cape Town who did everything and for Joseph and Maebh, a lovely couple from Chester and Limerick, it was their first week in the job. Then there was Richie, a quietly spoken indigenous Aussie who acted as a human security camera in case people tried to fill up with petrol without paying. If I wasn't too old for an Australian work visa, I would gladly have stayed; I'm sure they'd have found something for me to do!”
As always there’s the weather to consider and in Richard’s experience it was not just any old weather forecast to look out for – it was a much bigger picture.
“Tropical cyclone Megan arrived in Australia about a week after me, the rain fall was biblical. Here would be a good point to confess that I didn't actually cycle all the way. At a place called Edinburgh Creek the highway was washed away, however, a terrific bloke called Spider gave me a lift for about 200 metres in his 4x4. I'm sure my sponsors will understand.
For the 61 days I was actually in the saddle, at least two weeks were spent waiting around for visas or the rain to stop. I cycled 3,208 miles or 5,162km. I had one puncture, used one bicycle chain, had to repair one broken luggage rack with bamboo and cable ties, made one trip to hospital for antibiotics which was an infected insect bite but not a crocodile bite and I also lost one lost big toenail. This was not cycle or wildlife related just stupidity combined with me wearing sandals and a motel room door,” Richard said.
There was a possibility Richard might cycle back from Australia to Britain on his trusty bike but in the end he opted to board a Greyhound bus from Alice Springs to Adelaide last Friday morning for a journey that takes 20 hours and then he flew to Birmingham via Qatar.
He’s home now but what of the bike that never broke down or got nicked? Surely, it must have a name or identity after this incredible journey?
“The poor old bike remains nameless,” Richard said.
Any nominations for…. Alice Springs?
https://www.justgiving.com/page/2wheelsfromsingaporetooz