Blind Courage

From Perth to Sydney on tandem pushbikes – Monday, March 29 to Monday, April 26, 2010:
Total distance: 4120.2km
Actual riding time: 145.32 hours
Average speed: 28.3km/h

Now, after all those kms, is it any wonder the boys considered tossing their trusty steeds in the drink? No – just kidding. They couldn’t part with those fabulously reliable Cannondale tandems….

Sir James Mitchell Park was an ideal starting point for the Blind Courage bike ride – it couldn’t have been a prettier setting on the southern banks of the Swan River.
Conditions were ideal for the journey and the boys just loved the cycle tracks around Perth.
Thanks to their personal escorts and tour guides, fellow cyclists Beau, Trevor and Hab, they were able to get through Perth and out onto the open road without too many traffic hassles.
The cyclists travelled well, despite the unfriendly but refreshing easterly breeze that blew all day.
There was a reasonable climb out of Perth and a series of rolling hills leading to Northam, their first stop along the way.
Northam Senior High School chaplain Deon Throne invited the boys to call in and speak to a group of Year 8 and 9 students, who gave them a warm welcome to town.
After enjoying a couple of hours’ respite in the shady school grounds, the team hopped back on their bikes and headed for Cunderdin, via Meckering.
Maths/science teacher and avid cycle fan Mark McClellan joined them for the Meckering to Cunderdin leg of the journey, riding with them in to the grounds of Cunderdin Caravan Park, where Leith and Linda welcomed us for the night.
Nursing sore backsides and aching limbs, the hot showers were a godsend for the weary riders.
After a dinner of rogan josh followed by peaches, they nursed their tired bones and prepared for the next day’s ride which was to start at 7am or thereabouts at the Cunderdin School.
A group of students planned to ride 5km out along the road with the Blind Courage crew – with a police escort from the local boys in blue.
Thanks to the generosity and hospitality of the friendly locals, including park owners, guests and the local museum staff, our stay in Cunderdin was more than memorable.
Along the way I spotted Elvis outside a shop in Mandaring. No fooling. And yes, you can trust me. I’m a journalist… and the pies at Bakers Hill were yummy.
The statistician of the Blind Courage team, Grant, has some interesting little facts and figures for those who like the details, the first of which is that he alone burnt 3445 calories his first day out:
Monday’s ride started at 7.25am Perth time. They rode a total of 163km from Perth to Cunderdin.
Riding time was 7 hours 2 minutes 44 seconds and they travelled at an average speed of 23.14km/h, with a maximum speed of 59.81km/h.
The minimum road temperature was 18.7 degrees, and maximum road temperature was 35.8 degrees. The maximum altitude was 336m.
Their average climbing speed uphill was 17.16km/h; the average incline 2 per cent; maximum incline 10 per cent; average speed downhill was 34.6km/h; average descent was 2 per cent and maximum descent was 7 per cent.

Saturday was another big day. After parting ways temporarily at the airport Friday night, Anna and Jordan headed out to Craigie, to stay with Shirley Peterson – Anna’s adopted sister. Shirley made Anna and Jordan more than welcome in her lovely home.
After catching up on all the latest family news, and having a nice cup of tea, we trudged wearily off to bed about midnight or thereabouts. Now, remember, Perth is three hours behind the eastern states so it was roughly 3am. We’d been up almost 24 hours. No wonder we were yawning!
Lorin, Dean, John, Grant, John and Mitch were met at the airport by their good friend, Martin Olney. The boys stayed with Martin and his wife Thea and their family.
In order to get the 244kg of the boys’ luggage, plus John and Mitch’s bags, they hired a mini van, which was anything but mini! It was monstrous, but it had to be to accommodate all their gear.
John and Mitch met up with Anna and Jordan at the airport again on Saturday morning to return the mini-van – or should that be maxi?
Apparently, it had also been another late night at the Olney residence, with everyone catching up on all the news and discussing the exciting venture ahead.
John, Mitch, Jordan and Anna then caught a cab to KEA Campers. Making conversation with the friendly cabbie, we discovered he had a 31-year-old son with retinitis pigmentosa. His son is a university graduate and extremely successful in his career.
He was quite interested to hear what we were doing and our reasons behind it. Coincidentally, this bloke was a keen cyclist and is now considering buying a tandem to get his son into the sport he’s so keen on. Of course, we told him Cannondale were the best!

After spending some time completing the necessary paperwork, we were shown through the KEA motor homes that would be our new homes on wheels for the next four weeks.
Talk about luxury. There is not one bit of space that’s not accounted for in these compact, luxurious motor homes. They have everything that opens and shuts and you don’t need to take a thing with you – all linen is provided. All you need is your own luggage and toiletries and off you go.
Bridget expertly explained the finer details of each function of the motor home. When we had that “information overload” look on our faces, she smiled and said: “Don’t worry. It’s all written down for you. I’m just showing you this to familiarise yourself with it.”
What a relief. There’s so much to take in about operating such a groovy home on wheels. Thanks so much to KEA Campers for giving the Blind Courage expedition a generous discount on the price of hiring three motor homes for our across Australia adventure.
Next we headed to the Olney residence, and thanks to our trusty inbuilt GPS, we found the place with no trouble. Mitch did take a little diversion, but we think he might have just wanted to have a scenic tour of Perth without us! Then we had to tick off the next box on our list – shopping for groceries. This was quite an adventure and it would be any grocer’s dream to see the eight of us wander in, with Martin and his youngest son Max, and grab a trolley each.
With seven over-loaded push along trolleys and one flat loaded trolley, and a bill of close to $1900, we then had the task of packing our supplies into the motor home. That was fun, finding all the little hidey holes where you could stow stuff!
On our return to the Olneys’ home, we then distributed the groceries between the three motor homes.
Shopping sure takes it out of you. While the men pored over maps on the kitchen table with Martin, Thea cooked tea for the tribe, and Anna and Jordan grabbed a quick snack in the motor home and headed to bed early (about 8pm Perth time). As I said, it was a BIG day…
Lorin had a date at 10.45pm Perth time to discuss the ride with ABC Radio Saturday Night Country’s new host, Felicity Urquhart. They had a great chat and I’m sure Felicity will give us another call along the road to see how the ride is progressing. Thanks to Felicity for her interest in the Blind Courage expedition.

Dean and Lorin Nicholson were born with retinitis pigmentosa, less than 10 per cent sight and have been legally blind their entire lives. They have always strived to live as normal and independent life as possible, with many seemingly insurmountable challenges facing their paths, never letting obstacles slow them down for long or deter them from achieving whatever they set their minds to.

Lorin on left Dean on right with Lorin’s old tandem bike.

More about the ride

Being blind, we don’t plan to ride solo, but have two tandem bikes and two great friends that will be pilot riders for us.

Through the great support of kind sponsors we will begin our journey on Monday, March 29, 2010 in Perth. We will ride tandem over 4000km, across the country for four weeks, crossing five states and territories, to arrive in Sydney on Monday, April 26, 2010.

We have added in some additional information below for those keen to follow our progress and even catch up with us along the way.

We invite all to join with us on this journey:

• By following our progress online at www.blindcourage.com as well as on facebook and Twitter.
• By donating to Vision Australia through our website or directly at www.visionaustralia.org
• By cheering for us on the road as we pass through your area or by supporting us at the many community events being held along the way.

If you would like to get involved as a school, club or community group while we are passing through your area (*refer to the above dates and approximate times available) then please contact us through our website we would love to hear from you.

Regards,

Dean Nicholson | Blind Rider

P.S. Cyclists are welcome to ride with us anywhere from 100 metres to 100 kilometres depending on how fit/crazy you are.