Alice to Alice – How it all started.

In August this year (2019) I am riding my mountain bike (The Northern Express) solo from Alice Springs to Alice Springs (A2A) – a circle of the Australian Central Deserts.  I will leave Alice Springs on the 3^rd and head to Boulia, Birdsville, Marree, Oodnadatta, Finke, and back to Alice Springs a distance of about 3,000kms.

I will try to explain my thoughts on why I would subject myself to this again, only an extra 1,200kms.

D2B – Looking back at that night in Nov 2014, sitting on the front steps of my house, when the very first thought of riding from Darwin to Broome (D2B) came to me. I was watching stars gradually getting brighter as the sun went down, thinking about, how the hell do I start a conversation with young adolescents and teenagers about abuse, about striving forward, even when it felt pointless at times and never giving up.  I needed to do something way out of my comfort zone. Needed to be exciting, adventurous and physically demanding. This would the conversation starter.

My first thought was to ride my bicycle across the top of the world, like Tibet to Kathmandu. That’s when the Darwin to Broome idea first came to mind. This was in Australia, my home country. That part of the country is vast and the cycle would be excitingly dangerous in a way.

Now to inform my family of my next adventure. Also a journey to free myself of the demons that reside in my mind and to go in search of me, the real me. For too long I have been lost in my hidden world of torture.  I remembered reading a small saying once, written by that nice guy called, anonymous.

“Sometimes, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere; and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.”

I decided this would be my mantra for the cycle because that will be me at times on this cycle, in the middle of seemly nowhere.

I very quietly told my family I intended to ride form Darwin to Broome next year on my annual leave. With that, I got a, “Yes, okay”.

 

A2A – From an idea to ‘I will do this’ and why

Firstly:

I found an article, “CYCLING IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA”, it read, “Mr A E Treloar arrived here (Alice Springs) on Friday January 15, from Oodnadatta, having ridden a distance of 350miles on a 32-lb Rapid roadster pneumatic machine. He claimed to be the first cyclist to pedal into Central Australia”.

This I found absolutely amazing because the article was page 31 of the Chronicle, dated Saturday 6^th March 1897. Some 122 years ago, I don’t feel so bad about my adventure now.

Secondly:

As I thought in the previous ride, “How the hell do I start a conversation with young adolescents and teenagers about abuse, about striving forward even when it felt pointless at times and never giving up”. It’s the easiest way to start a chat with a person about abuse.

 Thirdly:

I’m not cured from the mental struggle of demons lurking in my head at night, waking all hours in fear and soaked in sweats, I still struggle with triggers that put me in absolute horror feelings. I am learning how to handle those triggers, with help. I continue to see my psychologist every month sometime two times a month and my psychiatrist regularly.

The isolation in the red centre is one of the calming parts of my life, nature has a way of showing us the beauty that sexual abuse survivors don’t often see in our normal daily lives. And this what I want to share with each and every person who views this blog post.

Fourthly:

Raising money for Bravehearts is special to me, they do so much for child protection, education and listening.

Action:

I planned the route and ordered a new MTB trailer

 

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You can check out more info on the page – My Next adventure

Cheers

Kenny Mac