Some pickies from Iceland

Pedal pedal pedal pedal pedal

Hello from the Wild Westfjords of North Western Iceland.

The practicalities of being on the road have meant my blog has been neglected and I am sorry. I have been updating via facebook and this has been easier and a great way to stay in touch with people.

I have been missing writing stories and can't wait to write about things that I have experienced in Sweden, Norway and Iceland.

What has it been like? It's been ever changing.
The landscape, the cycling, how I feel, have evolved and devolved.
Each day has been a story unto itself. I have had days where I have felt on top of the world - free as a bird and alive with new experiences. Other days where I have felt defeated by what I am trying to achieve.

To paint a picture of a regular day: wake at 6, breakfast and coffee and packing. I seem to be always adapting my packing system. I opted to travel only with rear panniers as I wanted to travel light. I ended up getting a handle bar bag in Reykjavik and have enjoyed this extra luggage space (and sweet 'inflight mode' map case).
On the road. 7.30am. My favourite time of the day. The quietness. The feeling of expectation in another day unrolling with unknown experiences, sights and challenges with each revolution of my tyres. The freshness in my rested legs making the extraordinary seem possible.
The pace of the day depends on many things - weather, road condition, distraction from bakeries, beautiful things to see, people I meet, free wifi :), animal encounters, bike dramas, body dramas, energy, laziness, hunger levels, motivation, nice places to stop and daily goals or lack thereof. My shortest day has been 24km (my first day) and my longest has been 162km. Generally I aim to reach 100km a day which means anywhere from 5-10 hours pedaling.

My second favourite time of the day is the end. Resting, setting up my tent, making dinner and collapsing down into my sleeping bag. Usually a feeling of accomplishment and exhaustion. Sometimes a feeling of aloneness and sore legs....

Marathon training
Hmmm....
Q: have I been training for the Rekjavik marathon which is on next Saturday the 18th of August
A: sorta ...

I have managed to run 2-3 times a week. While my fitness is good from cycling, you complete a marathon by RUNNING.
Training for the marathon was always going to be a challenge. However, I have been able to log some 30km runs and feel pretty good with my running.
If I was able to have two wishes granted for the run it would be 1: finish in under 4hours. 2: if not, then finish it! (I have 6 hours).
My first marathon! In a week! Holy smokes...

Thanks everyone for your support for Devil of A Ride and all your awesome donations. It means so much!

Bless Bless (Icelandic for bye bye), Kat x

The start of something...

I am sorry! Its been so long since Ive written... Since Ive been i Sweden i have written so many word in my head that never made it out into the world. To be honest... I have been so busy RIDING MY BIKE to do anything else. So heres a summary of my trip so far
I landed in Sweden on the 19th of June and spent my first night in the beautiful city of Uppsala. There are bikes everywhere / every house, shop, apartment block has bike stands (full of bikes) outside of them and there are bike lanes everywhere. My sort of country...
I Start riding the next day which was an interesting combination with the jet lag. The Swedish countryside is amazingly pretty / think wildflowers, little gingerbread houses, cute horses, lakes, old churches, Hansel and Gretel forests. And me. Lost actually. At least for the first 6 hours anyway.

My plan in Sweden has been to follow two of the national cycle routes through the county. First the Sverigeleden from Uppsala through central Sweden, and then the Cykelsparet up the East coast and though to Finland. The signs are at every intersection you come to and the routes have been easy to follow (once I found the first one). They dont always go the fastest way, but tend to avoid the main roads and sometimes are on gravel roads and in some pretty remote areas.

So I have been following these routes for the past two weeks to the city of Umea on the east coast and have done 1282km. Three things I have felt so far >

1. Cared for
Daylight is a constant companion here. Due to the latitude, it never really gets dark. If you were here in Winter, however, it is dark that will accompany you everywhere. The ancient rite of Midsommer which is celebrated on the solstice is a time for new and old celebrations in the countryside in Sweden when everyone is enjoying the light and the life. i rode into a pretty town called Stora Skedvi on midsummer’s eve and stopped to ask three women  / Tuija, Ingrid and Birgitta directions for a campground. they just happened to be SUPER LOVELY and Birgitta invited me to spend midsummer with them and stay with their family at her farm. Awesome. So, a quick change on the side of the road, incredible concert in an ancient church, a street parade, the raising of the may pole (which I joined in), dancing around said pole (yep, that too). Then a quick ride sans panniers to the home of Birgitta and Lasse. Birgitta prepared an amazing traditional feast which we had in the yard and Tuija taught us some special little drinking songs... After a lovely breakfast (can still taste the fresh berry jam on the homemade  bread), the whole family waved me off on my little bike, with a full belly and a happy heart. Bless you all.
I have mostly been taking advantage of the super sensible rule in Sweden that you can pretty much camp anywhere as long as you dont disturb anyone. I have camped in hay paddocks over looking lakes, in the forest, at a water skiing club, and other camp/worthy places. And even proper campgrounds sometimes. After a long day riding in a fairly remote area I rode into a little village called Nianfors. I found a tiny park on a beautiful lake with a picnic table and a jetty. I went and checked with the nearest house to see if it was OK to stay there. Lucky for me this was home of the SUPER LOVELY Brigitte who says yes you can stay, and this is where you get water, and theres where you can find the key for the town hall so you can use the bathroom. Sweeeeet. and the next day, brings we down and coffee and later I visit for another coffee, a fresh pastry and a wonderful little chat about Snow Scooters, Uranium (NeJ till Uran i Nianfors!), Cats, cement art and life in a tiny village overlooking a lovely lake. What a lady!

2. Wanting to throw my bike in the nearest lake
here comes the rant. 
WHY AM I DOING THIS? THIS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS IDEA! CAN I REALLY RIDE FOR 100KM AND ONLY SEE THREE HOUSES, TEN MILLION PINE TREES AND TWO CARS ? (I ACTUALLY SAID THAT ONE ALOUD) HOW COME I CANT FEEL MY LEFT HAND ANYMORE? CANT I JUST GO TO PARIS AND JUST HANG OUT? NOW I KNOW WHY EVERYONE THINKS IM CRAZY, ITS CAUSE I AM! THERE IS NO WAY IM GETTING BACK ON THAT BLOODY BIKE. DOES EVERY HOUSE IN SWEDEN HAVE TO BE RED? IS THAT HORSE LAUGHING AT ME? MAYBE I COULD JUST LEAVE IT UNLOCKED SOMEWHERE BUSY AND SEEDY LOOKING ....

I havent cried yet. close.  

3. HAPPY
There have also been significant moments of happiness and contentment and satisfaction. Peddling along serenely beautiful lakes, lying down in a field of wildflowers watching the sky (actually I think i was passed out.. but anyway), Meeting great people. The incredibly old things including churches, cities, rune stones and burial mounds from when the ice caps were peeling back from this part of the world 10000 years ago. The fact that it gets easier and I get stronger each day. Oh, and the bread. There is nothing like Swedish bread. Seriously.

Using my own limbs to achieve something and knowing that people are supporting something that is important to me ~ the future of the Tassie Devil.

So... I guess ill just keep riding

Kat x
(sorry, no photos yet, but I will get there!(

Going Outside to Go Inside

Last week, I had the pleasure of working on an Outdoor Education program for Year 10 girls in the Snowy Mountains. Over the course of a week, the co-instructor and I had many interesting exchanges with the girls, generally around their adaptation to cold, being in nature and resilience to change.

Gazing Over the Wolgan Valley, Wollemi National Park, Blue Mountains

As an Outdoor Educator, I love helping people learn to be comfortable and enjoy themselves outdoors. And sometimes this is hard.

Being in nature for many, can be an uncomfortable and threatening experience, one to be endured rather than to be happily immersed in. Fear of the unknown, uncomfortable surfaces, animals and insects, darkness, uneven terrain, physical effort, danger, unregulated temperatures, exposure to the elements and isolation leave people afraid of their basic survival and happiness. 

Glossy outdoor shops, full to the brim with clever gear and clothing are fantastic resources for helping us be comfortable and safe in the wild. But, in order to be comfortable in nature requires more than just having a wardrobe full of the latest technical merino.

How do we feel at home in nature, rather than endure the experience? How do we break down the barrier between ourselves and the wild?

Ralph Waldo Emerson cleverly said, The world is all outside; it has no inside.

 

We are part of nature and nature is part of us, there is no difference. It is easy to lose sight or this, and see nature is a place to visit, a land apart from us, something to move through, to temporarily survive, rather than the world we live in.  

But everywhere is outside.

On my week in the mountain, the magic moment came, when the students learned how to live in, rather than endure nature. And all it took was just being, just sitting on some grass, in the sun, talking. This doesn't require great effort, or facilitation and interpretation. It just requires us to relax and nature will do the rest.

Great benefits can come from remembering to stop, to be still, to just live in nature. When we get to the lookout, look, stop. Lay in the sun. Listen to the creek. Watch the stars. Smell the flower. Admire the tree. Sit and gaze at the bird drinking water. Fall asleep in the shade. Feel the sand between your toes.

A special person once passed on an ancient saying: The entire sky is your birthright. 

Nature can be the stage for our epic challenges and personal triumphs but it is also our home. 

 

I'm off on a little ride..

In June this year I will set off for three months on a solo, unsupported, 7000km bike ride through Finland, Norway and Iceland.The route will take me through some incredibly beautiful landscapes and fascinating cultures. However, the ride may be a little hard a times! With some challenges ahead in terms of physical effort, weather and terrain. 

And just to add to the fun... I'm also running in the Reykjavik marathon towards the end of the trip. Reykjavik is Iceland's capital in case you weren't sure. 

This ride (and run) is called A DEVIL OF A RIDE as it is in support of the TASSIE DEVIL, who's future is in very dire straits.

The Tassie Devil is a unique creature. It is the worlds largest surviving carnivorous marsupial and lives only in Tasmania. They are facing a bleak future, suffering enormously through a rare contagious cancer - Devil Facial Tumour Disease that has already wiped out 80% of the population.

Finding a solution isnt easy, but if we act now we have the chance to prevent this iconic creature becoming extinct. The Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal is the official fundraising arm of the Save the Tassie Devil Program - Australia's official response to the disease that is also backed by the international conservation and wildlife management community.

You can help keep Tassie Devils alive in the wild by supporting A Devil of a Ride!  

Every contribution, no matter what the size can go a long what to helping save this iconic Tasmanian animal. 100% of the funds raised by the Appeal go to the research and management activities important to the long-term solution to Devil Facial Tumour Disease and the aim to keep Tasmanian devils sustainable in the wild. All donations over $2 are fully tax deductible and GST exempt in Australia.

To donate: please visit https://www.utasalumni.org.au/sslpage.aspx?pid=318. Please remember to write Devil of A Ride and your name in the comments box when you donate so that we can track how much we are raising through this event!

For more information, please visit the Save the Tasmania Devil Program website at: www.tassiedevil.com.au. 

I will be updating this blog as I travel, and you can also catch me on facebook page (Devil of a Ride) and twitter @KatKCullen. 

Thanks! and Wish me luck!!!! K

How I learned to love the ocean

For each of us, there are places in nature that make us feel good. They calm the senses and charge us with life. For me it is mountains and wild mountain streams. They never fail to make me feel whole, happy and about 9 years old. I come from the mountains and think about home always being a place in the mountains.

I adore any wild place in nature and have fallen in love with deserts, tropical rainforest, grassy fields, snowy valleys and lazy rivers. However, the Ocean has always been an enigma to me.

My beach trips as a child were mostly noisy, holiday visits with family to city beaches like Bondi. These were great times, but in my mind the beach was a place of sun burn, stinging eyes, car parks, dirty sand and chiko roll wrappers.

I have been lucky since then to see some spectacularly beautiful and famous beaches and coasts across Australia and the world. I've explored them by diving, paddling, swimming, walking, running, fishing, boarding and sailing. I've partied on them, played on them, had moonlit picnics on them and gotten windswept and interesting on them.

But I have never been able to understand the ocean. Have not felt the magnetic tug to be near or in the ocean. Maybe to me it is too big a thing for my mind to take in. So much sand, so much water, so much sky. Lurid in its vastness.

But now the ocean has won me over. I’ve spent the last seven months leading multi-day walks in two incredibly beautiful coastal areas of eastern Tasmania; the Bay of Fires and Maria Island. Pretty convincing parts of the coast...

What has changed for me is now I really see the ocean as a place of life. I have learnt about many shellfish who have complex lives and finely etched designs. Rockpools full of blooming blood red anemones, sea dragons with their frilly beauty. And the birds! Sea birds are in their own league when it comes to quirky and beautiful; oystercatchers, terns, gulls, tiny hooded plovers, eagles, turnstones, cormorants and gannets. All who make the beach their home for a time, or a lifetime.

Aboriginal life on the coast is so keenly felt from the vast number of living places along the coast here. Huge mounds of shells, eaten over thousands of years of harvesting from the ever abundant ocean. 

The turn of the seasons is so tangible on the beach; the migration of grand humpback whales down to their summer grounds in the southern waters, the frolicking of a seal, coming in close to the bay on his way up to the breeding grounds in bass strait, the shorttailed shearwaters and albatross on their worldwide tours, fairy penguins with their silver-blue feathers and their unending toil in tending to their chicks until they are old enough to try and attempt a life at sea. 

I have been blessed to see enough perfect sunrises, sunsets and night skies over the ocean to last me a lifetime. The smell, the air and the wind have worked their magic. The wave worn pebbles and the ancient boulders have made the difference. The sea has made me feel at home with its colours and moods and tides.

I love the ocean!