Thorn Cycles Forum

Community => Thorn General => Topic started by: il padrone on December 11, 2013, 07:38:09 AM

Title: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on December 11, 2013, 07:38:09 AM
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/205521_1016558015538_6471_n.jpg)

A photo that a friend posted from his tour around Australia about 12 years ago brought up a question about using the Rohloff and Schmidt hubs. This was on the roads of Cape York, where bridges are few and far between, and rivers have Saltwater Crocodiles to nibble on your toes.

My frind rode through, as you can see, across 100-200m river fords. Now I know the SON28 and the Rohloff have breather holes and putting them underwater is a real 'no-no'. But what do other expedition tourers do when they face such a crossing, that may turn out to be over axle-deep? It's handy if there's a 4WD or truck about to ferry you, but what if you're there on your own? Do you take bags off and walk all gear, carrying the bike (bearing in mind that this places you on foot, in the croc's environment as food, for a much longer time), can you block up the hub to temporarily seal the axle breather, or do you ride it anyway. I guess the other option is to run a different, non-SON front hub, but there's still the Rohloff.

Curious, as my long-term touring plans include a round-Australia tour sometime, including Cape York and the Kimberley.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Danneaux on December 11, 2013, 08:36:00 AM
Well, Pete, when faced with such crossings, I remove the bags, portage (carry) the bike, then return for the bags and reassemble the lot on the far side. It really isn't that much work compared to the alternative.

Bike bearings are not made for true immersion; even less so in a current or while working underwater, and I can't see drastically increasing wear for such short-term convenience -- especially in the field, where it is not so convenient to do an immediate overhaul.

Still, it seems to be ever more popular to "swim" one's bike and capture it in photos, judging by the increasing number I see posted online.

My two cents' worth, adjusted for inflation.

Best,

Dan.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on December 11, 2013, 08:54:53 AM
Hi well I can say Not like This

http://youtu.be/GdtpsG--V3I (http://youtu.be/GdtpsG--V3I)

Happy Watching  ;D

Pete  8)

Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on December 11, 2013, 09:12:28 AM
Crossings like the Pentecost River are the issue. It's a long way across and portaging will require up to five crossings - carry bike, return, carry some panniers, return, carry rest of baggage.

(http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/3672319.jpg)



And there are Salties lurking in there

(http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01944/crocodile_1944005i.jpg)



And don't do it like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXXNB7IIyxY
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Swislon on December 11, 2013, 09:32:34 AM
Yikes.....

I'm staying home.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: in4 on December 11, 2013, 09:45:26 AM
Think that's the Mary River in NT. The crocs are huge there but this looks a bit photocroced!
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on December 11, 2013, 09:49:29 AM
Hi well I can say Not like This

http://youtu.be/GdtpsG--V3I (http://youtu.be/GdtpsG--V3I)

He didn't give the crocodiles much of a chance.

Il Padrone: I don't think sealing the breather holes will be enough, on the Rohloff at least. Maybe on the SON, but I won't be paying for carriage to Germany, labour, parts, carriage back to Oz, when you need new bearings.

On the Rohloff the breather hole is the very least of your worries. What you have to consider is that the so-called "seals" to the sides are seals only by engineering courtesy. Proper seals, as we think of them from automobile practice, scaled and designed to keep out water, would make Rohloff atrociously heavy, quite unusable in a bicycle. Instead, that pre-eminent weight weenie (truly, he doesn't get enough credit for it) Bernd Rohloff designed his superior hub gearbox with seals, some of them paper, only good enough to keep dust out of the gearbox. Water would just flow in.

Whether the water would do as much damage as Dan fears is another matter. See, Herr Rohloff also designed his gearbox to survive abuse by the non-maintenance of circumstances in the back of beyond (or by careless idiots, of which there seem remarkably few in the Rohloff world), so all the necessary lubrication sticks to the gears and shafts themselves. I suspect -- on zero evidence*, and I'm not offering my beloved box as a guinea pig -- that your gearbox will come to no harm if you were to leave off changing the oil until you camp that night. But I don't know that I would leave it overnight. It is a fallacy that oil is insoluble in water; it depends on various oxidization processes. (See for instance the painting at http://www.sketching.cc/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2163&start=30#p18689
which I made with water-miscible oil paints and water-soluble oil painting medium.)

*** Not quite zero evidence. On two occasions in the harvest season on narrow lanes hereabouts I've ridden into the ditch to escape thundering industrial tractors fully the width of the lane. On each occasion I changed the oil within the hour, and on neither occasion was there any evidence of water inside the box. You'd see it because you'd get more out than the 10ml or so that you usually get out, and there would floating water; I saw neither. But these were immersions of seconds while a tractor and trailer or a huge bailer passed, not several minutes to cover a good bit of water further agitated by the turning wheel. Also, I don't keep my bike or the Rohloff box in the sparkling condition demonstrated by the photos of many posters here. There's a bit of buildup of oil and crud as the hub breathes out a little excess oil, which I wipe off once a year at the annual oil change; it's not much grease but even a thin film would resist water until it is beaded enough for water to flow. So that by itself could be enough to delay water flowing into the hub for a few seconds.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on December 11, 2013, 09:55:49 AM
Yikes.....

I'm staying home.

Don't be so limp. It is a nasty, untrue libel that 20 out of 20 of the most venomous animals on earth live in the Australian outback. It is, in fact, only 19; the 20th, the red back spider, prefers to live in town, under toilet seats.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on December 11, 2013, 10:13:07 AM
Even worse than crocodiles, coming into summer and the beach life, lots of people worry a lot about sharks.

 ;)
(http://i.imgur.com/31gwFls.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/yfHhqNn.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/qYDKcnO.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/FJx6wzu.jpg)
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on December 11, 2013, 10:31:06 AM
Those sharks are slacking off.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Swislon on December 11, 2013, 12:29:52 PM
Those facts really kill me! 8)
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on December 11, 2013, 01:42:49 PM
Don't be so limp. It is a nasty, untrue libel that 20 out of 20 of the most venomous animals on earth live in the Australian outback. It is, in fact, only 19; the 20th, the red back spider, prefers to live in town, under toilet seats.

Actually the red-back is not terribly deadly. Nasty and very painful, but few people die from it. The real nasties live in  the seas - the sea wasp (box jellyfish), the irukandji (tiny and extremely venomous jellyfish), the stonefish, and the cloth of gold, or textile cone shell. Molluscs are quite nasty - don't go getting too close to a large octopus or a cuttlefish, they can cut your arm off with their beak  ::)

And then Steve Irwin found out all about the humble stingray.



Anyway, getting back OT, is there anyone who's toured on backtracks requiring fording of larger rivers using a Rohloff and/or SON28 hub? How have you dealt with this? I guess the northern Australian rivers are a bit critical because of the croc hazard, but many rivers in Sth America or Africa may be equally hazardous.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on December 12, 2013, 09:30:11 AM
Hi so to the point the best way to cross any deep water is to Stop unload and Carry your Bike and Gear across the water.

Riding across any water that is Deeper then your Hub's is Not good to you Bike or it's Bearings!

(It's good for any bicycle shop, we are always replacing Hub and BB bearings after the owner has riding across rivers ETC!)

Pete  8)
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: peter jenkins on December 12, 2013, 11:10:48 AM
Perhaps you could carry an inflatable dinghy.  ;)

And the Sharks have claimed two lives in Australia in recent weeks, which means they are obviously under represented elsewhere if the average of 5 fatalities per annum is on a global basis...

Cheers,

pj
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on December 12, 2013, 12:11:51 PM
Apparently Australia's average shark-attack fatality for the 10 years to 2012 has been 2 per annum. 192 in the past 200 years.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2012/07/16/timeline-shark-attacks-australia
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Danneaux on December 12, 2013, 08:05:43 PM
Pete (the Il Padrone one this time),

Would it be viable to toss sticks or rocks ahead of oneself when contemplating a crossing in croc-infested waters?

Seriously, I wonder if this might bring them to light where otherwise they would remain submerged or do the "floating log" trick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMJXvsCLu6s

Best,

Dan. (...who would probably ask the wildebeest before me)
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: peter jenkins on December 13, 2013, 05:18:02 AM
Quote
Perhaps you could carry an inflatable dinghy

Actually.... now I think of it... when I were but a lad time trialling in Perth (WA) one of the more mature gents would occasionally ride to the course on his training wheels (as opposed to trainer wheels) with his race wheels carried on brackets attached to the fork. I really can't quite recall whether the brackets attached to the axle or to the fork itself but the wheels being carried were probably a good 18 inches off the deck, which puts the hubs well out of harm's way.

Anyway... you can see where this headed. You could carry a pair of old spare wheels to be used for fording croc infested rivers with your real wheels carried with their hubs above the water level.

I saw a short documentary series a few weeks ago about Kakadu and the crocs were very real and numerous.

For those forum members not familiar with Australia, the salt water croc was suffering near extinction at the hands of shooters until some years ago when they became protected. They are now in almost plague proportions in Northern Australia and yes... they really do eat people.

Cheers,

pj
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on December 13, 2013, 09:20:18 AM
Look more People are Killed by Hippopotamus  :o (Hippo's) then by Sharks or Crocodile's  :o

When your Number's up it's Up! So live Life and cross a few Rivers!

You can wait for a 4X4 to come along! (Yes this maybe a few days wait in some parts of OZ)
So be careful, Have Fun, and Live Life...........  :-*

As I find out Life can be over so fast  :o It's so good to be Alive and Wake up every morning  ;D

Pete..  8)

Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: mickeg on December 14, 2013, 07:15:45 PM
I would not submerge my SP Dynamo front hub in the water.  Electrics and water do not get along.

If it was salt water (do salties live in salt water?), I would not even want to get my rims in the water.  My rims on all my touring bikes have a hollow section that I am sure once some salt got in there, the corrosion would start and never end.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Danneaux on December 14, 2013, 07:17:03 PM
Good points, mickeg.

Don't forget the pedals and BB as well, Pete. Neither is likely to take kindly to submersion.

Best,

Dan.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: jags on December 14, 2013, 07:47:51 PM
i knew a fella that crossed one of thos croc infested  rivers on a bike.lord have mercy on him ;D ;D
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on December 14, 2013, 08:52:27 PM
The rivers are all freshwater. Crocs go well upstream in the northern rivers - never think a waterway is safe because it's away from the sea.

Dan, I have put pedals under water in the occasoional stream fording in the bush (http://app.getsmileapp.com/images/a08d0749f04dd6206776682888471d8c4690befb90cf82ac6754bad584c00f21/jpg/2048x1536), and even been forced to ride with pedals sloshing into and out of water for many kilometres in one serious 'rain event'. I've never had any problems with pedal deterioration or damage from any of this. Not saying they survive unscathed, just that pedals keep on going and going..... Most people very rarely service pedals - the most unloved of all bike parts.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: moodymac on December 14, 2013, 08:52:49 PM
I'm with you Jags.  Much preferring the dust to dust methods over the dust to croc poop way.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on December 15, 2013, 08:14:10 AM
Hi All,
At the end of the day more people Die walking across a road then Fording a River.

Pete  :(

Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Danneaux on December 15, 2013, 08:21:44 AM
Pete,

Best of luck on your way to the Opel mines as you Dodge the crocs while you Ford the river on Hyundai.

 ;D

Best,

Dan. (...who has plainly been awake too long)
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: John Saxby on December 15, 2013, 01:19:34 PM
Quote
Those sharks are slacking off.

Don't think the sharks are losing their edge, Andre -- rather, we may have a categorization problem:  the 5 a year doesn't include the 59,995 who died of a heart attack just thinking of the possibility, or seeing a nearby fin, or watching re-runs of "Jaws", etc., etc.  Sharks now have such a scarifying rep that its ripple effects do their work for them...though for them, the food feedback loop may not be quite so immediate & rewarding.

The analogy in The Great White North [which awaits me tomorrow :-(  ] is that the risk of being killed by a bear in the Canadian bush doesn't begin to compare with the risk of driving to a campsite/canoe route/etc in the back country.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on December 15, 2013, 05:34:43 PM
Don't think the sharks are losing their edge, Andre -- rather, we may have a categorization problem:  the 5 a year doesn't include the 59,995 who died of a heart attack just thinking of the possibility, or seeing a nearby fin, or watching re-runs of "Jaws", etc., etc. 

You're a wicked cynic, John. Seriously, I've been explaining for years that the truly dangerous animal to avoid is the hippopotamus, which is a foul-tempered beast, and unstoppable because it weighs several tons. I once put three magnum bullets into hippo and it kept coming. My bearer was in such a hurry to disappear up the tree, he climbed right over my back and stepped in my face, nearly knocking me off the trunk. The hippo tried chewing through the trunk -- not an unlikely ambition; I once saw a hippo take a bite out of the metal roof of a truck we were trying to rescue from a river in flood -- but fortunately lost interest and wandered away. I told the bearer, whose name was Jimbo Makwekwe, to change his socks more often. Later I heard Jimbo dined out on the story of how I missed with three shots at an animal that filled the whole horizon, and he singlehandledly pulled me up this tree... I retaliated by having my mate Andrew McCoy put Jimbo in a book in a most unflattering light.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on December 15, 2013, 06:11:22 PM
You're a wicked cynic, John. Seriously, I've been explaining for years that the truly dangerous animal to avoid is the hippopotamus, which is a foul-tempered beast, and unstoppable because it weighs several tons. I once put three magnum bullets into hippo and it kept coming. My bearer was in such a hurry to disappear up the tree, he climbed right over my back and stepped in my face, nearly knocking me off the trunk. The hippo tried chewing through the trunk -- not an unlikely ambition; I once saw a hippo take a bite out of the metal roof of a truck we were trying to rescue from a river in flood -- but fortunately lost interest and wandered away. I told the bearer, whose name was Jimbo Makwekwe, to change his socks more often. Later I heard Jimbo dined out on the story of how I missed with three shots at an animal that filled the whole horizon, and he singlehandledly pulled me up this tree... I retaliated by having my mate Andrew McCoy put Jimbo in a book in a most unflattering light.

So true, Hippo kill more people then anything out there!

We eat Sharks and its so nice, we call it by a few names!
So most people do not how they are eating Shark.

Be safe crossing the road and watch out for Hippo's when you cycle about Africa, or pass a Zoo....

Pete....

Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: John Saxby on December 16, 2013, 12:56:26 PM
Quote
the truly dangerous animal to avoid is the hippopotamus

Hippos are indeed serious critters, Andre, very territorial as you know. I'd guess that the vast majority of hippo casualties are the result of intent -- whereas the "deaths caused by deer", I'd guess, are the results of drivers colliding with deer.  Hard to imagine Bambi goring a passing cyclist, but one never knows, for these are desperate times in the animals' universe...

(Had to say something about hazards for cyclists, to keep this thread slightly on track.)

I was introduced to hippo-dom ages back when I was teaching in the Luapula Valley in northern Zambia, a big fishing area as you probably know.  The hippos' preferred mode of enforcing their territorial jurisdiction was to come up under a fishing canoe, capsize it, and wreak havoc among the poor sods in the water.  Occasionally, the hippo would just do the simple/direct thing & bite the boat in half.  One day, I was visiting the mission station at Johnston Falls/Mambulima for Sunday afternoon tea'n'cakes  beside the big river, and on the lawn, like a post-industrial sculpture, was a LWB Landrover missing its side -- a hippo had come up onto the lawn, taken exception to This Thing, fixed its tusks 2 x 2 below the rocker panel and above the roofline, and just squeezed. Echoes of your truck that got chewed -- frightening power.

Absent from the earlier list of Serious Critters was the moose, also territorial and horny -- you described its behaviour very well in your tale of the Iditarod.  The provinces of Atlantic Canada (esp New Brunswick and Newfoundland) and the US state of Maine, have a lot of car/moose collisions, and m/cycle-moose ditto.  Often, both moose and driver are killed.  Cyclists have to be wary too, especially in forested/marshy areas.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on December 16, 2013, 03:08:03 PM
"a post-industrial sculpture, was a LWB Landrover missing its side"

Yes, you know precisely what I was describing. It's sometimes difficult to tell people, less sophisticated and well-traveled than this forum's members, what it is really like in the Heart of Darkness. Essentially, for full understanding, you need to have been there, and to have seen the truck bitten in half by a half-blind animal from the ur-age.

Not that a hippo wouldn't be dangerous to a cyclist too. The thing is lightning fast over a short distance and can certainly outrun a man or a cyclists for a short sprint. Fortunately it has a short attention span.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: macspud on January 26, 2014, 09:51:18 PM
Even worse than crocodiles, coming into summer and the beach life, lots of people worry a lot about sharks.

 ;)

(http://i.imgur.com/FJx6wzu.jpg)

Sharks on average kill 12 people per year world wide, people kill 100,012,920 sharks per year.

At 8,334,410 to 1 it's people sharks should worry about.

For a visual representation:

http://www.upworthy.com/heres-a-fact-about-sharks-and-humans-thatll-stay-with-you-every-hour-on-the-hour-today (http://www.upworthy.com/heres-a-fact-about-sharks-and-humans-thatll-stay-with-you-every-hour-on-the-hour-today)
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on January 27, 2014, 06:07:00 AM
Sharks on average kill 12 people per year world wide, people kill 100,012,920 sharks per year.

At 8,334,410 to 1 it's people sharks should worry about.

For a visual representation:

http://www.upworthy.com/heres-a-fact-about-sharks-and-humans-thatll-stay-with-you-every-hour-on-the-hour-today (http://www.upworthy.com/heres-a-fact-about-sharks-and-humans-thatll-stay-with-you-every-hour-on-the-hour-today)


Hi,
Sharks are nice to eat too.
I was asked a number of times in the UK which Fish would I like with my Fish & Chips? I would said (like at home in New Zealand) Shark please! and they would just look at me odd? and ask again? and I said Shark please! then I would just asked for Lemon Fish! (which is Shark)
To be only asked again which Fish???
I always ended up having Sausage & Chips  :(

Pete (time to go and have some Fish & Chips)  :D


Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Danneaux on January 27, 2014, 06:45:20 AM
Quote
Sharks are nice to eat too.
Does it taste like chicken, Pete? Snake kinda does. Everything kinda does!

Maybe Il Padrone could eat the crocs while crossing the ford?

Best,

Dan. (...who thinks that may be a tad off-topic for Il Padrone-Pete's request for info on river crossings where crocs might be)
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on January 27, 2014, 04:28:37 PM
Does it taste like chicken, Pete? Snake kinda does. Everything kinda does!

Maybe Il Padrone could eat the crocs while crossing the ford?

Best,

Dan. (...who thinks that may be a tad off-topic for Il Padrone-Pete's request for info on river crossings where crocs might be)

Hi Dan,
Yes but better!
I did reply about river crossing?

Pete

Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: in4 on January 27, 2014, 04:42:19 PM
I've eaten croc; much more agreeable that way round! Its not very flavoursome being frank and needs perking up a lot to mask the taste of muddy river. A mate of mine used to have a business doing all that tucker stuff for the tourist trade. Bush barbeques, that sort of thing. Best thing by far was the barramundi fish, with a bit of lemon. Oh and the roo steaks, they were pretty good eating too. Croc though? Thanks but no thanks!
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on January 27, 2014, 10:13:55 PM
I've eaten croc; much more agreeable that way round! Its not very flavoursome being frank and needs perking up a lot to mask the taste of muddy river. A mate of mine used to have a business doing all that tucker stuff for the tourist trade. Bush barbeques, that sort of thing. Best thing by far was the barramundi fish, with a bit of lemon. Oh and the roo steaks, they were pretty good eating too. Croc though? Thanks but no thanks!

Cycle campers don't have to eat rubbish at McDonald's.

Croc eggs make a good omelette, you just have to keep the fellow who always expects you to fix his flats nearer the edge of the water than you to distract Mama Croc while you dig the eggs out of the sandbank. Better to dig up the eggs after you've crossed the river.

If you want ostrich egg, which makes a rich scramble, watch out for the six-inch forenail of Mama Ostrich. The tool of choice to separate that toenail from you is a thorn branch about six feet long, which you hold over her head to mesmerize her. She won't kick if she can't look down at her feet, for fear of kicking herself fatally instead of you.

(http://coolmainpress.com/ajwriting/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Kanga-against-the-sunset-photo-credit-Lizzie-Borden.jpg)
If you're Down Under, Skippy makes good BBQ. I'd explain how to get a joey to volunteer by jumpingg into the roasting bag and rolling himself up oven-ready but I suspect there are some bleeding hearts here.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on January 28, 2014, 05:27:20 AM
Hi,
So True  :D

Pete  :-*

Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: peter jenkins on January 29, 2014, 04:38:28 AM
Quote
If you're Down Under, Skippy makes good BBQ. I'd explain how to get a joey to volunteer by jumpingg into the roasting bag and rolling himself up oven-ready but I suspect there are some bleeding hearts here

Hi Andre,

I would not have thought there'd be enough meat on a Joey, but feel free to let us know how to get one to "volunteer". I'm intrigued as always.

Regards,

pj

P.S. The crocs scored again on the weekend. This time a 12 year old swimming in Kakadu.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on January 29, 2014, 04:45:24 AM
I would not have thought there'd be enough meat on a Joey, but feel free to let us know how to get one to "volunteer". I'm intrigued as always.

Ever wondered how the people who look after orphan kangaroos put the joeys up, how they sleep? They just hold open a pillow-case near the floor, about kangaroo pouch height, and the joey jumps into it and rolls himself up, lying on his back, and goes to sleep. They they hang the pillowcases on the washing line with pegs.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: peter jenkins on January 29, 2014, 11:30:49 AM
D'OH! Of course... I've seen it several times, both on TV and at wildlife parks.

I've tried roo a handful of times but never really warmed to it. It's supposed to be superior to lamb/beef/pork etc. in terms of having low cholesterol and fat content and being high in protein.

It doesn't seem to be marketed actively other than as pet food but perhaps the more traditional meat growers have sufficient clout to maintain the status quo?

Cheers,

pj
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: peter jenkins on January 31, 2014, 11:47:23 AM

This could be of interest:

http://safeshare.tv/w/KkkEFRtyiS

Cheers,

pj
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Slammin Sammy on January 31, 2014, 03:42:31 PM
This could be of interest:

http://safeshare.tv/w/KkkEFRtyiS

Cheers,

pj

 :D ;D Pay that one!

Very good, Peter!
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Danneaux on January 31, 2014, 06:37:40 PM
Wowzers!  :o ;D ::)

Thanks for sharing this one, Peter!

Best,

Dan.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Slammin Sammy on January 31, 2014, 08:37:44 PM
When I first arrived in Australia 28 years ago, in between work stints (we were 3 weeks on, 1 week off), I took a side trip to Kakadu, and camped at a billabong near Jim Jim Falls. We took a flat-bottom tinnie (boat) out after dark, and spotlighted the crocs in the banks. There were dozens of them! Their eyes would shine red by the light of the torch, and it looked positively evil out there.

Needless to say, it was very difficult to get to sleep that night in a tent just meters from the water's edge. A pink-skinned English girl had a panic attack, so of course I did the right thing and tried to comfort her... ;) Anyway, it helped keep my mind off the monsters lying meters away!

The guide was an idiot, and next morning dared us to have a swim. When no one took him up on it, he became quite surly and maintained that attitude for the rest of the trip. Mind you, he didn't get in himself! At Yellow Waters, back in the boat, he entertained himself by ramming juvenile crocs up against the bank, to impress the girls. One nearly jumped into the boat, and I very nearly killed him. Later on that day, I saw a heron get taken at the surface from very close range.

These places are magnificent, and well worth a visit. But please PLEASE exercise caution and mind the signs (which are far more prevalent these days), because these critters are far more abundant now than they were back then!

Slammin!
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on January 31, 2014, 09:35:21 PM
http://safeshare.tv/w/KkkEFRtyiS

Thanks for that, Peter! Still laughing. Here's a novel by a chum that I edited; clicking the cover takes you to the description at iTunes. I was there, which is how I know about the taste of croc eggs.

(http://www.coolmainpress.com/mccoylanceafricanrevenge_72dpi_800pxh.jpg) (https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/african-revenge/id766151694?mt=11)
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on February 01, 2014, 11:05:44 AM
Just last week a 13 yo boy went missing while swimming in Kakadu. They found 'bits' of him a few kms downstream the next day  ::)
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: peter jenkins on February 02, 2014, 06:34:09 AM
Quote
Here's a novel by a chum that I edited; clicking the cover takes you to the description at iTunes. I was there, which is how I know about the taste of croc eggs.

Thanks Andre,

I will download and read.

There has been an interesting 4 part ABCTV doco on Kakadu recently and in one segment they covered a bloke who has a licence to collect fertile croc eggs for sale to crocodile farms.

He has a stout wire cage with a trap door in the floor. He stands in the cage while it's helicoptered in and dropped on to the nest while the crocs are absent. he undoes the trap door and collects the eggs, then the chopper returns to pick him up. He's suffered a few injuries when the croc has returned, including the loss of a hand that was successfully sewn back on but cost him a few months income. Also (I think?) an accident when the chopper and cage parted company.

BTW, I read Atrocity Week when it was released. I don't want to think how long ago that was!

Cheers,

pj
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on February 02, 2014, 06:52:37 AM
He has a stout wire cage with a trap door in the floor. He stands in the cage while it's helicoptered in and dropped on to the nest while the crocs are absent. he undoes the trap door and collects the eggs, then the chopper returns to pick him up. He's suffered a few injuries when the croc has returned, including the loss of a hand that was successfully sewn back on but cost him a few months income. Also (I think?) an accident when the chopper and cage parted company.

Now you know why I want some fellow who won't be missed to stand between me and Mama Croc!

BTW, I read Atrocity Week when it was released. I don't want to think how long ago that was!

I'm not old enough.  :) CoolMain (http://coolmainpress.com) is publishing a complete new ebook edition of Andrew McCoy novels, except, that is, for ATROCITY WEEK. That would be just too harrowing to edit. I'm currently editing  CAIN'S COURAGE and having a lark, but nobody cares if South American Nazis get it in the neck.

***

Does anybody remember the famous Raleigh advertisement of the fellow pedaling hell for leather across the savannah with a maned lion (most unrealistically -- it's the female that does the chasing) running him down?
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: rualexander on February 02, 2014, 08:58:43 AM
***

Does anybody remember the famous Raleigh advertisement of the fellow pedaling hell for leather across the savannah with a maned lion (most unrealistically -- it's the female that does the chasing) running him down?

Only $550 for an original copy, http://postergroup.com/posters/10027/raleigh-bicycle-lion-chasing-man

There's a great collection of cycling images at this pinterest page http://gb.pinterest.com/Cyclemiles/ from the guy that runs the Cyclemiles online shop, where he also sells some bike related art http://www.cyclemiles.co.uk/
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on February 03, 2014, 06:42:42 AM
Only $550 for an original copy, http://postergroup.com/posters/10027/raleigh-bicycle-lion-chasing-man

There's a great collection of cycling images at this pinterest page http://gb.pinterest.com/Cyclemiles/ from the guy that runs the Cyclemiles online shop, where he also sells some bike related art http://www.cyclemiles.co.uk/

Wow! Thanks for that reference. I’ll surface for air eventually...
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on February 03, 2014, 07:16:05 AM
Hi Guys, thought I'd give you a taste of touring the real outback. Not yet been to most of this country myself, but I plan to do the big ride around Oz sometime in the next 5-10 years. Meantime Chris Rishworth has done a lot, and has a large collection of videos on youtube of his travels. He has a nice Koga Miyata, fully equipped with Rohloff and a belt-drive.

"In to the dust". He has some fun with the road-trains.

http://youtu.be/h8pz3sU6fGU
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: jags on February 03, 2014, 12:19:29 PM
fantastic video really enjoyed that,the weather here in ireland  is stormy  lots of rain and wind and cold oh to be in all that sunny weather.that guy certainly get about what a way to see your own country.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: peter jenkins on February 03, 2014, 10:45:23 PM
Quote
oh to be in all that sunny weather

Hi Jags,

You'll hate me for this, but we had an overnight 200 KM Audax on the weekend. It was so cold at 1.00 AM that my teeth were chattering and I started to cramp because I was so tensed up against the cold.

The temperature had plunged to 15 Deg. Celsius!!

It's been hot for so many months here now that anything below about 18 C is decidedly nippy if you're out on the bike.

I'm off to the UK for 6 months in April. I hope you can lay on a decent summer for me.

Cheers,

pj
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: jags on February 03, 2014, 11:02:20 PM
PJ bring plenty of warm cloths you have been warned ;D ;D
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on February 04, 2014, 12:01:19 AM
I'm off to the UK for 6 months in April. I hope you can lay on a decent summer for me.

That's good advice Jags gave you. When I first returned to the UK from Oz, I walked around in a sheepskin flying coat in what they laughably called their "summer", and April ain't the summer yet. There was a whole group of us in Cambridge with sheepskin coats in the socalled "summer"; we used to nod to each other affirmatively and mouth "Only mad dogs," and add, as we stopped our foreign cars (only mad dogs etc drove British cars in those years of Red Robbo's ascendancy in the union at British Motors) with the drivers' doors facing and wound down the windows 2cm max, "If only there were some midday sun to go out into."
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: leftpoole on February 04, 2014, 10:08:41 AM
That's good advice Jags gave you. When I first returned to the UK from Oz, I walked around in a sheepskin flying coat in what they laughably called their "summer", and April ain't the summer yet. There was a whole group of us in Cambridge with sheepskin coats in the socalled "summer"; we used to nod to each other affirmatively and mouth "Only mad dogs," and add, as we stopped our foreign cars (only mad dogs etc drove British cars in those years of Red Robbo's ascendancy in the union at British Motors) with the drivers' doors facing and wound down the windows 2cm max, "If only there were some midday sun to go out into."

I find your 'so called' comments rather offensive. >:(
Summer in UK can be as hot as other rather more publicised warm places, I feel that just because UK has cold and wet for seemingly months of our winter that the other 'warm' placed persons forget that they too have freezing cold weather!
No offence intended , but think please before posting your 'so called' phrases. ;)
John
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: peter jenkins on February 04, 2014, 11:10:25 AM
In the interests of balance:

Thanks Anto and Andre for the sound advice.

I have been to the UK a few times and know the weather can be unpredictable...

http://s572.photobucket.com/user/berlioz_bucket/media/DSCN0801_zps7fe553b4.jpg.html?sort=2&o=0

http://s572.photobucket.com/user/berlioz_bucket/media/85_zps2668a30c.jpg.html?sort=2&o=1

And to John,

The first 5 days of my LEJOG in 2006 were so hot I thought I would expire. It was in the mid 30's consistently. I've attached a photo of the beach at St. Ives to prove it. It rained and blew in true British style further north but then the last 3 days in Scotland were glorious. (t'other photo)

Cheers,

pj
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on February 04, 2014, 11:19:22 AM
Looks great, that beach at St Ives, but you know the water temperature was probably just 12C  :D
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: leftpoole on February 04, 2014, 05:22:10 PM
In the interests of balance:

Thanks Anto and Andre for the sound advice.

I have been to the UK a few times and know the weather can be unpredictable...

http://s572.photobucket.com/user/berlioz_bucket/media/DSCN0801_zps7fe553b4.jpg.html?sort=2&o=0

http://s572.photobucket.com/user/berlioz_bucket/media/85_zps2668a30c.jpg.html?sort=2&o=1

And to John,

The first 5 days of my LEJOG in 2006 were so hot I thought I would expire. It was in the mid 30's consistently. I've attached a photo of the beach at St. Ives to prove it. It rained and blew in true British style further north but then the last 3 days in Scotland were glorious. (t'other photo)

Cheers,

pj

I am rather biased. I had an American Father. I went to USA in 1984 across the whole ot the West! It was too hot in California and too cold in St Paul!
I am also biased as I live in Christchurch (next to Bournemouth) on the South Coast with a lovely beach only 1 mile away!
John
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on February 04, 2014, 06:16:35 PM
Hi All,
Why do you all live in a Ice Box?

Pete

Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: jags on February 04, 2014, 06:37:30 PM
Hi All,
Why do you all live in a Ice Box?

Pete


;D ;D ;D ;D thanks pete rub it in  ;D
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on February 04, 2014, 11:06:10 PM
In the interests of balance:

The diplomatic service lost a star when you took up cycling, Peter!

Further in the interests of balance, I remember snow in the early summer in Melbourne, a city in which eight months of the year the British-born feel right at home because it's freezing!

As for British weather, I remember and treasure each warm summer, which is easy to do as there are so few.  I remember the Fens with some pleasure. Why, one September, though I took a ride every afternoon for the whole month, I was only soaked 11 times. The special feature of the Fens is that they're flatter than Holland, so you can watch the clouds from afar and hurry home...
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: il padrone on February 05, 2014, 07:38:10 AM
I remember the Fens with some pleasure. Why, one September, though I took a ride every afternoon for the whole month, I was only soaked 11 times.

You say that like it's a good thing  ???

To my way of thinking 11 times soaked in one month is a pretty poor cycling record.
Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: NZPeterG on February 05, 2014, 08:07:43 AM
Well Well,
I got onto a Train up to Inverness two times at the start and again at the end of February to see Snow and only got Sun back in the late 1980's!
Cycled around Loch Ness in the warm Sun  :o

Never can across any Snow  :'(

I live in Northland until 2000! and there is Not Snow! a Cold day is under 10c  :P So So Cold  :-*

I how live in Taupo and we get maybe a few mm's of Snow every two years  :(

Love to play in Snow!

We get the best in that we can see the Snow Mountains at the South end of Lake Taupo but only the cold for a few days..

Pete  8)

P.S. Back to river Crossings (Ford's) I think waiting a few days (or weeks) for a 4x4 to come and help you cross is still the Best  :P



Title: Re: Crossing the ford
Post by: Andre Jute on February 05, 2014, 08:50:54 AM
You say that like it's a good thing  ???

To my way of thinking 11 times soaked in one month is a pretty poor cycling record.

I'll have you know, in the time and the place, that's an outstanding cycling record of foresight and quick response to changing weather!