AN epic 5800km mountain bike ride across Australia ended in Narooma on Wednesday when solo rider Matthew Tough arrived exhausted on Narooma main surf beach.
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Matthew set off from Perth four months and 22 days ago determined to make it all the way across Australia sticking to dirt tracks where possible.
The mission was also a chance to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and his tally so far is $4000 and growing.
A public servant in the Defence Department in Canberra, Matthew explained his boss told him he had too much leave built up and so he decided to take several months off and to do something worthwhile.
A keen mountain biker, he had always wanted to cross the country and so the “Fat Ride” was on.
His connection to Narooma is that his parents Peter and Liz have retired to nearby Bodalla and they were there to greet him on the beach as he finished on Wednesday.
“There were moments on the Nullarbor when you would rather have been anywhere else, somewhere cool and comfortable,” he said. “But then overall it was worth it and it was great to see so much of the country in a way that not many people do.”
He averaged 70km a day, some days riding 40km and some days as much as 160km.
Sticking to dirt tracks was a priority and he was constantly looking at his maps to find roads and tracks that followed fences, rail lines and pipelines, and he estimates as much as 4000km was done off road.
He decided to donate to the Royal Flying Doctor Service as the organisation serviced the small remote communities he was passing through.
Some of the tribulations including being stuck in Port Augusta, South Australia for several days waiting for things to cool down to below mid-40 degrees, while a thunderstorm at Cocklebiddy on the Nullarbor Plain flattened his tent, but luckily a friendly traveller let him shelter in their van.
“Everyone I met was very friendly and helpful and I had lots of offers or food and accommodation along the way,” he said.
Then there was the time his whole bottom bracket seized up forcing him to wait a week for spare parts, while he also spent a few days waiting for his food drops to be mailed out by a friend in Canberra.
Now that he is back, he just wanted to spend a few days chilling at his parent’s house at Bodalla and then was looking forward to attending the Soundwave concert in Sydney.
Going back to work next month was also going to be interesting as he heard his division at the department was being folded up and so his future was uncertain.
But for now he was just happy to be back having accomplished a life-long dream.
He is still taking donations for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in his “every day hero” account that can be found on his Facebook page - ‘Fat Ride Australia for the Flying Doctors’