Bicyclist Joe Edwards Goes Down Under For 750-mile Challenge

Joe Edwards is no stranger to long bike rides.

In the last few years the devoted long-distance rider has taken part in grueling road rides in Alaska, Colorado and the Cascade mountains.

But nothing could quite prepare Edwards for the Great Southern Randonee in Australia.

“As I was riding, I was thinking to myself: this is hardest ride I’d ever done,” said Edwards, who own graphic design shop Joe Designer in Glenwood. “But when I finished I said, ‘Nah, that’s not the hardest I’ve ever done.’”

Edwards completed the 750-mile ride along Australia’s southern coast in 88 hours and 25 minutes. Riders had 90 hours to complete the ride from Anglesea to Port Fairy. The total amount of cumulative elevation surpassed 34,000 feet.

“There was a lot of coastal riding, which meant it was wet and windy,” Edwards said. “There were a couple mountain ranges and a rain forest, which I thought was odd because you don’t think of Australia and rain forest.”

The ride began Nov. 13 with 90 riders, of which 30 did not finish the grueling course. Edwards said he got a total of eight hours sleep during the entire ride.

“The challenge really is staying awake,” he said. “If you don’t finish in 90 hours they basically tell you to get off the road. You’re on your own. You don’t have any support. Support (vehicles) are not allowed. The only support you really get is the mental support from those who just happen to be riding around you at the same time.”

The ride included 17 American riders.

Edwards stuck with a group of Midwest riders also on their first Great Southern Randonee. As hard as the physical aspects of riding 750 miles in less than 90 hours on little or no sleep is, Edwards admits, it’s the psychological fatigue that presented the biggest problem for him.

“I think if you feed your body, you can ride your bike a long time,” Edwards said. “But it’s the mental challenge of not just staying awake but staying in the game and keeping after it for so long is the hardest part of the whole ride.”

The first night, Edwards slept just 45 minutes. He then followed that up with 20 hours of riding and then two hours of sleep.

“You sleep in little bits here and there,” Edwards said. “There’s designated sleep stops you can utilize but other than that, you’re riding pretty much the whole time.”

Sleep stops were often combined with meal stops. A snack wouldn’t cut it with the demands of the race. Edwards and fellow riders would consume large meals at every stop to fuel their ride.

“You have to eat a LOT. You can’t just have a candy bar and move on. You’d never make it. You try to have a full meal or two at every stop.”

The course took Edwards along the famous Great Ocean Road and several national parks where koalas, wombats and kangaroos were a common sight.

“Kangaroos down there are like deer here,” he said. “You see them along the highway, especially toward dusk, to feed.”
Edwards so enjoyed the Australian ride he’s considering going back in two years. That course will be in a different region on the continent, with a whole new set of geographic and climate challenges.

“I’d love to go back and do that one,” he said.