Well, the time has finaly come. I'm off.
Fairwell to Perth and heading out into the great outdoors. It has been good being in Perth, though it feels like the place that you visit and end up staying years and years. Its been almost a year since I arrived. The Mundi Biddi is on again. The first day was an easy ride. The second a bit more of an effort. Still with plenty of time to look about and admire the scenery.
Other times its been more of a challenge, with lots of time to puff and pant up and down the hills. Time to get the legs back into shape. Seems the only part of me that was getting any exercise in Perth was my waistline. I'm sure that will change soon though. In the mean time, the trail is calling..
Sorry for the changes. I worked on a different method of sending in my blog posts. But gremlins struck. First post from the trail and it didn't work. Testing a bit more, fixed the problem. (I hope).
Comments:
Date: 2012-06-01 11:46
Author: jennifer
it's not true about just your waist getting a workout here - there was the cookie lifting too! Porridge stirring... ear plug searching for the noisy moments...
Balanced fitness program!
Date: 2012-06-01 11:51
Author: jennifer
Oh and for me (chrome) the images in the post don't click through for higher resolutions... Having said that - love the one with the road framed by the trees!
Date: 2012-06-07 17:06
Author: Megan Lee Webb
This comment has been removed by the author.
Date: 2012-06-07 22:46
Author: Megan Lee Webb
Fixed.
Still in Perth, house sitting for another week. Time enough to finish this article that I'd been thinking about for a long time.
While travelling solo by bicycle, I’m often asked: “Aren’t you afraid?” My answer is:”No”, but, if feeling social, followed with “Afraid of what?”
Sometimes I get the vague “something happening”, but more often it’s a definite “someone like ...” :Ivan Milat, Peter Falconio or The Kimberly Killer.
My arguments that they’re examples that didn't target bicycle riders and that psychotic killers live in cities seldom sway. They’re just not convinced.
After one such question, I resolved to track down just how much of a risk it is from the mad killer, so I could give a more accurate and informed counter response. Maybe with hard numbers on my side it would make a difference.
After looking at the numbers, a fairer response might be “Why aren’t you afraid?” While, not to deny that bad things can happen, and that a certain amount of personal responsibility is needed, the odds are overwhelming in favour of a lifetime of happy, safe and uneventful (from foul play) bicycle touring trips.
In case you're not familiar with the above examples offered:
Ivan Milat, perhaps the most infamous, having drawn international attention for killing seven (five international tourists, two locals) in the early 1990’s. He targeted hitch-hiking backpackers. Stopped, offered lifts, and once he had them in his vehicle, proceeded to attack.
Peter Falconio, a British tourist, is an odd one to be afraid of. I presume the fear is that something similar will occur. Peter is listed as presumed dead, following foul play in 2001 after the car he was a passenger in stopped late one night on the Stuart highway.
The Kimberly Killer, only heard from elderly retirees, was a case I wasn’t initially familiar with. Back in 1986, Joseph Schwab, a German tourist, flew to Australia, and killed five people for reasons unknown, before being killed himself by police.
None of them were targeting bicycle tourists. Though, the Kimberly Killer most meets the criteria of random killing of strangers. Someone, who if you met at the time, it would not be your lucky day. But one case, 27 years ago, is a long time ago to still be worried about it occurring today. Not a very good reason to hold back from going for a bike ride.
While the cases above made the news because of their international links, doubtless there are other homicides each year that don’t make the popular press. So to get an idea of how risky death by homicide is, we need to know who is being killed, how many people are killed each year, and where are they killed. Fortunately, all this information is freely available on the web.
Looking at the Australian Institute of Criminology,
Homicide Victim-offender relationship stats 2006-7
we find:
36% - Friends/acquaintances
15% - Family
13% - Other (Includes work colleagues, employee/employer, former employee/employer, gang members, and former gang members)
10% - Intimates
25% - Strangers
2% - Unknown
You’re far more likely to be killed by someone you know than a total stranger. In 74% of homicides, the victim knew their killer.
But it's worse if you’re female. Take the guys out of the mix and people you know account for 94% of homicides.
Female victim and offender relationship
53% - intimates
21% - family
16% - friends/acquaintances
6% - strangers
4% - other (Includes work colleagues, employee/employer, former employee/employer, gang members, and former gang members)
Who said having a partner was good for safety?
Just to continue on to kids;
Child victim and offender relationship
69% - custodial parent
15% - non custodial parent
8% - Acquaintance
4% - close friend
4% - other relationship
Stranger doesn’t even make a significant category.
As you would expect, when family, friends and other people you know are trying to kill you. Where do they succeed:
Location of Homicide
61% - residential
24% - street/footpath
13% - other
2% - unknown
You feeling safe at home? With family, partner, or friends?
Keeping it in perspective:
The number of Australian homicides in 2006-7 was: 298. Of that, 60 homicides were by strangers: 60 homicides out of 21 million Australians.
And contrary to what it might seem like from the media, the number of homicides has been in decline since 1989, while the Australian population grew.
Low risk.
Consider that the death rate from homicides in 2006-07 was 1.3 per 100,000 people, while
Road deaths in 2007-08 was 6.9 per 100,000
Afraid to be on the road? You're much more likely to be a road fatality then a homicide victim.
For more numbers and higher risk ratings, head over to the Australian Bureau of Statistics:
Causes of Death in Australia
And have a browse. In 2010, the leading cause of death was Ischaemic heart disease: 21,708 followed by Cerebrovascular diseases: 11,204.
(Interesting: Prostate cancer 3235, Breast cancer 2864. Prostates are getting the bottom end of publicity compared to breasts.)
With the top killers, the risk can be reduced by healthy eating and exercise.
I’m not afraid. Rather than being afraid of a low risk event (homicide), pay attention to what has a higher risk status (health) and can be influenced.
Comments:
Date: 2012-05-15 17:38
Author: Camp Stove
Very nice posting keep updating this blog Thanks!!!
Date: 2012-05-16 20:36
Author: Aushiker
An interesting look at the question. Well written. Thanks for sharing.
Date: 2012-07-18 13:17
Author: Moz
Hehe. Thanks for the stats.
And remember, the single site you're most likely to receive a head injury is the bathroom. Especially the shower. So always wear your bike helmet in the shower!
Just back in Perth after a few days cycle along the
Munda Biddi Trail
. The plan was to take a jaunt down south, then loop back into Perth for a final pack up before leaving Perth this year. It didn't work out so well.
The Mundi Biddi trail is really well marked. However, there are a number of other trails in the area that cross or travel along with the Mundi Biddi. Some are: Heritage Trail, Bibbulmun Track, Kep Track, Kalamanda Track. Some are cycle use only, others walker use only, some mixed use.
They all use triangle shaped markers.
I was really poor at watching for the markers, and even when I noticed a trail marker, I was slack at noticing the difference between the markers. I'm sure that I rode or walked every track in the area at one time or another. There was lots of back tracking. With a loaded touring bike, this was slow going. There were many times when I didn't ride due to a reluctance to bounce my bike and panniers over the bumps.
On the first section, I managed to clock up just over 75km to cover the 42km marked track between the sites. I did improve, but still managed to get off trail a few times each day. Still riding along in the bush is so blissful. Part of my problem with missing the markers.
After arriving in Perth to fine cool weather, the first day back riding it warmed up and started showering. I was soon sweating like a cracked fish tank. Any fitness from cycling into Perth has long since vanished. Pushing up and down trails was a full body workout. I slept well.
Since I was planning to return to Perth, I'd left gear behind. Unfortunately, I had left the stove repair kit behind. While the stove has been running for years without any problems, I do (normally) carry the repair kit for it, in case of problems when well away from the shops. One small rubber seal had hardened with age and was leaking fuel, making stove use risky. While I'd ridden Sydney to Cairns without a stove, I wasn't looking forward to doing that again, so returned to Perth.
Now to clean up my gear left in Perth and head out again.
Well, was planning to cycle down the east coast again, but... It was raining. It had been raining an awful lot; over 700mm since I'd landed in Cairns. And it was still raining. The weather forecast was for more rain down the whole east coast. My planned route south kept changing based on what roads were flooded.
I wasn't enjoying the heat and humidity at all. Browsing about online looking for a cooler place to be, found that Jetstar had $199 tickets to Perth. Perth was dry, and cool. Didn't take too much thinking before I had booked a ticket.
Perth is sooo good. Cool and dry. Loving the weather here. Back waiting for gear to arrive. I'd taken all my stuff to Cairns, so, needed to bring it all back again. Used Australia Post to send most of it, as it was cheaper than the airline luggage rates. But Aus Post delivery is erratic. Over a week since posting, it hasn't arrived yet. I'm hopeful that it will arrive this week.
While wandering about down the river bank on Sunday, come across the
Australasian hardcourt bike polo championships
. Yay for bicycles!!!!
