blog - Ride The Talk

Back to the blog

Well, after suffering near-terminal blog-block way back in Western Australia, I’m back on the case!

When last I posted about my journey, I was in Nannup in South-west Western Australia staying with Bee & her partner Stewart.

I have since made it back to Melbourne so I will give you a brief outline of how I got here:

From Nannup I rode up through wind, rain (& hail) to Bridgetown – the talk there was disappointing in that only two people turned up but two is better than none and so the show went on. I would have perhaps been better to talk in Manjimup but hind-sight is as always good-sight.

3 Things you might not know:

Post author By JK
Post date January 28, 2011
No Comments on 3 Things you might not know:

1. Australians create more GHG per capita than anyone else in the developed world

2. Burning coal releases mercury, selenium and arsenic as well as uranium, thorium and other heavy metals – if a health impact study were done today, it would probably not be allowed.

(If your reason for avoiding Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) is that of the mercury contained therein, then use CFLs as the extra coal burnt to provide the energy to light standard globes releases more mercury than the CFL bulbs contain.)

Ride The Talk The RIDE

Week 13 – South West WA

Hi everyone, another “catch-up” blog. Sorry to keep you in suspense…..

I left South Fremantle after bidding Tim & Shani a fond farewell at about 7:30am on Sunday morning. Today’s ride will take me down the coast towards Bunbury where I will be doing a lunchtime talk tomorrow. I have decided to ride to Binningup – a distance of approximately 135km – which gives me a mere 35km to ride into Bunbury the next morning. I will be taking the scenic old coastal route rather than going down the newly opened freeway.

Ride The Talk The RIDE

Week 12 – Perth & environs

Sorry for the hiatus in posting this everyone. I have been busy since this week took place – the 12th in my odyssey.

After my rest-up in Lancelin, I got back on my trusty bike for the notional 101km haul into the outer suburbs of Perth. My destination today is Padbury and I head back out to the main highway and start on my way – headwinds again greet me, so today is likely to be a slog. By the time I make it about 90km, I am desperately in need of a break and some cold drink, so it is with great delight that I find a roadhouse and I go in for a ‘pitstop’.

Energy efficiency

Handy hints #3

It’s been a while since I posted any hints on energy efficiency, so here goes:

Lighting –

Use compact fluorescent lighting where possible right now – yes, I know CFLs have mercury but the mercury produced by burning coal to produce the extra energy to light incandescents outweighs this considerably; …and, yes, you CAN get CFLs that can be dimmed – you just have to look for them;

if the colour of CFLs puts you off, look for CFLs with a ‘colour temperature’ between 2500K-3200K or specified as ‘warm white’ – these approximate the colour of incandescents;

replace halogen downlights with LED replacements – these are becoming available now and, by doing the changeover, you can use a downmitt to restore a semblance of insulation to your ceiling where your downlights are;

use daylight wherever possible – after all, it’s free; 🙂

….and, of course, if no-one is in a room, there is absolutely no need to have the light on, so TURN IT OFF!

Presentations Ride The Talk The RIDE

Broome, Geraldton and beyond….

Post author By JK
Post date October 16, 2010
3 Comments on Broome, Geraldton and beyond….

The bus trip to Broome was uneventful and I arrived at about 7:30am and was greeted at the bus stop by Bart, one of my hosts for tonight, who gave me a key for their home. I rode out to their place, unloaded my bike & trailer and headed off to see the renowned Cable Beach which undoubtedly lives up to its reputation – this is truly one exquisite part of the country, made even more so by the location, as it is, in the middle of the WA outback.

General

Rockhampton-Darwin

Well, Rockhampton was where my east-coast cycling adventure finished – from here to Geraldton, in WA, I will be catching buses. (Thanks a lot Greyhound – you have made my journey that much more doable.) I can rationalise this in any number of ways: the distances between towns is now getting very large; the towns (and populations) are getting smaller; the temperature/humidity is rapidly increasing; and I wish dearly to get home to my family for christmas. Aside from all of that, my purpose is to speak to people in order to help them reduce their energy consumption, their energy bills and, consequently, their greenhouse gas emissions. Whilst a ‘road-trip’ across this wide, brown land holds certain drawing power, the need to do what I am trying to do holds more.

The RIDE

Agnes Water-Rockhampton

Today’s journey will take me to Gladstone (about 130km) so I need to make haste. I manage to cover the 30km back to the Miriam Vale turnoff before 9:15am so I take time out for a cake & drink at the roadhouse I had lunch at two days prior. It is then back on the road and my next stop is Miriam Vale where I stop for morning tea of a bun and strawberry milk. I hear of a couple of cyclists travelling in my direction in front of me.