A Plucky Ride.

Manawatu Herald, 19 March 1898, Page 2

A Plucky Ride.

One of the .in k- < niraordinary bicycle journeys yet nj..d. was tbat of W. Virgin, a mere youth, who rec?ntly rod-? right across Australia from Perth fco Brisbane, a distance of 8,757 mile 5 ?, much of it over rough and desert co.i r y. He had arranged to do the jour ■ y »v:.h a (•■•nipanino, bufc the latter', counig:; failed him. and Virgin then determined to do the journey alone. His machine, which was fitted with Dunlop tyres, weighed 26lbs, and his luggage an additional 841 bs f comprising a m^fcal water tank, revolver and cartridges, duplicate parts of the machine, repairing outfit, a rug and a change of clothing. He started thus equipped nn September l*t from the Perth General Post Office stimulated by the cheers of some hundreds oi friends, who had assembled to wr> off. He reached Conlgarrlie (363 miles) on the sixth day. Hit? n^x stage, to Norseman (90 miles), wacovered in a day. From this point, his troubles commenced. He took the wrong track to Fnser's rangf and lost half a day. That evenins, however, he reached Buldania, on he right road and tbe next day role 80 miles to Fra-er's range. Th^ next day, after travelling six mile?, he had to return to Fraser's to get his crank and pedal repaired, both having been badly b^n against a stump. After having had these put right and being on his journey again, 16 miles from Fraser's his water tank commenced to leak, and he lost his store of water. This did not trouble him much, as he had been informed that there was plenty of water at Newmans rocks, at the end ot his stage. But to his dismay, when he arrived, he could not find a drop, and he yet had 45 miles of bad tracks and desert to travel over belore he could expect to get any. To make matters worse, next day, after travelling a few miles past this point, the pedal previously bent broke off. That night he camped in the open, and next day, after a weary journey, without a drink, reached Penton's station. Here he managed, with the assistance ofthe station hands to patch up his pedal. The two following da-s he rode 115 miles. This brought him to the edge of one of the worst deserts in Australia, known as Eyre's Sand Patch. Here there were 30 miles of loose sand to cross, and he had to push his machine the whole distance. He did 15 miles . the first day, and the day following had to get over 25 miles more with only a wet sponge to moisten his lips. He got a good drink that night, however, and from this point made rapid progress. He saw several blacks but they did not interfere with him. The only other incident of his journey, which caused delay was being bitten in the heel by a dog. He completed the whole journey in 6o£ days, and the number of days he was riding was 484, or equal to 80 miles a day. It was a plucky ride and will be an historical one.