Sunday, March 30, 2008

Cycling PNG and Port Moresby

There is very little relevant reference on the 'net' to PNG cycling or cycling Port Moresby so I thought if I devoted a brief page to the activities of the cycling group I belong to, it may be a way for others to discover that there is actually at least one (decent) cycling group in Port Moresby with more on the way. I say this because, before I left Sydney, I was given all sorts of good advice about "well, that will be the end of your cycling for a while". Despite the doomsdayers, I packed both bikes for PNG - the racing bike accompanied me on the plane. The 'hybrid' was shipped with my indoor trainer, assuming that I would be spending several years on the trainer. I felt rather 'silly' carrying my racing bike in the sleek new cycle carry bag out of Jackson International, wondering what people were thinking. The rest is history. You can read below how I met some characters in the local shopping centre on my second Saturday in the country, and it turns out that they are part of a neat small but rather elite crew who are not so shabby on their bikes. So if you are reading this, and coming to PNG and especially Port Moresby, just contact me.
Today we said goodbye to one of our number. Phil Price has been here for several years and is returning to live in Canberra. We planned an early morning ride (he insisted I should not miss 'church' this morning, so we had to ride at dawn and then gather for sausages and eggs at his place with panoramic views all over the ocean. It poured with rain all night, so the ride was called off, but we had a great breakfast in any case. I will attach some photos when I get more time. I am just testing this to see if 'google' will respond if anyone in the world enquires about cycling in PNG. The only other reference is to the guy last year who carried his bike over the Kokoda Track as part of his 'round the world' cycle trip. I 'googled' before leaving Sydney, and it didn't have any good news for me. Hopefully this will be helpful to cyclists making their home in Port Moresby. Just email me. We ride both MTB's and Road bikes (I mostly ride the steel framed hybrid. The roads are fine , maybe the occasional pothole, but so does the Great Western Highway through Sydney!

We ride Mon-Wed-Fri at 5:30am. Its a 'brisk' one hour ride with one punishing hill at the start - then its all pleasure with some nice views thrown in. Its mostly safe - the most dangerous stretch we do down through the infamous "Two Mile" - but we go too fast for anyone to hold us up! There are some great weekend rides out into the country - again its been quite safe, although we do usually arrange a car to follow.

9 comments:

Jeff said...

Thank you so much for this post. You're correct, not much on the internets about biking in PNG. I'm bringing my bike now.

Kelvin Alley said...

Thanks Jeff - take your bike. If you need contact names and email addresses, just send me an email to the address above. Blessings, Kelvin

Camelman said...

I will be in PNG soon for two years. After reading this, I have decided to bring my bike. I presume the weapon of choice is a MTB?

Kelvin Alley said...

Dear Camelman, I am sorry that I have not noticed your comment until now! I hope you took your bike, but road bikes are the go! There is a great cycling group in Prt Moresby, and they ride several days each week and all road bikes. The roads are surprisingly okay, with odd potholes from time to time. Take the MTB also, but you will get less opportunities for this. If you need contacts, just email me. Regards, Kelvin

Anonymous said...

Hello Kelvin,
do you know about cycle route across the country? I mean outside Prt Moresby?
Like from north (crossing from Papua) then along the coast down to Prt Moresby???

Kelvin Alley said...

Thanks for your question - sadly, there is no possible way of cycling from the north coast to the south (Port Moresby) Coast at all. There is no vehicular access either, only plane or by foot with great difficulty over the Kokoda Track. Maybe you are asking about cycling from the Gulf then south to Port Moresby. There is a road from Kerema to Port Moresby, which has long stretches if gravel and could be traversed by mountain bike. However, travelling in this way anywhere in PNG especially alone involves very high personal risk. Your safety is never assured due to road bandits which can happen anywhere, even in Port Moresby. When we cycled, we always had a security car and always cycled in a group. Accommodation outside Port Moresby and major towns is not assured apart from the chance of hospitality of villagers if you are courageous enough to trust that process. You may find a website of only one cyclist who cycled along the northern coastline (not without mishap) and who then hired a guide and he carried his bike over the Kokoda Track and then finished the ride into Port Moresby. High risk, adventurous but he got away with it. If you wish to contact me, use my email at kelvin_alley@hotmail.com. Kind regards Kelvin

Anonymous said...

Is this cycle club still running or is there another club in pom

Kelvin Alley said...

Yes absolutely! I'm back in Port Moresby and although I haven't added to this site for years, it still attracts much interest. Email me on kelvin_alley@hotmail.com

Nora said...

Hi All
We are Australian Doctors International NGO and we pride medical staff in rural areas of PNG

But to continue to bring our valuable services to PNG we need to raise much needed funds. So we are running a Cycle Ride in New Ireland, May 2018.

How can I find interested riders????

Mail me : marcomms@adi.org.au

Thanks Nora