We started the trip in our home town of Port Macquarie, 400km north of Sydney, and basically headed directly west through Walcha, Gunnedah, Cobar, and Broken Hill. We crossed into South Australia and went down to Peterborough, then Blinman in the Flinders Ranges, up to Marree at the beginning of the Oodnadatta Track, then to Coober Pedy. We crossed into the Northern Territory and stopped at Kulgera, then finally made our way to Yulara and Uluru.

The total distance was about 3,000km of which we rode a little more than 2,000km in 12 days. We had to drive parts of the trip purely because the distances between settlements out there can be up to 400km which is a little too far to be doing day in, day out. That said, we did do back-to-back 300km+ days at the end.

The result was a true adventure. We found and met some of the most interesting people we ever have. We were challenged mentally and physically in some of the harshest environments across Australia (and the world) and had a hilarious time doing it all.

This adventure spawned a new sense of excitement in the sport that had grown stale for us. We discovered the bike was an incredibly diverse tool. One used not only to test yourself against others in competition or to explore and see the world in a unique way, but one that can open the minds and hearts of even the most steeled bar flies in the dustiest, dirtiest pubs halfway to nowhere.

This was the birth of “Thereabouts”, an idea that is focused on challenging the conventions, disregarding the rules, forgetting what your friends would say, ignoring the voice that says you can’t and just going and doing it.

Thereabouts is about changing the way you think about sport. Forget the superstars and the teams. Engage with people you never would have, push yourself, test yourself, and all because you want to. It will change you.

Below are two anecdotes written by both Lachlan and myself from our trip to Uluru.