Riders like Scotty are traversing the great outdoors of WA for fun. Credit:Tom de Souza "I decided to do it because I like the exercise and it's cheap," he said. "There's not many places left in the world like WA. There's so much space and freedom, and it's only on a bike that you can truly appreciate the ferociousness of the land." Terry travels 60 to 120 kilometres per day depending on conditions, and how his legs are feeling. He has stopped at the Pardoo Roadhouse to take a breather during the hottest part of the day, and downs two litres of longlife milk before jumping back on his bike. Pardoo is 150 kilometres south of Sandfire, where Alaskan firefighter Robert Bogucki set out to cycle across the Great Sandy Desert in 1999 and subsequently survived 43 days lost in the bush.

In the past few months, Scotty has furnished his bike with a foldout swag and awning, fishing rod, and solar panels. Credit:Tom de Souza While travel like this was previously only attempted by the outrageously adventurous, or perhaps delirious, Cycling WA CEO Matt Fulton said tourists like Terry were becoming a regular occurrence on WA highways and bike trails. "We're seeing a growing segment of people who aren't looking to go on holidays and sit beside a pool and drink cocktails," Mr Fulton said. A staff member from the Kiosk helps Scotty out with a coffee and sends him on his way. Credit:Tom de Souza "They're looking to get out there, explore and go on an adventure."

Mr Fulton said although some cycling businesses were beginning to cater for adventure travel, the trend was relatively new, and riders accepted the lack of facilities was part of the package. People are always coming up to me and asking for photos, giving me things and just stopping to have a yarn. You wouldn't get that travelling in a car. You're isolated from the world inside all that glass and steel. Scotty "I think that's part of the challenge, that's why people want to do it, so they can get back to nature, get a bit dirty and experience the rawness of WA," he said. "Not many other states can offer the diversity in nature we have here, and that's part of the attraction for people." WA's 1000-kilometre Munda Biddi Trail was ranked fourth in the world's top 10 by National Geographic but even world class routes are being overlooked by tourists looking to get off the beaten track.

Local traveller Scotty left his home in Albany on a cycling adventure eight months ago, and has travelled nearly 1000 kilometres from Esperance to Two Rocks. Scotty said travelling WA by bike was a balancing act between challenging yourself and survival, and admits even he couldn't do it all on two wheels. "That stretch from Albany to Perth is a long, lonely stretch of road," he says. "I had to put my bike on the bus. You've got to carry everything you need, and water is too heavy to carry any more than five litres at a time. When you fill up out in the bush, you might not come across another tap for a couple of hundred kilometres." Scotty's life is loaded into canvas bags on the side of his mountain bike, which is furnished with a fold out awning and swag, beer flask, fishing rod, dive gear and solar panels. Since he has been in the city Scotty has been sleeping rough, and said the bike has attracted some unwanted attention.

"A lot of homeless people get real jealous when they see what I've got," he said. "But it's not hard to do, this you've just gotta get out there and give it a go. I think that's what a lot of people are afraid of though." Scotty plans to travel back up the coast to Lancelin, before making his way down to Esperance for the start of the shearing season. "It's the people I've met along the way that have pushed me to keep going," he says. "I've had some absolutely unreal experiences; people are always coming up to me and asking for photos, giving me things and just stopping to have a yarn.

"You wouldn't get that travelling in a car. You're isolated from the world inside all that glass and steel."