Transcontinental Blast

Peter Whitaker

Despite the endless floods across Outback Australia, Phil Hodgens and Bill Laver blasted west from Byron Bay towards Steep Point with the objective of trimming few hours from Tony Kirby’s and Don Cant’s epic 1998 effort.

Leaving before dawn on Saturday August 7 they spent their first night camped just east of Birdsville. Their second day out saw them wallowing across the slippery claypans between the Simpson Desert’s 1100 sand dunes, which slowed the pace considerably but by day three they were on the throttle again blasting across the WA border on to the Gunbarrel Highway – where wildlife forced a camp just west of Everard Junction.

Early afternoon the following day they passed through Meekatharra and, with the sun low on the horizon, zig-zagged towards the coast the promise of success buoying their spirits. Now running purely on instinct, they roosted through the dunes until their headlights shone out over the Indian Ocean, barely 92 hours since they’d left the Pacific. It was time to break out the Bundy.

Other riders have ridden from coast to coast in less time but not taking in the Simpson’s notorious French Line or the corrugations of the Gunbarrel Highway. The boys knocked 15 hours off the previous record and proved the venerable Suzuki DR650 is still a marathon champion.

For more on Phil ‘Dairy Farmer’ Hodgens and the blasphemous blokes from Bald Knob (true, it’s got its own postcode) check out www.motorbikin.com.au. Also, read about the history of transcontinental crossings.