Walking is the Bicycle for the Mind (Sorry, Mr Jobs)

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I have some, shall we say, "unusual" views on alternative transport. Riding isn't worth getting the bike out for for under 10km, for that, I'll use my e-scooter, especially under 8km one way. Less than 4km, I'd rather walk. And I've recently realised that a train trip (with a bike) to Bairnsdale, to do the East Gippsland Rail Trail is 2 days riding (Bairnsdale to Orbost and back) because I can't put the bike on the coach from Orbost back to Bairnsdale. So, why not walk it over three days, yet plan for 5, and make an adventure of it?

The whole trail is about 98km, the walking equivalent of 490km cycling. That, for me, traditionally was 5 days cycling, but I find I have, post heart attack (Nov 20, 2020), more stamina walking. So I'm aiming for 33km/day on foot, with a 5 day "reality check" packing and timing limit. Here's the route...

East Gipsland Rail Trail::RideWithGPS.com

Wikipedia has a great article on the trail and, if you're ever coming to Melbourne, making a V-Line to Bairnsdale, either on foot or with a bike, is well worth the side trip. Allow a day's travel at each end, especially if bus-hopping back to Bairnsdale from Orbost.

On the obscure paraphrase in the title, Steve Jobs once explained the benefits of personal computers in terms of human walking energy efficiency, as compared to the condor, the most locomotive energy efficient animal on earth. A human comes a long way behind the condor for energy efficiency when walking but, put us on a bicycle, and the 5x gain in energy efficiency puts us ahead of the condor. So, "...the computer is the bicycle for the mind," said the Great Emperor Day of the Apple Empire. But adventure is not about energy efficiency, the main reason I ride a bicycle for transport, the only true ZEV, adventure is about experience. Walking a trail at a forced march over 3 days? (Maybe 5) That's an experience!

Comments

  1. CrunchysteveJanuary 30, 2023 at 2:10 PM

    Planned Day 1 Terminus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruthen,_Victoria
    Planned Day 2 Terminus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowa_Nowa,_Victoria
    Planned Day 3 Finnish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbost,_Victoria

    ReplyDelete

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