“When people reflect on their lives, the experiences that define us and become memorable are the moments when we've had to struggle through difficulty.”
Read more - The Hard Way: A Manifesto
Andrew Pratley takes the road less travelled, cycling some of Australia’s most remote 4WD tracks to test the limits of human endurance.
“The Hard Way is an immersive experience with all the trappings of difficulty, not a curated tour with a support car trailing behind…”
Manifesto
The Hard Way isn't being reckless and stupid. It's asking if we're making safe decisions or choosing to make the world easy and comfortable.
The premise is simple; the application is not so straightforward. You're choosing to eschew what's obvious and easy. There are two ways to ask the same question. The first is direct: is this the easy way or the hard way? The second is easier to start with: is this what most people do? If yes, then adjust your approach.
The Hard Way is the belief in creating situations of difficulty and backing ourselves through preparation and experience.
By choosing to do this, we're creating the defining memories of our lives.
On our terms, in our way.
Monday 5th October 2020. 0800hrs Porters Retreat heading towards Oberon, and eventually Lithgow. I am 18 hours into the ride and still have another 10 hours to go (total time, not moving time). This has been a tough morning. In the preceding six hours, I've slept on someone's driveway, had the difficult realisation that just because the sun has come up doesn't mean you start to warm up, and begun to fear for my life on the descents.
On Strava, I wrote, "When the first rays of light were visible at about 0530hrs I thought the day would be easy. I was wrong. There are a few hours where it’s still cold, you’re tired, and the process is hard. I was still riding up this fucking hill."
I didn't have to be here. I had a warm, comfortable bed at home. I had the financial means to pay for accommodation in Goulburn. I choose to explore the fragility of my mind. I choose to ride a route that few would attempt with limited experience and the self-belief I should see if I can finish.
I experienced the full gamut of physical and emotional experiences in one (long day). I saw places that millions of people could drive to in a half a day, but almost no one does. I choose to see this part of the world the hard way.
This ride is the metaphor of the website. You can read the full write-up on Strava.
Melbourne to Sydney
15 days, 2,100km, Melbourne to Sydney via Mungo National Park. This was my first bikepacking trip. Where better to start than taking a classic touring route and making it a serious bikepacking route? I met some wonderful people and had a small taste of the great expanse of western NSW.
I often write long-form essays exploring one or more ideas (broadly) related to endurance athletics. I will base the idea around a specific experience on a ride. My goal is to have the best ideas on endurance athletics published here.
Reflections
“Andrew impresses immediately. He possesses a rare and pure pioneering spirit motivated solely by his curiosity to discover the limits of endurance. A simple combination of man and machine, both built as strong and enduring as possible, thrown into the world's harshest and most gruelling conditions, unsupported, with no backup plan.”
— James Bossi
View from the North Kaibab Trail a few kilometres from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on 15th July 2018 (100F in the shade at 1000hrs). Tough hike in the afternoon sun out of the canyon (solo). Cramping added to the experience. There have been few days as profound in my life as the first time I ran across the Grand Canyon solo in summer. Strava link.
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