'No support crew': Warrnambool cyclist eager to tackle nationwide ride

Warrnambool - the father-of-two's home town - features on the Indian Pacific Wheel Ride's itinerary from Perth to Sydney.

Crispe, 46, will take on the 5500-kilometre test from March 16, 2024 and expects to be on the road for upwards of three weeks.

Wife Karen and teenage sons Noah and Seth "are excited to see it unfold".

"I think they will be glad once it's all over to get me back," Crispe, who is affectionately known as Spud, said.

"I spend a lot of time on the bike training, so have not been home a great deal the last six months.

"I will see them when I come through Warrnambool and there's about 2000km to go after that and hopefully they'll meet me at the Opera House."

The ride, which will start in Fremantle, is an unofficial event where eager cyclists must plan their food and rest stops.

"It's fully self-supported, so no support crew on road at all," Crispe said.

"It's a set course and everyone starts at the same time and the clock doesn't stop until you get to the Sydney Opera House.

"It goes across the Nullabor and then it pretty much follows the coastline around through Warrnambool, Great Ocean Road, through Melbourne then heads up to the High Country through the back of Omeo and Falls Creek and finishes at the Opera House.

"It is all new to me. I have never done anything this big before but I am looking forward to the challenge.

"It comes through Warrnambool and it was burning away in the back of my mind and it was a 'what if, what if'.

"It's been an itch I needed to scratch - I am entered, everything is packed and I am ready to go."

Crispe, who works at Materia Brothers fruit and vegetables, wants to spend upwards of 15 hours a day on the bike.

He said part of the ride's appeal was the added challenges, such as the strategies and planning needed to complete the task.

He will battle the elements as well as the tyranny of distance.

"I have a carbon rack on the bike with minimal sleeping equipment and clothes and enough storage for water and food," Crispe said.

"You research the course because it's a set course and then you look where roadhouses, shops and towns are and what services are available.

"I have a spreadsheet done up as best I can. I think the biggest gap is around the 200km mark before you can get resupplied.

"If you run out of water in the heat you're not going to be able to go too far and same with food and you don't want to overload because then it's extra weight and it will slow you down.

"It's a fine line."

Crispe, who rode the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic in 2007, anticipates roughly 35 people "from all walks of life" will start the course.

He plans to spend some nights sleeping in a swag and others in a hotel. Riders can leave the course but must resume from where they left the road.

"It's is all done by satellite tracking so everyone has their own tracking device," he said.

"Anyone in the world can get on and see where you are and then it's up to each individual whether you have satellite communication.

"I am just looking forward to the challenge - obviously there's going to be times where it's mentally challenging and times where it's going to be physically challenging and I will see how I will adapt to that."