health - you are not a machine

OK. We know things can go wrong with a bike. With preparation, carrying spares and tools and having a dollop of ingenuity you can usually keep going.

Things can go wrong with a body as well: injury, snakebite, the occasional crash. What’s going to happen then?

Well, chances are you will probably survive. (There’s always the Flying Doctor Service and someone in a 4WD around with a radio if a crisis is particularly severe.) Barring a true catastrophe most things can be overcome with a degree of caution and carrying a few remedies for when that caution fails.

There are few doctors and no dentists outside Australian towns. If you have some pre-existing condition maybe it’s not the appropriate time to venture off into the remote landscape where emergency treatment can’t be found.

Otherwise, the worst that might befall you is heat rash in sensitive body parts.

All those conceivable health issues, snake bite, injury are rare. Most other issues can be avoided by taking reasonable care of your body: eating adequately; drinking sufficient water for the conditions; not completely exhausting your body day after day; sleeping well; avoiding excess sun.

Just make sure you really look after yourself. In the end your body is not a machine.