Its 1000km along the trail, but only 400km by road from Perth to Albany. That means that the trail does a fair bit of winding around the various small towns on the way. Australia's population is very concentrated around the capital cities so as you leave Mundaring (near Perth) its a fair distance between towns. For that reason it was necessary to place shelters at about 50km intervals along the track.
Being 400 km apart, there are various climatic conditions you need to consider when deciding where and when to ride. Perth can get really hot in summer (January-February) and in the South it can get cold and wet in winter (July-August). So these can be times worth avoiding. I now close my hostel in Denmark for these 2 winter months as there are not enough people around.
Note that these are average maximum and minimum temperatures. Its not uncommon for the Perth hills to have over 45 degree days in summer. I remember a 47 degree day and only the tough want to cycle in that temperature. Likewise, I sometimes doubt the sanity of Bibbulmun Track walkers coming through Denmark in July-August when the days are short, and its cold and miserable. In winter, if you don't have the right gear for what you are doing it can be very unpleasant and in fact dangerous.
One also needs to take into account that the south gets a lot more rain. Its a lot greener down here and we have lovely tall forests but its no fun when the rain keeps dripping on you. Nevertheless we can have some lovely winter days down here which can make for great day rides. Here is the comparison of the number of days of rainfall between Perth and Manjimup.
Being 400 km apart, there are various climatic conditions you need to consider when deciding where and when to ride. Perth can get really hot in summer (January-February) and in the South it can get cold and wet in winter (July-August). So these can be times worth avoiding. I now close my hostel in Denmark for these 2 winter months as there are not enough people around.
Note that these are average maximum and minimum temperatures. Its not uncommon for the Perth hills to have over 45 degree days in summer. I remember a 47 degree day and only the tough want to cycle in that temperature. Likewise, I sometimes doubt the sanity of Bibbulmun Track walkers coming through Denmark in July-August when the days are short, and its cold and miserable. In winter, if you don't have the right gear for what you are doing it can be very unpleasant and in fact dangerous.
One also needs to take into account that the south gets a lot more rain. Its a lot greener down here and we have lovely tall forests but its no fun when the rain keeps dripping on you. Nevertheless we can have some lovely winter days down here which can make for great day rides. Here is the comparison of the number of days of rainfall between Perth and Manjimup.
