Desert adventure with All Women Simpson Crossing

Earlier this year, Kate Raymond from female moto brand Elsewhere on Wheels asked me if I’d like to join a group of kick-ass ladies on a Simpson Desert dirt bike crossing. Of course, I said yes. So in mid-May of this year, that is exactly what we did.

Now in its fourth year, the All Women Simpson Desert Crossing was born to help women achieve their dream of completing a desert crossing on a dirt bike. Kate teams up with Kim Killick from Ok Adventure to make the event possible.

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The ride also serves as a fundraiser for Dolly’s Dream, which is a foundation set up to raise awareness and support for young Australians suffering from school-yard and cyber bullying.

Eleven ladies from all over Australia signed up for the adventure and we all met up for the first time in Marree, South Australia. The plan was to head across the Simpson from East to West, so day one kicked off with a ride to Birdsville along the iconic Birdsville Track.

My ride for the trip was a Sherco 250 SEF Factory with a long range tank fitted for the crossing (thanks Sherco Australia). The first day was 515kms of dirt road riding to make it to Birdsville in time (just!) for some bangers and mash! Straight up, the Sherco felt great – riding at 90-100km/h on corrugations and handling it like a dream. And with our arrival in Birdsville, we had made it to the start of the Simpson Crossing.

The second day was a practice day on Big Red. This famous feature is typically the last dune of the crossing if you’re heading West to East…and the biggest! For us it was our starting point, so it was a great way to shake off the nerves. And if we could conquer Big Red, then we could conquer the rest.

I was feeling great after having had a good burl around in the sand on the Sherco, and I think she liked the sand! I was now super excited to get the crossing underway.

The next four days saw us travel across the Simpson from Birdsville to Mt Dare. We rode with a lead rider, a sweep rider and two support vehicles tackling sand dune after sand dune (all 1100 of them).

We stopped off at Poeppel Corner, and then smashed through the dreaded “washing machine” and crossed the salt plains of Lake Eyre.

The group had a wide variety of skill levels and I was so impressed with the grit and determination of the ladies. There were many dropped bikes and frustrated moments, but we all worked together to help pick up bikes and get each other out of rapidly deepening sand holes. It was so great to see everyone’s skills in the sand evolve over the four days.

The nights were uncharacteristically mild (no beanies required) and were spent sitting around a campfire eating home cooked meals made by Kim herself. It was a great time to get to know each other, debrief and tell stories about the day.

The last day took us to Dalhousie springs for a much needed swim in the incredible natural hot springs, before finally arriving at the Mt Dare Hotel, where there were lots of hugs and celebrations for having conquered the mighty Simpson. Well done ladies!

The next two days took us on the Oodnadatta Track from Mt Dare back to Marree where our trip sadly ended. The final fundraiser count for Dolly’s Dream was over $17,500, bringing the total amount across four years to over $100,000.

It was certainly a trip to remember and highly recommended to anyone who is thinking about taking on the challenge. Well done to all the ladies who came along, and huge thanks to Elsewhere On Wheels and OK Adventures for making it happen.

Thanks also to Sherco Australia for graciously lending me the 250 SEF Factory desert beast which never missed a beat, and rode like an absolute dream through the dunes. Let’s do it again!