Strasser, 34, left Perth at 2pm on Tuesday and had already completed around 525km by Wednesday morning. However, there are still about 3,400km still to go until Strasser is due to arrive at Sydney’s famous Opera House.
The European has already won the Race Across America three times, but knows that the task Down Under will present some unique challenges.
“Compared to the Race Across America, I have to complete half of the climbing on a similar distance, with the highest elevation being only 700 meters,” he said before setting off.
“But the challenge will be the weather. I will start the ride during the Australian summer and it will be constantly hot and dry, especially while crossing the Outback.”
However, Strasser believes he has a secret weapon to help him combat the Australian temperatures – a new water spray system.
“We fine-tuned the set-up, so as to being even better able to fight the heat. Then we had the idea to attach a sprinkler bottle onto the handle bar and to connect it to the water tank that’s integrated in the bike frame,” he explained.
“It’s been working very well and will also be a good way to stay awake, I suspect. If I have a tired phase, I’ll just spray water into my face. Overall, I plan to only sleep for about an hour a day, similar to the Race Across America event.”
Strasser’s amazing ride can be tracked at http://live.tractalis.com/cs2017, with the planned route taking him through the Nullarbor National Park, down through Mildura and Wagga Wagga, and then up to Goulburn on the way to Sydney.
He is hoping to arrive at the Opera House less than seven days after his departure from Perth in order to break the record currently held by Gerhard Gulewicz who set the standard back in 2007.