Sydney 2 CAMberra
Firstly a big thanks to everyone who support us, the group raised over $80,000 for the both Stillbirth Foundation and SIDS.
Three riders from ER rode this two day charity ride, including Matt Telfer and myself. Also riding was honorary ER member Steve Wooldridge. The ride can be broken up into 3 stages
Stage 1. Sydney to Goulburn
Stage 2. Goulburn to Canberra
Stage 3. Canberra to Eagle Hawk (Rydges)
There were 70 riders in total doing the ride and we were broken up into 3 groups, A, B & C. The original plan was to have four groups of 20 riders each depending on ability, however, due to a couple of withdrawals we started with 3 groups only. Once we got to our first stop the plan was allow riders to either go up or down a grade depending on how they felt. Matt and myself were in ‘A’ group. Also in the A group was Steve Wooldridge.
Stage 1: Moorebank to Goulburn
We all met at 5am in Moorebank for a rider briefing and some breakfast. First group (C) got away at 5.30, B group got away at 5.45 and A group departed at 6am. The early start allowed us to avoid the heavy traffic around Moorebank area.
We rode out via Holsworthy, then across the Campbelltown area and we picked up the freeway at Narellen Road. We were all surprised by the amount of debris in the breakdown lane. We were warned we should ride with Gatorskin tyres because of the possibility of punctures and they were right. Before we reached our first stop at Pheasants Nest (56 kms) we had at least 3 punctures in our riding group. Morning tea was provided by the volunteers which was more than we needed. Drink bottles refilled, pockets filled with bananas etc and we were off. However there was now a D group. A few riders shuffled around. We all remained in the ‘A’ group. After leaving Pheasants Nest we traveled down the freeway for another couple of K’s before turning off and heading towards Mittagong on the old Hume Highway. A couple more punctures occurred before reaching Mittagong. At Mittagong the first KOM was held for the climb over the ‘Gib’ into Bowral. It was a testing climb of nearly 3 K’s at 6%. After nearly 85 K’s it was hard on the legs. All of us did it in style.
On the descent into Bowral, I suffered my 2nd puncture. No need to repair the tyre as the support vehicle travelling behind had spare wheels 9, 10 or 11 speed cluster and one with Campy. So stops were reduced to the bare minimum, in fact on my first puncture the group kept riding.
Lunch was at Moss Vale (105 kms mark). Freshly made rolls were provided along with icy cold cokes etc. After 45 minutes A group rolled out for the next sector to Marulan. This was all done on back roads via Exeter, Bundanoon, Penrose etc. beautiful countryside and plenty of rolling hills. Road surface was pretty good for most of the sector. Afternoon tea at Marulan was again a feast. We had now covered 158 kms, now for just a quick 40 K’s to Goulburn. At Marulan we were back on the freeway to Goulburn, we managed to get within 2 k’s of Goulburn when Matt had a puncture and so did another guy. Again a quick swap of wheels and we were off. Arrived at Goulburn right on 4 pm, average speed for A group was 29.1 Total kilometres was 189.6 on the Garmin.
Day Two
Stage 2: Goulburn to Canberra
Slightly later start to the day, 7.15 all groups gathered in front of the Big Merino (plenty of bad sheep jokes) for a group photo. Both A & B groups had to wait to depart to allow the D & C groups to get well in front. ‘A’ group finally left just after 8am, the temp was a cool 13 degrees with a very thick fog, only about 100 metres visibility. First stop was about 20k’s from Goulburn at Breadalbane, where both A & B groups joined together to ride the narrow one lane road to Collector. Fantastic cycling terrain, fast and plenty of rolling hills. We knew we were in the country when we came across cows and sheep wandering across the road. Once we got back to the Federal Highway A & B groups split again, A group went first and the pace stepped up markedly as we sped off to the next rest stop. Punctures were again a feature of the morning with our group having another 4 before the rest stop. Luckily we had plenty of spare wheel sets. We later found out Shimano loaned the ride 9 wheel sets.
The last rest stop before Canberra was just before the climb out of Lake George at the 59k mark, again plenty of food was on hand. Punctures fixed, wheels swapped and away for the final 40k’s into Canberra. Pace was again high with our average speed just over 33kms! A deviation was made for the A & B group to climb Black Mountain, 2.7k’s at average of 11%.
Final push was now onto Parliament House, via the War Memorial, what a sight to see the big building on the hill once we turned down Kings Ave after 300 kms. Waiting for us was a large crowd of family and well wishers. Plenty of photos taken in front of Parliament House. Average speed 32kph, 120kms. Would have to be the best 120 kms I’ve ridden.
Stage 3: Canberra to Eagle Hawk
Final stage was the ride back to our hotel, another 16kms to go, steady pace for both A & B groups. We arrived to find a late lunch all set out and ready for us. As couple people commented that we would more than likely put weight on after all the food we have given…truly remarkable.
Big thanks to the organisers for the ride, clearly the best ride I have ever been on. Just imagine bunch riding with both a car in front of you and one behind you, all in radio contact with bunch leaders telling when safe to move ‘over’ etc. Next year we should consider putting together an ER team.
Scott