Tony's Bicycle Adventures: 2014 - 15 Australian Bicycle Adventure, 1 Sydney

Sydney - Canberra 1st. Leg

Sydney - Canberra Click for Map

As it was getting toward the later part of November, it felt good to escape North America’s winter, to the summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Kristie joined me for the first 10 days for some sightseeing around Sydney, while staying in Manly, a suburb to the North. As I only brought the cycle gear along, I had to go shopping for a bicycle to ride on. Downtown Manly, I found “Favourite Cycles” and got to talk to the owner Andrew. As he rides an entry bike, TREK 7.1 outfitted with pannier racks for his daily commute, I thought it would be good enough for my trip as well. Within 24 hours, he had me setup with the wheels required to cycle parts of down under.

With Kristie returning back to Vancouver’s cold, I was finally on my way heading south out of Sydney, a town of almost 5 million where close to 20% of Australia’s entire population live. Whenever possible, I was following the cycle path away from crazy city traffic, then along Botany Bay, toward the southern suburbs. After leaving the burbs and a short ride on the Princess Highway (A1), came the turn off to the Royal National Park (second oldest after Yellowstone), which was a relief and brought some more peaceful riding. Although it was hilly, muggy and warm, the shade from the trees made it a pleasant trip to Stanwell Park, where the road met the ocean again. Along the coastal road to Bulli for the first campsite to pitch the tent, as it was just in time before the afternoon storms started up again, like they had for the past week.

The newly purchased 1 person tent from “REI” proved itself well, with the interior and all of the gear staying dry in spite of the downpours. A short ride along the coastal bike path got me to Wollongong. I stopped at “Simple Cycles” where they took the extra time on a busy Saturday morning to have mudguards fitted, preparing for the wet roads in the forecast.

I continued on secondary roads along the coast to Shellharbour, and then via A1 to Gerringong enjoying the nice coastal views. The country road to Shoalhaven Heads hugging the ocean brought my first hopping Kangaroo into sight. Before that, there were plenty of dead animals beside the roads, which I usually could smell before I would see. While stopping to take photos, I also got reintroduced to all those little pesky flies showing up in flocks, invading all the cavities possible in a body. This would be the one time a cyclist welcomes a headwind, as this keeps them little ba.t..ds away!

The ride went past cattle pastures and vineyards, before returning back to the highway, then mainly through forested areas on A1 to Ulladulla and Batemans Bay. Just by moving away from the coast a bit, I noticed an increase in temperature. The shade from the trees was a nice sight, as it kept it somewhat cooler. In Batemans Bay I checked into a motel for a change, to get a good night’s sleep that had eluded me so far.

Well rested and not having to pack up a wet tent, made it a pleasure getting up. Riding West on Kings Highway, I was not only leaving the coast behind, but some of the rude city drivers as well! Although one of them really put a smile on my face as he sputtered: “Oy mate, can’t you afford proper transportation!”

Overall though, most of the drivers actually were rather courteous, only for a couple of them I had a few choice words!

The rested body was timed perfectly, as not before long the road started to climb up to 781m Clyde Mountain. On some of the steep switch backs, it felt like I was going to roll backwards. The altitude change brought chill and fog into the air, which was ideal to cool down a sweaty body. Then as I rolled along the tablelands, it started to warm up again and with the sun coming out, so came the flies. With the slow speed of a touring cyclist, those nasty little critters swirled around everywhere. Now it was time to make use of my well spent 5 dollar investment, the head-net, which brought absolute relief and made riding pleasurable again.

The closer to Canberra I got, the wider the roads and the larger the roundabouts. The site of Canberra was selected as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, built from scratch and officially named in 1913. Today it is the 8^th largest city. The arrival to the capital city was superb, as I had just enough time to setup camp before it started to rain again and I had to boil coffee water once more from within the tent. The weather forecaster predicted rain for the next 24 hours, which worked out well to take a day off after being on the road for 7 days now. Rainer, an old work buddy from Muller-Martini US who was vacationing in Australia with his wife, drove up from Sydney for a visit and some sightseeing. It was an enjoyable, relaxing day off with good company and the added bonus of getting chauffeured around to the sights not having to worry about any rain showers. . . .

Until next time from down under

Tony Bike