Sydney to the Gong

Night_owl

Thanks for that

I suppose I had a few issues to contend with.

There was some time spent on main roads, leading up the Pacific highway, and it wasn't ideal cycling, particulary if you're by yourself.

I didn't ride the hill out of the national park non-stop. There was the occassional pause along the way, which is weird because I've done the hill before with hardly a stop. Mind you that could be explained by the next issue.

Whilst I had plenty of water, I don't think I brought enough food. For breakfast I had a big bowl of porridge & I had some lollies in my pocket to help me the hills. During the climb out of the national park, I was starting to feel a bit hungry (the apple pie stop definitely came in handy!).

Since I'm useless at following directions, I got a little bit side-tracked on the bikepath network on the way to Wollongong. I ended up following 2 local cyclists for a little bit to get my bearings.


Regardless, the weather was great, the scenery specular and the down-hills were heaps of fun. Overall I had a great day cycling.

Unlike today, when the most exercise I've done is walk/limp around the local shops. My right ankle has seized up & I can hardly put any weight on it. So it looks like I won't be riding my bike for a few days.

46kgToDate

Now did I see you say on an earlier post you use toe clips and sneakers?
I don't want to sound like a reformed smoker but... for years I put up with joggers on pedals with cages for the toes - I suppose I was worried about the broken ankle stories. Then in a fit of madness one afternoon on an impulse I bought a very reasonably priced Shimano clip in shoes SH-MT40 and pedals PD-M540at the LBS.

My new bike came with the same pedals, bonus!

I would not dream of going back. One of the biggest things is the correct postion your foot is forced into by the clip-in. My ankle / foot issues disappeared. Of course you do need to get the cleats in the right position to maximise the benefit.

On the training front. I had stitches taken out of one leg and managed 36k on Sat which was a ride into Centennial a few laps and a ride back home, with no major leakages from the wounds. Nice. This week I going to build it up a bit.

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Now 64.1 kg to date. (and its 94.9kg but who's counting)

LeojVS

I got my race mnumber in the post on Friday. Got a tshirt too. Dont remember paying for one either....I have a 0645 start, so that means up and out the door by 0410. Going to bed early on Saturday 8 -)

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Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy

enzed

A few days off the bike, and a stiffer pair of shoes, was all that was needed to get my ankle back to normal.

My training ride today was another century.
I rode from Dee Why/Churchpoint/St Ives/Roseville.
At Roseville, I joined a BUG ride which went through the Lane Cove National park, Macquarie University, North Turramurra and back to Roseville.
After that I rode back to Dee Why via Spit Bridge.
The time spent with my local bike group was fun. We all ride mountain bikes & hybrids, no-one ever gets "dropped" and riding is mostly done on quiet roads & bikepaths (with the occasional unsealed path). And of course, there's always a coffee shop stop along the way.

Where did everybody go riding today?

Night_owl

Oops, I think I went back to my old user-name by mistake.
I've been getting bored by the username "enzed" so I swapped it with something a little different. Sorry, if I just confused anybody.

Aspergers

On Sunday my training for the 2006 Sydney to the Gong Bike Ride was to ride the route by myself.
I rode from Willoughby to Sydney Park, St Peters.
When I got to Miranda it started to rain. The rain lasted for only a few kilometres.
You are riding on the Kingsway and the Princes Highway for many Kilometres. The kingsway is not the safest road to ride by yourself.
Once you ride past waterfall train station you start to enter the Royal National Park.
The park has some good down hills where I managed to do 57km.
After a gradual hill climb it was time to stop at The Pie Shop in Otford. The home made pie was apple and plumb and I had ice cream with it. It is a must to stop at The Pie Shop because it was the best apple pie I have tasted in a long time.
After The Pie Shop another gradual hill climb to the lookout. This is a great place to take photos.
On the way to the Sea Cliff Bridge there are manily down hills where you can pick up your speed. The bridge is another place to take some photos
When I got to Thirroul It started to rian again and did not stop.
Once you see the beach and the cycleway the hills are over.
The hill are not as bad as everyones makes them out to be.
I got to the lighthouse in 4hours 49mnutes. I would have been faster if it wasn't raining.
Then caught a train to Thiroul, Cityrail Bus to Waterfall. Train to Central because there was no trains running on the North Shore Line.
I rode Central to Willoughby with heavy rain from the Harbour Bridege.
Total distance 118.79 Km with total riding time 6hours & 48minutes

46kgToDate

Nice ride.

I did some serious hills on Saturday in Bathurst. My brother says they are uglier than the Nat Park ones, but who knows...

I am feeling much more confident now.

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Now 64.1 kg to date. (and its 94.9kg but who's counting)

Aspergers

Today I got my Sydney to the Gong Bike Ride ID number and ride guide in the mail.
Now that I have my ride ID I can attend the Netti factory sale on Friday 20 October at 4pm instead of 5pm.
The number I was given was 5904. My start time is 7:30
What Id number and start did you get?

46kgToDate

7599 and a 7.30am start.

That's OK I'd rather start earlier due to heat of the day, but I dooon't want to be in mad rush at the start - also I'm going to be over 4 hrs for sure, based on my recent Bathurst time, and we'll be stopping.

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Now 64.1 kg to date. (and its 94.9kg but who's counting)

LeojVS

10359. and a start time of 645. Bugger thats early Im aiming for 3hr 15min or less (avg of 27.69km/h)

I have been doing spinner training at home, and on saturday i rode from Regentville, to Yellow Rock and back, which is near Springwood in th blue mtns for those not in the know. The climb up the hill at Lapstone has always bugged me, but it was no problem (still hard) and had a gear left over (12 tooth). It took roughly an hour there, and 40 back. Geez going back is fun. Weeeeeeeee!!
No plans to stop at this stage, unless out of water

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Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy

Duckling

Rider #1630 and start time of 6.15am

All the better to beat any sea breeze which can start building from 9am in my experience of 4 'gong rides.

I'm hoping to complete in 3hrs or better which I hope I've done enough work for and if I can get into a group that isn't moving too fast for me and the weather is good..... so many ifs !! But the hills of Galston Gorge and Bobbin Head can only have helped
I think the technology I've gained in my new vehicle (Giant OCR)will probably give me 10 mins over the vehicle I used in the past (Repco Superlite).

Can anyone please offer a lift back to northern Sydney after the event ???

mikesbytes

If you can make it from Penrith, do a 6.15am start time. They don't actually check the times when you start.

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Training Log

tzedragon

This will be my first Gong Ride. (Trevs Treadly Team Bathurst)
Belly's Bus leaves Bathurst at 4am on Sunday morning, apparently it isn't the only group of riders as Winning Edge may also have organised a bus.
I'm Rider No. 9254 starting at 7:30am but we will all start when we get off the bus and unload the bikes.

We rode from the cop shop to the start of the bridal track last Saturday. If these are some of the serious hills then thank you for boosting my confidence too!.

I am learning alot here, especially about pre ride prep and the ride itself.
Thx to all.

sogood

Checked the ride info. I note the trains will stop at St Peters on the way back to Sydney. While in the CityRail timetable, there's no info on this, only specific times for the early morning service to St Peters at approx 15mins intervals.

Can people who has used this service confirm that the train will stop at St Peters? Also, what's the frequency of service? I note regular Sun service interval is about hourly. Thanks.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac