Sydney-Toukley via Gosford & The Entrance

SomeGuy

I'm flying up to Sydney on the weekend, and considering how I'll get me and my bike from the Domestic terminal to the place I'm staying in Toukley. Considering the train would take over four hours - 5 if I miss the 6:18 train. It will also cost $19, so I'm thinking riding could be the way. What I wondering is A) The best way to get from Sydney to Gosford and B) just how safe would I be on the coast road from Gosford to the Entrace then on to Toukley, probably leaving Gosford just before twilight and not arriving in Toukley until after dark. Obviously I'd have lights, but I'm wondering if anyone who knows the road could advise. I have driven on it before, but I've never ridden it.

Thanks . Any general advice is welcome too.

Edit: Hmm sounds like I underestimated how hilly it was going to be. Perhaps I should reconsider, or catch a train from Strathfield to Gosford and ride from there. Input?

climbo

the train takes 5 hours? It's only 1.5 hours to Gosford from Sydney. The ride from Sydney is a long way (and yes, hilly for sure !) ... if you go from Gosford you should be fine to get to Toukley without much incident. You could train it to anywhere on the coast (from Gosford up to Wyong) and ride in to Toukley.

The coast road has a fairly good shoulder most of the way to Toukley. Parts of the Entrance Road are very busy but have plenty of space to hit the shoulder of the road. Take Barralong Road from East Gosford out to Erina, bike lane all the way. Hot the Entrance Road north from there (or go out towards Terrigal for a more scenic detour). The Entrance area is good, some road works up that way but it's got some nice new paved sections there also. From the Entrance to Toukley is a bit of a speedway but I think the surface is pretty good there also, the shoulder should be smooth but maybe a little narrow for the speeds they do along there, not that I would think you'd be unwise to do it, it's a long straight stretch and the line of vision for cars is very good.

SomeGuy

My plane gets in at 5:20pm. If I get the 6:01 train from domestic, I catch the 6:18 train from central to Wyong. If I miss the 6:01, I'm stuck at central until the next train at 7:17.

The 6:18 gets into Wyong at... 7:50. Oh look, I've added an hour onto that. That makes catching the train much more attractive. The 7:17 doesn't get in until 8:54 though, add on a 16k trip to Toukley and I wont arrive until 9:40pm or something. If I rode though, I'm probably looking at 11-12. Hmm.

I guess my main problem here is the times I'll be doing it (10+ PM on a saturday night. Perhaps I should stay in Sydney (or Gosford), and finish my ride the next morning. In the daylight. :P.

climbo

yep. depending on how much you ride at night, probably better to do it early the next morning. Much nicer ride then anyway, you can stop by the beach on the way.