2013 Chain Reaction Charity Ride – Day 7

Day 7 Moss Vale-> Sydney: 168km, 1763m, 6h

Ride Director Tim made a very insightful point at the last night's speeches where he said that after an event like this it was easy to feel down upon returning to the real world.

Whilst I'm sure everyone was excited to be with family and in their own beds again, there would have been some pangs of sadness that this was coming to a close.

But so it had to be – we rolled out a final into the cold Moss Vale air. The traffic was a bit of a nightmare with a few very silly drivers effectively passing us in the right hand side verge (I move into the right lane to block them aggressively in some cases, as I know there is oncoming traffic), but thankfully most drivers wait for a safe place to pass.

Cold morning air

We descend down Macquarie Pass which is fairly notorious. There are some hairpins (called The Hairpins) which are super sharp and narrow.

As we approach them I hear Tim screaming at cyclists to slow down as a truck approaches. Some clown had a UHF40 repeater station drowning out everyone's signal so we could barely hear trucks asking up and down the road if there are any “Big Ones going through the Hairpins?” (which is what they do to ensure they have clear passage through the Hairpins).

Happily we get through safely as all ascending trucks kindly wait for us.

We get down into the Illawarra and quickly pass Wollongong and onto the very beautiful and hilly Grand Pacific Drive toward Stanwell Park.

We stop at Stanwell Park with sweeping views back along the spectacular Sea Cliff Bridge to Wollongong.

Looking back toward Wollongong

After lunch we enter the Royal National Park which is just amazing riding. Wide, sweeping roads, hills and a lack of traffic.

Royal National Park

We sadly exit the Park and hit Sydney's outer limits where the fun begins.

We fortunately have Lakey in a small Volvo which he drives with the consummate skill of an F1 driver and uses it in a precise and effective fashion to provide blocking for the riders and to assist me.

Sydney is a little hectic but the trip to Moore Park and the SCG passes with surprising ease as we manage the patient traffic with aplomb, and finally, after a long week, deliver them safely to their families at the SCG. It's a bit awe inspiring to be standing on the SCG.

SCG (sorry for the poor photo)

After a quick photo shoot, we head around to Velosophy and the Moore Park precinct for well deserved pizza and beer. Tim, myself, Lakey and Sarah bust our bums stacking a van to go to our place for the Queensland ride.

As we enjoy a beer and pizza you can sense the relief, pride and sense of achievement in everyone. Can't wait to do the next one.