It was Andrew, Mark, Dan, Marty, Dave and myself and we took off north up Pittwater Road on an unseasonably warm morning, picking up Brent, Stephen, Garth and Peter at Mona Vale shops. From there it was off up McCarrs Creek Road, Mona Vale Road through Terry Hills and St Ives and finally turning onto the Pacific Highway towards Hornsby and beyond.
The first hour was a bit of a nightmare. Hurricane force winds overnight had left the road littered with ridiculous amounts of sticks and other debris which were impossible to avoid at some points and often were inadvertantly ridden over and kicked up into the riders behind. Thankfully, once we got to the Pacific Highway the road was a lot clearer and it felt a lot safer.
We picked up a random bunch of riders and stuck with them for the next half hour or so, and then after a quick water refill at Mobil, we stopped at Pie in the Sky for coffees and pies and a good sit down. Refreshed, we pushed on north, which is further than I’ve ever ridden before down that road (I’ve always turned around at Pie to go back).
The first real rest stop, about 75km in. Pie in the Sky. And pies were eaten indeed...
Lycra-induced man-love
Enjoying a well-earned coffee
The view from the terrace
I was pleasantly surprised that the highway north was even better – hardly any cars at all, beautiful bush on both sides and a good road surface. There was a lovely downhill section into Brooklyn and a long, but not overly steep climb back out that was kind of fun and way easier to climb than the switchbacks of Bobbin Head, Akuna Bay or Galston Gorge. Then it was a fantastic sweeping descent to Mooney Mooney with glorious wide corners through the shaded bush, completely smooth road and no cars so it was pure joy to cruise down taking the corners without braking or pedalling!
Another long and hot, but not overly steep ascent on the other side and we rested for a couple of minutes in the shade before pressing on, as we realised time was slipping away from us and we wanted to catch the 11am ferry to save a 1 ½ hour wait for the next one.
The end of the long climb out of Mooney Mooney
Having a five minute break in the shade at the top of the last major hill
The next section was undulating and still relatively car-free, we then hit the Central Coast highway and then cruised down the hill into West Gosford which was a very fast and spectacular descent. I got to about 65km/hr but some of the boys topped out over 76km/hr! Must have been the pies…
After that we turned to Ettalong and had a sensational long flat bike path along the waterfront where we were able to average around 38km/hr in single file, even riding into a slight headwind.
It got a bit crucial with timing at this point, as suddenly we realised it was 15 minutes until the ferry departed and none of us had been that way before and of course there was bugger-all signage. I was trying to ride while reading a tiny map I’d printed from the internet, then Stephen got a puncture with about 8 minutes to go and we still didn’t know where we were! Marty stopped to assist and they waved us to go on so we did, made a few false turns but then finally found the right directions and we pulled into the ferry wharf almost bang on 11am. Stephen and Marty showed up right behind us two seconds later, it must have been a record-breaking tube change! About 120km on the bike computer at this point and the temperature must have been close to 30 degrees.
Getting onto the ferry at Ettalong
The ferry was beautiful, I’ve never taken that one before. Half an hour later we got off in Palmy where Andrew, Dan and Mark went off to join their wives and kids for a picnic, while the rest of us remounted and tried to warm up our legs for the final stretch.
The hills of Avalon and Newport weren’t as bad as I feared, although the hot wind was brutal. We dropped off the other boys at Mona Vale, and Marty and I continued alone to Manly. It was starting to become a struggle by that point, but surprisingly every hill looked worse than it actually was. Nonetheless, by the time we’d done a little loop through Harbord to get up to 150km I was done and dusted.
Of course Marty still has something left in the tank was ended up riding up the steep hill to North Head and back by himself in order to get up over 100 miles (160km+). Damn good work Marty, I was toast.
I went for a run off the bike down to Manly beach and threw myself into the surf - cold water has never felt quite so good before! Then I jogged back to the car, did some stretches and dragged my tired but happy body back home for a nap and to go out to dinner and "Don's Party" at the Sydney Theatre Company.
Another “longest ride ever”, now just 18 days to go before the real longest ride ever. Got my Bay in a Day ride pack with jersey, numbers etc last night - very excited!
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