I would like to start by thanking Bathurst Daybreak Rotary for organising such a great ride. I hope that the funds raised for Head Space go to treating the issues relating to depression that are affecting people not only in the Central West but everywhere. I signed up for the ride but didn’t get any accommodation. I spent Saturday night in Lithgow and then drove to Bathurst in the morning. When I got there I parked the car on William Street and got the bike ready. I then took a bus which left from the corner of William and Howick Streets after putting the bike onto a removalist truck that the organisers had arranged to for the trip to Blayney.. My number was Blayney truck and caught up with Mike and Nick later on. I got my registration number and my bag of goodies at removalist I caught up with Simon, Nick and Mike. I met Simon first at the BlayneyWhen I got to
It was an interesting trip to Blayney. There were plenty of riders from Randwick Botany Cycling Club and other cycling clubs in Sydney. There were even riders from the Drapac Porsche team. I saw at the back of the bus looking at the beautiful Central Tablelands Scenery.
731.
One thing I did notice about the road between Bathurst and Blayney is that a lot of animals seem to get killed. I passed a dead snake, Kookaburra, Parrot and any number of dead Kangaroos. There are a lot of pot holes in some sections the road and I found myself finding some of them as I rode along. Mind you there were some really good sections of road where the surface was smooth and intact. The other thing was that the standard of motorist behaviour in this area was better. Whether it was the amount of warning signs or the fact that people are in less of a hurry in the Central Tablelands is up for debate.and my time wasinternet with Mum and Dad and then headed back to Sydney via Ruth’s place. I looked on the Lithgow and had a meal. I then got the bike ready for the trip back to Sydney and headed off. I spent a bit of time in BathurstAfter watching the last 3 riders finish I rode into
As I rode toward the first drink station I saw Simon fixing the puncture and did offer assistance but Simon said he was OK and appeared to have the job under control so I continued on. I saw a rider riding the other way and got the surprise. He was riding a bike modified for an amputated left arm. I rode on astounded.
Another rider who had a puncture earlier and I wound up making our way to Trunkey Creek – that appeared to be a down hill run and I made some time on the rest of the ride.
Towards the half way mark there was some more climbing. On this stage I became aware of the sag wagon trundling behind me. I got to the drinks station at half way and the guys driving the sag wagon told me that they were told to follow the last rider – which pretty much confirmed my suspicions that I was it. I also had a chat to the people at the drinks station who told me that as Blayney was higher than Bathurst I had done some climbing so the next stage was going to be down hill if not on the flat until I got to Mt Rockley. I continued on with the ride. I was determined to get the ride done. I had some of the energy gels and the banana that I got at the start.
Fortunately the people at the drinks station were right and next stage of the ride from the halfway point to Mt Rockely was down hill or flat. I made up some time on the rest of the 110 km riders. There was a point where the long and the short courses converged and I had company till I had to go on to Mount Rockely.
When I got to Mt Rockely I had a really hard time. The climb included a dirt section. I had to stop and use some of the remaining energy gels to give me a boost up the hill. I even had to walk some sections. I got to the final drinks station at the summit of the hill and wound up getting the last of the water. I decided to go all out to make sure that I was able to catch up with the rest of the ride.
The ride down from Mount Rockely was a fast down hill and I went all out to get to Perthville and then on to Bathurst. I rode past a rider who I thought was a recreational rider not taking part in the event. It turned out they were on the ride and had started out on the Long Course but had changed to the short course when the going got tough. I rode on through to Bathurst and the weather improved. I turned off toward Mount Panorama and found myself riding with a couple of girls on mountain bikes. They claimed to be the last of the 70 Km riders. We wound up riding into the Mount Panorama area together.
We went through a gate and then headed into the pits area finish line.
When I arrived at the finish line an official cut the timing transponder from the fork. I had a chat to the commissaire who told me that the head wind at the start would have made us pedal harder. He showed me a trophy – I wasn’t aware that there was a trophy for the event. I was quite pleased that I had finished.
things looked warmish so I was looking forward to getting out of my arm warmers and longs but that didn’t happen. We had a pretty hard head wind for the first 20 kilometres. I was dropped by the ride well and truly before the first drink station. BathurstI also got the timing transponder which I put onto the front fork. When we started the temperature was pretty cold. In
5:45:36. It wasn’t a bad ride but it was the toughest I have ever done. I will do it again but do the short course next time.
Tags: Australia, B2B, Bathurst, Bicycles, Bikes, Blayney, Blayney 2 Bathurst, Blayney to Bathurst, cars, Charity Rides, commuting, cycling, Cycling NSW, DHBC, Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club, Environment, riding, Safety, Sydney
