Riding By Numbers: S2B: Day 2

Sydney to Brisbane 2018 1000KM Cycle Challenge for suicide prevention charity RUOK?

Day 2 was Conquista day, so we all wore replicas of our new Conquista race kit, designed with our friends at SB Studio.  

We were up at 06:00 again to try and ensure we got on the road early and covered a good portion of the ride before the sun got too high in the sky. Coffee and porridge all round as first the day, and then the fast were both broken.

It was a beautifully sunny morning as we headed out from Little Pelican along the Pacific Highway. Once again we had the wind at our backs, and we flew along covering the early KM's at a fine pace. This soon came to a disappointing end though as we reached the outskirts of Newcastle at the start of rush hour. The main highway was extremely busy, and the traffic queues slowed our progress significantly. 

The traffic situation encouraged a re-think to the early route and we attempted a number of revisions until we finally made it out of the busy town. I left the guys to it as they tried to establish the quickest and safest route away from the busy roads.

With a shorter day today of just 130KM we didn't plan a major lunch stop. After a couple of hours, we found a roadside cafe in Williamtown, where more pies were consumed, and we then headed past the airport and up to the Medowie State Conservation area.

I think we need to talk about pie. the options available today included "plain", cheese, and onion and tomato. Of the potential choices, I opted for cheese. I was more than a little shocked to bite into the pie to find it was a meat pie. I thought about returning it and making a fuss, but the lads, who have all been living in Oz for many years now, explained how it works. Plain pie is meat pie. Cheese pie is meat with cheese. Onion and tomato is meat with onion and tomato. So, all pies are meat pies. Bizarre. Are there many vegans in Australia?

After a short stop, we were on the road again and making great progress as a result of the long straight flat roads, and again a healthy tailwind following.  We stopped a few more times only to fill our water bottles and get a few photos.

Once again though we found ourselves on the main highway, and a little too close for comfort to the traffic roaring past us as we cycled on the hard shoulder/cycle lane. So the opportunity to divert on to the tourist drive in the direction of Stroud and Gloucester offered the perfect alternative.  We swung left away from the noise and danger, into a much more peaceful environment.

 But what we lost in traffic we gained in altitude. What was billed as a 200M day suddenly became a 1100M day! Despite the beautiful scenery around this was not universally popular. However, we were still able to enjoy a relatively early finish to the day and were knocking on the door of our motel wanting to check-in at about 2pm. Shortly afterwards we were once again resting our wearing legs in the pool.

Here is a link to the ride on Strava.

Today's numbers are brought to you by roadkill. Along the route today we spotted 8 dead animals: 3 kangaroos; 2 rabbits; 1 bird (make and model unknown); 1 domestic cat; and 1 snake. 

Our evening was rounded off with a little 1KM stroll to the local Buladhela bowling club for dinner.  Once again we went for a huge serving of pasta. And chips. And garlic bread. And a few beers.

Tomorrow is a monster of a day with 180KM and +1,000KM climbing anticipated. With a bit of luck and another tailwind, we might make it as far as Port Macquarie. Our motel room has no microwave, so no porridge breakfast tomorrow. We've found a service station cafe next door that's going to have to do the job. Tomorrow could be a long, long day....

Please help us reach our fundraising target of $10,000 by donating at our Everyday Hero page. Thank you.

 In loving memory of our lost friend Ed Skuza.

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