Today we only needed to ride from the Blue Mountains into Sydney. A descent from Blackheath, at over 1000m, followed by a short ride through Sydney to Bondi Beach. I was joined for the trip by Warwick, Bob and John, which was nice as it was the first company i have had on a ride since the first 30km of the ride from Freo on day one! It felt strange following some one's wheel and was nice to grab the slipstream! Warwick has not changed his style of riding and needed to win every small climb, which made the speeds high for the day and meant he did most of the work!
Having been in rural Australia i found it strange being in the big city, being caught by every traffic light. Getting the guys to work out the route was a scream! ha ha! i think the proposed route changed at every traffic light stop, who would think these people are highly focused decisive business people!! Riding into Sydney was great though, the excitement of seeing the first major milestone achieved as planned, combined with stunning views of the City and the Harbour Bridge as we rode over the ANZAC bridge, was something that will stay with me forever.
At the finish it was great to see my cousin Chris and his wife Kira, my boss Neil (see photo - what a sweet couple!) and of course Belinda (with her list of questions and things that she wants me to do .. ha ha).
I know my ride is far from completed, but i would like to pause and thank everyone who has helped me get this far with my sanity intact. The letters from the kids, phone calls and texts from special people and work colleagues have helped keep me on track to Focus! Focus! Focus!
In the evening a group of us went for for dinner giving me the chance to get some good Chinese food ... rice, fish and kai lan at last!!!! It was also the chance for me to get some home truths from the support team (no names eh! Katrina) ha ha! They think i have been stubborn this week? ..... Man! if only they knew!
But tomorrow we need to get back on the road as we start from Bondi at 9.00am and ride the coast road to Melbourne and to our final target Around the Bay in a Day next Sunday!
High: Finishing the pan-continental coast to coast ride.
Low: Broken glass bottles on the side of the road that appear as soon as you get near a city!
Magpies - no attacks ... Warwick must have frightened them off but we did have pigeons steal the food off our plates at Bondi Beach!
Music - just talked on the bikes and Buddha Lounge to chill out (thanks Jen) !
So off to bed for me !
122km (Total 4002km, 145.5 hours)
S 33' 53.424
E 151' 16.645
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