Day 9 - Budgewoi to Sydney

Distance: Nearly there, don't care
Pain Factor: Nearly there, don't care
Magpie attacks: Nearly there, don't care
Cow sightings: Nearly there don't care
Accommodation Highlight: My own bed. Huzzah!

http://www.strava.com/activities/191513211 (Part 1)
http://www.strava.com/activities/191513467 (Part 2)

Like...a...boss!

9 days after setting out from Brisbane, at 2pm Sunday 7th September, we had done it. 1 full day ahead of schedule too. Thankfully, despite some darn right crappy weather for the last few days, apart from a few spots of rain at palm beach, Sydney turned on the weather for our arrival.

Having resisted the temptation to seriously "get on it" last night - limiting myself to just 2 glasses of wine, we set off at a slightly earlier time than normal. Today was a little different, because about halfway through the days ride, we needed to catch a ferry from Ettalong Beach to Palm Beach. The ferry of course worked ona  schedule so today really was the first day we had to ride to a schedule. We left at 8am. The ferry departed at 11am. It was 50km's down the road. As usual, my body kicked and screamed and carried on like a pork chop for the first 20 minutes of the day. But ye 'ol faithful diesel engine eventually kicked into gear. Thankfully also the wind had died down a bit so I was able to keep a very decent pace up around the 25 to 30km's/h - much less than this and there was a real chance of missing the ferry. The remnants of my cold were breaking up too. I was a snot factory. Not sure if you needed to know that though..

Anyway, we half followed the GPS and half followed our nose towards Ettalong. One magpie attack and this was the first one who actually made an effort to hit me. Waving one hand around my helmet, I am sure I looked like a right slight to passing motorists. With a time limit, I made good progress and rolled into Ettalong at about 10:15am. As usual, Santo was already there and had staked out a cool little cafe (note: the Cafe at the Ettalong ferry wharf does THE best banana bread I've tasted!). Today was fathers day so a quick call to Dad while I inhaled a coffee and banana bread and we were on out way again.

Santo waiting as the ferry pulls into Ettalong...

..And then we were in Palm Beach, and while it is the far northern woop woop extremity we were, officially, in Sydney! Still a solid 50Km to ride though. On arrival in Palm Beach a bit of rain set in, so we waited it out for 10mins while it passed (what did people do before smartphones and the BoM radar?!?). Today was the first day of the AFL final's and my mate/flatmate's team was playing (Richmond). When a mate is such a massive fan of a team, you can't help but it rubbing off on you and I now had a new mission - to get home in time to join him on the couch to watch the game with an icy cold FULL STRENGTH beer in hand.

The ride from Palm Beach to Sydney was pretty typical for Sydney. Busy traffic and inconsiderate drivers. We were going to stop at a friends house in Manly on the way through, but pushed on. We agreed on a stop at Milsons Point for some obligatory "RAAR - How good are we photos". I felt fine for this leg, probably in the knowledge that I was so close to finishing. I arrived at Milsons Point and joined up with Santo for some photos....

Perfect day for it. I looked around at the normal activity in the area (tourists, a wedding, runners) and thought to myself, if only these people knew what I had just completed. This is where Santo and I went our separate ways, since he lived on the north side. Santo, it was a pleasure riding with (or several km's behind) you, good sir. Thanks for the adventure, support & company. A motivator in a very non annoying way, at least for this ride ;-)

Anyway, I had this thing about getting to the GPO, so continued on, over the bridge to the city. Oddly, this was the first moment I started to detect some resistance from the bike; the odd squeek and dodgy gear change. Given the amount of rain we rode through, I guess this was inevitable. I arrived at the Sydney GPO at Martin Place and found a random to take a photo. Success. Brisbane GPO to Sydney GPO. 9 Days and 963km's.

After a momentary reflection, I was back on the bike for the ride home to Drummoyne. The feeling in the body was odd. I knew I was fatigued. My legs were tired, but I could have comfortable kicked on, doing this day after day if I needed to. It was all about the routine - good feed and hydration in the evening, limited alcohol and I am positive the 30mins of legs in the air each evening was a saviour.

I was home. Dumped the bike. Emptied my bags onto the bedroom floor. Shit, shave, shower and I was on the couch, icy cold bottle of goodness in hand with seconds to spare before the start of the AFL.

Mission accomplished. But there was one last thing I had to do. I had ridden 963km. I was a mere 37km's short of cracking the 1000. I would ride tomorrow....





The legend is born,
Justin.