Julie and I were supposed to be hiking the 5,000km Continental Divide Trail in the US in 2020, but COVID-19 derailed that plan. Instead, we will have an adventure in Australia, circumnavigating the country on our bikes, a distance of about 16,500km taking approximately five and a half months. We will use minor roads where possible and occasionally catch ferries across rivers and inlets to avoid busier inland routes. We will camp some of the time and stay in motels, hotels, etc, at others. There will be stretches of up to five days with no accommodation or resupply available, so we will need to be self-sufficient.

Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 120 - Marulan to Parramatta

Day:  120

Date:  Thursday, 29 October 2020

Start:  Marulan

Finish:  Parramatta

Daily Kilometres:  148 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  12885

Weather:  Cold and raining early, then mild and partly sunny

Accommodation:  Hotel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Egg & bacon rolls

  Lunch:  Gozleme

  Dinner:  Fettucine carbonara/Ravioli di Zucca

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  After some cold and rain in the first 40km, the rain cleared and we enjoyed a following breeze and long gradual downhill run from the Southern Highlands to the Sydney fringe.

Lowlight:  Dealing with the south-west Sydney traffic in the last hour of our ride to Parramatta.  It was busy and many motorists clearly hadn't heard the "give cyclists a metre" rule.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

It was very dark when we left Marulan at 4:45am and rejoined the Hume Highway which was busy with trucks, no doubt intent on getting to Sydney for the start of the business day.  We rode along in the breakdown lane straining to see and avoid debris and rough patches, especially on the faster downhill sections.  After about thirty minutes, it began to rain, blurring our vision, which was not helped by spray from the passing trucks.  However, on the plus side, we had a following breeze which made a very nice change from the last three days.  It's amazing how much easier the hills are with the wind at your back.

After 26km, we stopped at the Sutton Forest roadhouse soon after 6am and had breakfast.  The rain intensified while we were there and as we were leaving we had a pleasant chat with a truck driver who couldn't believe that we were going to return to the road, and was flabbergasted when we said we had been doing it for nearly four months.  Back on our bikes, it was wet and cold, but our speed was excellent and after thirty minutes the rain began to abate.  There were some exhilarating descents through the forested mountains on the freeway, and the ensuing climbs didn't seem that bad.

We reached the Pheasants Nest roadhouse, much earlier than expected, helped by the last gradually downhill 10km, which flew by, and found a sheltered and dry picnic table for a snack before returning to the busy freeway to continue our descent into Sydney.  By the time we left the freeway, after 120km for the day, it was only 11am and we were well ahead of our expected schedule.  We stopped in at a roadhouse cafe, and celebrated our good progress with a longer than usual lunch break and a delicious gozleme.

From the cafe, we had two hours and 31km of suburban riding which wasn't particularly enjoyable (see above) to reach our booked hotel in the western Sydney centre of Parramatta.  We checked in at 2pm, and were grateful they let us take our (somewhat dirty) bikes up to our room.

After a relaxing afternoon, we had dinner at a local restaurant with Julie's son, his partner, and Julie's granddaughter, who live nearby.  It was a happy reunion after four months.  Home tomorrow!

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