: to Mohammad. A great effort to go from 0 kilometers per day to 116/113  per day in a week and a half.  And a great idea…  lets pedal from Melbourne to Sydney. Rolls off the tongue quite quickly.

: to Chris. for the encouragement, support, expert advise and organisation. Plus the proof that he can still push out the K’s.

:to those who came with us in spirit. I will most certainly miss someone if I try for a list. Your interest kept us going.

:to those who thought we couldn’t make it.  You were half right. I got to Bega which was 600k. Mohammad did the full bit..  every meter from Fed square to Mrs Macquaries Chair.

: to Mel Taylor. Thanks for the training. I was thinking of those step ups yesterday morning.

:to Toni. Thanks for letting me do the second crazy plan.

:to Melanie Christiansz for lending your bike to Mohammad. A more worldly bike will be returned.

:to those who donated to White Ribbon. Domestic Violence is a very important issue in our society and it deserves more attention.

: to John and Fran for the hospitality on your farm

:to Anne and the delightful breakfast.

:to the Kiama Cycle and Sports shop for opening for us after hours.

:to the Shoalhaven Tuckerbox for one of those special moments of generosity.

This shows the camping places between Melbourne and Sydney.

Bulli to Mrs Macquaries Chair (75 Kilometers) That’s it..  the destination.

This day was about Google maps and the positives and negatives of life.

Mohammad and I (Peter) would be riding for security and navigation (ha). Left the vehicle and camp at about 7:30 am. I like google maps. They string together the various bike trails with quiet streets and fairly accurate times for the distances, but on this day google maps nearly undid us. The Bulli pass is massive and I knew it would be difficult and the google map path took us up what looked like a bike path.  We came across some steps but kept going until we were carrying our bikes.

We then came across the negatives of life in the form of a man I called “Charlie”. We had made a grave error in Charlies eyes and he didn’t know how we were going to get up some of the track up further, but with a shrug of his shoulders indicated “why would I care”. We kept going until we hit the base of a series of steel structures half way between steps and ladders. I went ahead to see how far the structures went and I counted seven flights of stairs/ladders. We started to figure out how to do this and along came the positive side of life in Alicia. With talk of nothing but getting to the top we were organised with her carrying the gear off the bikes. We carried the bike up while Alicia advised, encouraged and photographed.  Eventually we got to the top of the structures and she left us to resume her daily ascent up the mountain.

After 2 hours we got to the top and the virtual glide to Mrs Macquaries Chair and the Opera house.

Got the train back to  the station next to Bulli and rode back to the camp.  Job done!!

Gerroa to Bulli (60 kilometers)  75 Kilometers to Mrs Macquarie’s chair.
Dropped Chris this morning early at the station, packed up and dropped Mohammad at Gerroa.

Today was the Mohammad solo day through some of the most complex road systems around.  After 5 hours he happly rode up to the camp at Bulli announcing that it was a “pxxxx of pxxx”. Chris must have taught him that description. It was a pretty impressive effort considering it was raining most of the time and having a navigator on was not possible.
Tomorrow is the day we have been working toward for about a year. The massive Bulli pass and a cruise down to Mrs Macquarie’s chair. 

Termeil to Gerroa (113 klms) 134 kilometers to Mrs Macquarie’s chair.

Mohammad rode the full distance. Chris rode about 60k, some in the morning and some in the afternoon. Peter is not riding. Passed Batemans Bay and Ulladulla. Traffic to Sydney was intense, but safe as everyone was travelling slowly.
We are camped Kendals on the beach caravan park in Kiama and can hear the surf.
Chris leaves us tomorrow morning and we are still planning the details of the last days. 
One separated tread, which ended the day at 113 kilometers. The second longest distance. Two small businesses to mention. The bike shop owner came back to his store for a new tyre and a little shop along the way supplied free fruit anf buscuits to the guys.

Bodalla to Termeil (84 kilometers)  248 kilometers to Mrs Macquarie’s chair.

Spent a restfull night at Fran and Johns place with some expert bike tuning from John.

Headed off to the start at 8:30.
Mohammad rode from Muruya via the beach to Batemans Bay and on to Termeil. The last 30 k Chris pedaled with Mohammad.

Starting to plan the detail for the final stages. Chris leaves the day after tomorrow. So it is probably going to be past Nowra tomorrow and then Wollongong the next and then Sydney. The last stage from Woolongong will be returning on the train.

8k south of Cobargo to Bodalla (62 kilometers) 312 kilometers to Mrs Macquarie’s chair.
Slow start at the Bega catavan park, packed and drove to the start point just south of Cobargo. Mohammad rode for 4 to 5 hours to Bodalla where we are staying with friends. No incidents except for some minor adjustments to the geering.
Peter did not ride today.

Yellow Pinch to Bega plus 48 klms (Peter 23 klms Mohammad 71)  375 to Mrs Macquarie’s chair.

It was the three “p” day.
Pedals, artist (painter) and Peter.
Lets deal with pedals first. Mohammads pedals were nearly broken (sorry Mel) so Chris replaced them with the spares.

We met one of Mohammads friends, a gifted artist, who supplied a terrific breakfast at Merimbula. Much appreciated change.

Peter (thats me) got to Bega and I’m afaid that’s it.  Old muscle need time to recover. 600 kilometers from Melbourne to Bega and am proud to have got that far.  Now Mohammad has two support people to do the last and most important bit.

Genoa to Yellow Pinch (94 klms)  454 to Mrs Macquarie’s chair.

Yellow Pinch is just north of Merimbula.  Its the middle of a big hill and that is where the day ended.
Left Genoa about 8am.

7 major hills today and some screaming downsides. One more puncture but no other bike troubles.

Spent some time in Eden. 

Haven’t worked out tomorrow yet but we will not be getting to Bodalla as we will be having part of the day off. Recovery day.

Found a little friend a bit tired and weak on the edge of the road.  Somewhat like myself. So i picked it up and stuck him/her in my carrier. It jumped out when we were passing a very bushy and quiet place which i thought was pretty good.

Orbost to Genoa (116 klms)  540 klms to Mrs Macquarie’s chair

Big day..  no incidents except for Mohammads jacket flying out the back of my carry backet. Chris kindly drove back and found it.
Pretty big hills and beautiful forests. Nice townships and friendly people. Mohammad is getting stronger and more confident, getting well ahead of me today.  Tomorrow, the other side of Merimbula and next day Bodalla, hopefully.

Orbost to Genoa (116 klms)  540 klms to Mrs Macquarie’s chair

Big day..  no incidents except for Mohammads jacket flying out the back of my carry backet. Chris kindly drove back and found it.
Pretty big hills and beautiful forests. Nice townships and friendly people. Mohammad is getting stronger and more confident, getting well ahead of me today.  Tomorrow, the other side of Merimbula and next day Bodalla, hopefully.