The Final Leg

Day 47 (12/21): Canberra to Goulburn; 114 km; 19 kph; Motel

Day 48 (12/22): Goulburn to Moss Vale (bike) to Sydney (train); 86 km/19 kph (on bike)

As with some of my driving on the long loop and my bicycle route out of Adelaide so long ago it seems now, some of my route these two days followed the same roads I/we did in 1992--albeit in the opposite direction. In this case fortunately but not sure why, I did not have the same sad/negative reaction. Generally, the repeat sections were very good rides in 1992 and again this time--yay!

Despite the km I have under my belt, these rides were also fairly difficult. Though not strong at all, I generally had head winds again and the routes were pretty hilly too. This points out something I have learned on this trip--it just has not gotten any easier to pedal such a heavy bicycle up hills or against the wind. I have gotten stronger in that I am able to recover fairly quickly for the next days ride (or even over lunch for afternoon ride), but it remains fairly hard every day to actually grind out the km. (Thinking back I think I may have learned the same thing in 1992, I just forgot the lesson!) Oh well!

Did have a minor last minute plan change on second day. Original plan was to only ride 67 km to a town called Bundanoon then train into Sydney from there. When I arrived at Bundanoon (just after 11 am), I realized it had pretty limited train service and I'd have to wait until almost 3 pm to catch a train to town. So, I ate lunch, then checked a bit and ended up riding another hour/20 km to Moss Vale where I caught a 2 pm train and was in the city not long after 4 pm. Worked out well for me and my bicycle (see photo).

Other photos: cute name for hotel/pub in Tarago. And there were at least a dozen of the smallest ponies I've ever seen in a field near Moss Vale. Cute.