Kristof must be due for his first nap…
So how does it work when they get to a city, eg; Melbourne? I mean, they obviously have a GPS route in front of them, but is it up to them to negotiate the ins and outs of an urban centre? Could a friendly local guide them through or is that against the rules?
They’ve been routed through on a number of bike paths/trails through city centres, to avoid peak roads. IIRC Melbourne will involve some of the Yarra Trail.
I’d sign up for that Pinzo, especially if dadjokes flow freely 
I had a look at the route for Sydney, and it’s a bit of a clusterfuck. It meanders along some roads that will be totally shit if hit anytime between 7am and 7pm, while avoiding some pretty practical bike infrastructure.
I assume the purpose is to get the riders to cross the harbour bridge… which is almost entirely pointless cos you can’t see shit from the bridge really, and can’t really see the bridge when you’re on it.
Seems to me that they didn’t consult with any Sydney types when putting the route together.
Yeah, Boulie, YTs, Dandenong creek trail etc
Sydney route is very convoluted to avoid most shit roads. Makes sense cos riding in Sydney for the final stretch on little sleep would be dangerous AF.
Yeah, the route through Melbourne is pretty straightforward and bike-friendly but it does take racers straight down the busiest part of Swanston Street from the State Library to the Arts Centre before getting over to the Yarra Trail. This is by design, I believe.
Yeah, there’s certainly a more direct way to the Opera house - considering the turn off to the bike path is practically ~3km from the start of my commute (which is equally as bike friendly atmo)
Yeah, but you get to ride over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the most iconic bridges in the world and certainly an icon of Australia. May not be a big deal for you locals but for internationals (or even interstaters) it’d be fucking awesome!
I guess.
It’s just that it’s actually shit to ride on, and they have to lug their bikes up 30 steps to even get to the main deck. It looks fucken great from the Opera House tho…
Depends on what hour/day they ride through. Peak hour w/ a million hubbards - for sure.
3am in the morning it would be fucken surreal.
Okay, I’m just sounding grumpy at this point.
I’m sure it’ll be awesome.
Yeah, it’s the La Trobe St/Swanston St bit I was thinking about. You ideally need to do a hook turn to get from the former to the latter, and then there’s the Swanston St tram stops. As above, depends on what time they come through. 2:00am Saturday would be ideal.
I’m thinking of catching up with a few of them when they ride through CBR if time/schedule allows. Cheer them up a bit, maybe throw some homemade baked goods their way.
Yeah, I kinda want to do this for my Melb m8s racing, but figure they’ll be in the box and want me to gtfo by that stage.
Hopefully they each arrive at sensible hours so I can be at opera house with sports drink ready.
I think the city parts will just add to the overall experience of the ride even if they are hectic and convoluted. It’ll sure make a change from all the desert they’re slogging through right now.
JC explains his route choice a bit here :
Yeah, I’ll probably come down for people arriving during work hours. Think Rod is up for it as well.
I reckon once you’ve ridden that far you won’t care how shit the road is - you’ll just plow onwards regardless.
Valid point Alex.
I can’t quite get over the fact that the distance between Kristof and Mike is actually a big ride for me.