Not sure if anyone has done this ride before, it was quite an interesting one. Needless to say, I took the ferry home.
I was inspired buy the Rainier Schaefer video on Saturday and thought I’d torture myself with something similar, that and I have a mate that lives in Manly so what better place to finish that with a beer at 4 Pines. Rainier Schaefer on Vimeo
My observations. Total time - about 1hr 20min.
I live in the city so a quick little jaunt up Kent Street’s bike lane saw me on approach to the bridge pretty quickly. My suggestion would be to take the slightly longer route to glide onto the bridge rather than a slog up the steep entry ramp. This occurs if you head right onto the bridge with the cars and past the observatory. A shock to the system but gets you going.
Look at the views as you cross the bridge on a sunny Sunday, pretty. The other end of the bridge you have to dismount and walk down stairs, unless you’re hardcore (not me) and want to take the ramp. Oh, be warned there is markets on there on a Sunday so you’ll end up in someone’s stall or sausage sammich.
Finding my way out of the rabbit warren there wasn’t too hard, it’s a back alley cruise in marked lanes under a bridge to the right and then the grind up the Pacific Hwy before turning right onto Miller Street. Flattens out for a bit, before digging in and reaching Falcon Street. It’s plain sailing and a lot of fun from here.
Military Road, for those that know how much of a carpark this is on a Sunday, is a lot of fun to cruise down, working through the cars while racing to get in front of the odd bus that is running.
Mid way down Spit Road is where it gets interesting. The smart money says that you should peel off to the right and down Parriwi Road which is a reasonably safe way to reach the Spit Bridge, also slower as you have to try and cross the road at both ends. I took the direct route, with a few motor cycles, and went right down Spit Road before peeling left and the preferred cycle route. The front brake (yes I have one as I don’t know how you’d do this brakeless) got a workout and I’m thankful I had one.
The battle begins. This incline is called Battle Boulevard for a reason. I had to stop on this twice as it was just too much for me to do all in one slog and my feet and legs were burning, at this point I questioned why I had done a workout earlier in the morning. Turning right into Ponsonby is a joy as this incline is slight but evens out quite well before heading into Sydney Road.
Same again on Sydney Road, traffic stopped mainly and moving slowly. A little brakey before ducking right into Condamine and then left into White Street. This gentle ride downhill onto Lauderdale Ave is quite peaceful as knowing the ‘riding’ is done is reassuring. Watch the people in pain as they climb this hill, also watch out for the people doing u-turns in all manner of driveways along this street. Mainly tourists and definitely not looking out for cyclists.
Cruise down to the Esplanade, lock up, grab a beer. A change of clothing was helpful as with the warmer weather yesterday I was drenched.
If anyone wants to attempt this with me I might be up for it again in a few weeks.