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Good Friday, 9 April, 7:45am - Tour de Royal National Park - 94km – ETR 1:50pm
*    Ride Leader:     Brian Willis  9807.6439 hm    Ride Organiser:  Phil Johnston
*    Hardcopy these directions and bring on Sunday

At sparrow fart on a Sunday morn' it is only 45 minutes drive from Chatswood [38km] to the Sutherland Leisure Centre at Waratah Park off Rawson Ave (approx 1km south of Sutherland shopping centre).  We assemble at the bottom RHS in largish carpark immediately outside the swimming complex at 7:35am to conquer the largest national park in Sydney, The Royal National Park – rollout 7:45am sharp. 

1st Leg: Sutherland to Bundeena Beach 25.2km

At 7:48am, after 600m of pedaling S along Rawson Ave we enter Princess Highway at lights and 1km later pass Loftus Oval on LHS (familiar to ‘Gong riders as the initial morning tea spot).  100m onwards we L into Farnell Ave (some maps call it Sir Bertram Stevens Drive).  After passing the toll booths the road changes to Audley Weir Rd and we shortly descend on a dog leg R and hook L, then R to cross Audley Weir [5km].  Whereupon we veer R (it becomes Sir Bertram Stevens Drive) and encounter our first, of several delightful treats, a wonderfully steep climb up Artillery Hill to Gibraltar Rock [7km] and along Flat Rock, passing Warumbul Rd on LHS [11km].

Around 8:25am we pause for our 1st Sag Stop (5 min) [15km] 50m after hooking L into Bundeena Drive.  Pedal 10.2km due E to our 1st Nosh Stop (30 min) at God’s Own Country, picturesque Bundeena Beach 8:50am approx [25.5km] with spectacular views NW twds Sydney Harbour and two good cafés overlooking the water. 

2nd Leg: Bundeena Beach to Otford Pie Shop - 31.3km (agg 56.5km)

Approaching 9:20am 2^nd arduous climb, retracing up Bundeena Drive.  Around 9:55am 2nd Sag Stop (5 min) [36.2km] 50m short of the intersection with Sir Bertram Stevens Drive.

After re-grouping we hook a L into Sir Bertram Stevens Drive and high tail it along the ridge then after passing Garie Beach turn-off [41km] down.  Around 10:30am we pass a bridge on R to McKell Ave [47km].  Road becomes Lady Wakehurst Drive which takes us to our 2nd Nosh Stop (30 min) “Otford Apple Pie Shop” (another landmark for Gong riders) with fabulous views of the Blue Pacific - arriving around 11am approx [57.3km].

3rd Leg: Otford Pie Shop to Audley Weir  - 30.8km (agg 88.3km)

11:30am cycle N back up Lady Wakehurst Drive, initial 300m along the coast with spectacular views of the Blue Pacific, and then into the wooded forest where it is up-hill initially, then predominantly undulating.  Around 12:15pm [67.4km] we pass McKell Ave bridge (Waterfall exit) on the LHS.  Cycle a further 9.5km N along Sir Bertram Stevens Drive for a further fleeting 3rd Sag Stop (3 min) [78.4km] approaching 12:42pm at intersection of Bundeena Drive.

Continue NW another 9.8km for a 3rd Nosh Stop (20 min) [88km] at Audley Kiosk 50m before Audley Weir around 1.10pm - excellent coffee 'n maggot sacks.

4th Leg: Audley Weir to Sutherland - 6.7km (agg 94km)

1:10pm cycle over the weir and up precipitous Farnell Ave to Princess H'way and R onto the H'way, shortly passing Loftus Oval on RHS.  2km after traffic lights at Rawson Ave turn R into Sutherland Leisure Centre - 94km - ETR 1:50pm.

CARE: Keep well to LHS along the final legs from Bundeena to Audley Weir and up to Princess H'way.  If a cue of cars is behind you, pull over to side of road and allow 'em to pass.

Whippet’s rap-up of Sunday 4 April "Bobbin Head", "OPH" (where Others Preferred to be Home) to "PitSky" Sloshfest - 52km for 5 wet warriors 

Although Turramurra is one of the wettest suburbs in Sydney, our 6:45am start was dry.  Bean Counter, Big Gears, Navigator, Kaza (still with bike in car) were waiting patiently for Whippet to make a show, or the rain to fall.  It remained dry to Kalkari where Grant recorded a KOM time of 9min 36sec. Then after turning north along the Old Pac Highway things began to change, whereupon it veritably pissed down, sheets of water descended upon us perhaps the heaviest downpour in the 9 year history of Muggaccinos.  Thence, Dirty Cheat snuck by in his familiar unpolished red, cheap Jap 2 door, supposed to be on his first ride after NZ.  We learnt over a protracted coffee break at PitS that Scribe's nephew, who works at Clarence St, had conned him into parting with $200 for a new Giro helmet, after busting his last one in Christchurch.  The rest of the assembled few had not parted with over $100 for their polystyrene bonnets.

Sanity prevailed, as with the skies black in every direction, after a lengthy Nosh Stop, we all turned around and scurried home.

Why is it so?

We'd scored three flats over five bikes over 25km to PitS, where nobody even dropped down for the KOM, Brooklyn road 'U' turn back to PitS.  From the comfort of indoor at PitS Temperate Tony postulated.  "It’s worth noting, that apart from not seeing broken glass on the road in the wet, glass more easily pierces into the tyre because there is lower resistance when the sharp object and the tyre are both wet". (lower friction)  It seems that in dry weather, the tyre may just bend inwards without the sharp point pushing thru into the tube.  Don't know whether Tony's theory is correct.  However, casual empiricism suggests that it might be, with three flats amongst 5 of us.

The Scribe     4 Apr 2004