Introduction

This year the RTA Big Ride was from the Mid North coast to Sydney. The start was at Gloucester and the finish at Berowra. Unlike last year, I decided to leave the Unicycle at home and take two wheels.

The rest day was in Newcastle and unlike last year, most of the towns that we stopped at were quite large. Personally I would prefer the smaller towns for us to pass through.

The Route

Day/Date	Start	Finish	Distance
Day 1 - March 20th 2004	Sydney	Gloucester	0.00 km
Day 2 - March 21st 2004	Gloucester	Tuncurry	72.92 km
Day 3 - March 22nd 2004	Tuncurry	Bulahdelah	72.10 km
Day 4 - March 23rd 2004	Bulahdelah	Raymond Terrace	0.00 km
Day 5 - March 24th 2004	Raymond Terrace	Newcastle	147.14 km
Day 6 - March 25th 2004	Rest Day		0.00 km
Day 7 - March 26th 2004	Newcastle	Bateau Bay	74.15 km
Day 8 - March 27th 2004	Bateau Bay	Mt Penang	76.93 km
Day 9 - March 28th 2004	Mt Penang	Berowra	46.71 km

Conclusion

This was the first Big Ride that I took part in completely on two wheels. Like Cycle Queensland I really enjoyed this trip. Considering that we got rained out of one day, people went to hospital with hypothermia, we unfortunately had someone pass away on the route, and a few other minor mishaps, I had a really good time again. Some people do this to meet people, some for the partying, and others, like me for the cycling. The great thing about these rides is the cycling through areas that you wouldn't normally cycle in. That said, I still enjoy the social side and the partying was good fun as well.

From this ride I did learn a lot, I was glad of the opportunity to cycle my greatest one day trip, I don't know how long that will stand, but I suspect that it will be a while. Next years route looks like it will be a good one, it is going to be from Mount Kosciuszko to Sydney and they are going for small country towns all the way.

As before, I have people to thank from this Ride.

1. Bicycle NSW - Again they have put on a good event, there were a few hiccups along the way, but I had heard that there were problems with the organisation, it was basically done in the last 3 months.
2. The Pegasus Crew - This year I thought I wouldn't need to get any help from the, but they helped me ride the 147km day. Thanks again Guys, you rock.
3. The volunteers - Again they get a mention, they are usually the same people year after year who give up a week of their time so that we can have a great event.