Halfway Progress!
18 Oct 2026
Hello everyone, just sharing an update on the total distance travelled so far! Out of my giant goal of riding 500 kilometres in October, so far I have ridden 341.9 km! It seems like such a giant quantity... can I make it to the finish line? Can my body (and the bike!) survive the trauma of enduring that enormous distance? Will I get a flat tyre at Oodnadatta? Will I be stopped by Police for being a boofhead? Tune in for the ongoing drama!
Posted 1 day ago
Day 17: Art Gallery Ride
17 Oct 2026
The Art Gallery of NSW is a grand old sandstone building filled with national treasures. I will admit that I do like a bit of a stroll among the artworks. Life without art, beauty, creativity and human connection is too drudgerous to bear.
Posted 2 days ago
Day 14: Bowling Club Ride
15 Oct 2026
Lawn Bowling is a traditional sport in Australia which still persists to this day, but the venues are sometimes partially converted into beer gardens. An afternoon at a bowling club in the Australian summer is a time to remember. Your bare feet on the perfectly clipped green grass, a cold beverage, heavy rolling ovoids, laughter and a golden sunset. It's a great day out!
Posted 5 days ago
Day 12: Grumpy Donut Ride
12 Oct 2026
Just doing a light recovery ride today after yesterday's 74 kilometres. When you're burning huge amounts of calories, you can treat yourself to a high-calorie dessert. :-) "Grumpy Donuts" is an artisanal donut vendor that has nothing to do with grumpiness as far as I can tell. The donuts are delicious, the people who work there are always cheery, and when you bring your loved ones a box of Grumpy Donuts, you will get an opposite-of-grumpy reaction!
Posted 7 days ago
Day 11: Botany Bay Ride
11 Oct 2026
One of the best rides in Sydney (in my opinion) is the Cooks River ride to Botany Bay. You roll along under sun-dappled forest canopies, alongside mangroves and luscious green parkland, then suddenly pop out at Botany Bay, between the top of Brighton Beach and the airport. My friend of many years "Beet" came along for the ride. We rolled that far and then thought to ourselves "Why not continue out to Kurnell?" We had a fantastic seafood lunch at Kurnell beach, and realised at that half-way point, we had already covered 32km (and needed to do it all again to get home). So, we covered a lot more ground than intended. Beet was a trooper in making it all the way and never complaining! What a fantastic day out!
Posted 8 days ago
Day 10: Cycling Cafe Ride
10 Oct 2026
Nestled in the charming shopping district of the quiet residential suburb of Summer Hill, there is this cute Cycling Cafe, the "BarCycle Cafe & Bar". Being a writer, I notice that the word "bar" appears twice in the name, rather inefficiently. If you're going to do that, I think it would be better to at least make it pleasingly symmetrical, so "BarCycle & Cafe & Cycle Bar". Better yet, don't use the word "cycle" in the title. Instead, use a cycling technical jargon word like "Derailleur", which is also French (IYKYK). So, "Derailleur Cafe & Bar". This way, you can 1. Have a deliberate signal for the cycling customers. 2. Avoid repetition of words in the title. 3. Have your cafe sound deliciously French, which everybody likes. 4. Avoid sending an anti-signal to people who are not into cycling, they will have no idea what it means. They will just say "Let's try out this cool French-sounding cafe!". There was one other cyclist customer while I was there, a rather fit lady who had obviously travelled quite a distance to get there. She used the pro-athlete etiquette of placing down a towel on her seat at the table, to avoid a "butt-sweat surprise" for following customers. Very thoughtful, I was impressed. Anyway, the cafe is pretty nice. What an excellent place to have a delicious coffee and a Portuguese tart (you know my policy in this arena). ;-)
Posted 10 days ago
Day 9: Sydney Park Ride
9 Oct 2026
Nestled at the edge of the bohemian district of Newtown, Sydney Park is the premier place to take your dog in Sydney. Go here on a sunny day and you will see all kinds of pups enjoying an outdoor walk with their caring owners. If you are a dog person, this is what your heaven would look like. One lady was preparing to leave the park. Her adorable dog, a long-haired sausage dog of some kind, was living the best life at the park and not ready to go home. Doggie ignored all of owner's entreaties to "come along" while maintaining eye contact. When she finally attached the leash and tugged on it, doggy still didn't budge for 5 seconds. I get it. When you're having fun, soak up every minute of it! It might be a while before you get another chance.
Posted 11 days ago
Day 8: Epping Ride
8 Oct 2026
Today I did a lot of road riding to get up into the North Western suburbs, specifically Epping and Eastwood. There is a large community from South-East Asia living here. At the Eastwood shopping district, there is a charming paved pedestrian street with overhead greenery, a hot food market and many restaurants and cafes. If you come here at 7 o'clock in the morning, you will find about 100 people practising their Tai Chi. You can also get a fantastic beef hot-pot, with a lemon tea out here.
Posted 11 days ago
Day 7: Middle Harbour Ride
7 Oct 2026
Today, I braved the traffic hazards of Military Road, Mosman to get down to Middle Harbour Yacht Club. A "properly vertical" descent and ascent getting in and out, but the scenery was worth the effort! This is a top location to park your high quality yacht, because the shipyard is co-located. That means they are right there to scrub off the barnacles, load the seafood on board and chill the champagne for you. You know. Just how we like it. ;-)
Posted 13 days ago
Day 6: Kingsgrove Ride
6 Oct 2026
I decided to "navigate by serendipity" today, in other words just letting my wheels turn wherever the bike wanted to go. I ended up in Kingsgrove, which has this thing called the "M5 Linear Park". It is similar to the Greenway, but instead of following a beautiful river, it follows a beautiful... freeway. 😂 Still. The surrounding suburb itself is *very* nice, seems like an idyllic peaceful neighbourhood, full of beautiful homes made with long-lasting red brick. On the way back there was this fun billboard, saying "Yallah Earlwood, Let's Eat!" for something called "Al Jannah". Oportos Portuguese chicken burgers was literally 20 metres away, so that's what I picked. I applied the valuable lesson I have learned in life, that "If you can go Portuguese, always go Portuguese".
Posted 14 days ago
