The Gong Ride

[Loosenutt]

Oh, soooo tired.

Gonna be a tough day I think.

Kev.

Know what you mean, I had only 3 hours sleep last night

Good luck to everyone riding today.

[sogood]

Early action report:

Got up early and rode my usual Sunday training route ie. Waterfall. Got to Princes Hwy at 6am and just tagged onto the first Gong bunch and pretty much rode the bulk of the way down with them until my early turn around at Sutherland to attend to family duties. Based on my observations on the way down and back, the riders are better spread out this year than past and it was a pretty orderly procession. I think the earlier start time of 6am has adequately thinned the field. Good job!

[ghettro]

I just got back from my first gong ride. Seemed quite well organised, there were 10,000 people apparently, and there was a long queue to start. I started at 6:30, but after about an hour of overtaking I managed to find people around my pace, in the RNP the riders were relatively spaced out, however I came close to a motorcycle coming up the hill the other way. Still, I didn't see any crashes and it was all great

[philip]

Had a good ride, despite starting later than expected - I was supposed to start at 6am, but; packed the car at 5:10, drive to the start and arrive at 5:35, open the boot, get bike out, reach for front wheel... NO FRONT WHEEL! Drove back home, got the wheel from the garage where I'd left it, drove back and started at 6:15. Arrived at Wollongong at 8:45, so 2:30 to get there. I asked around to find people who were riding back, but didn't have any luck, so had given up and started riding to the train station (didn't want to ride back solo), but then luckily caught a group who were riding back, and by coincidence I knew one of the riders. It was a good ride back, despite a bit of a headwind. All up 170km - longest ride by far for me plus my first imperial century. 5.5 hours in the saddle. Going to eat masses of food now

[flashgaza]

Very well organised ride. Did not strike any major hassles and was able to keep a steady pace all the way. Hit Wollongong in 2hours 50 minutes and then road home to Kiama. Great fun!

[tinhorn]

4.5 hours for my first gong ride on my MTB bike - really well organised event and will definitely do it again.

Didn't see a crash but i saw a guy in the St johns hut at red cedar flats - saw him later on going down the steep desents at the end of RNP - he had a really nastly fall.

[peter]

A very nice day out, finished the ride in 3:20 and managed to stay on the big chain ring all the way. I thought that's pretty good effort considering I ran out of gears last year. So looking for the next one, perhaps I can attempt to ride back next year.

I was surprised not to see any BNA jersey wearers today.

[Loosenutt]

I started at 6am, got to Wollongong in 3:05 (took it fairly easy to conserve energy for the ride back)

I made it back to Sydney Park in a slower time, mainly due to the headwind and doing 90% of the ride back solo.

My legs sill felt good so I went for a 30km out and back ride around the foreshore (great on the way out, but extremely windy on the way back)

So, my first 200km ride done with

Ryan

[len1266]

Great weather for my 1st Gong ride,seemed to be well organised.Not sure on my time as my computer died after 2km's.The descents in the national park were fun.The hills between Coalcliff & Thirroul were tough after the climbs in the NP.Fortunately didn't see any accidents.Overall a great day for my longest ride to date. (90 k"s)?

[Tale]

I followed instructions not to start until after 6:30am and spent the first hour avoiding/overtaking/being delayed by slow people. It thinned out at the national park hills, but it wasn't until I was riding along the coastal bit after the RNP that I finally felt I could ride as fast as I wanted. Reached the Gong in 3 hr 20.

Witnessed bogans in a car yelling "get off the road" at the Gong ride! Best thing was seeing two pairs of whales playing in the water as I rode past.

[Wayfarer]

Witnessed bogans in a car yelling "get off the road" at the Gong ride! Best thing was seeing two pairs of whales playing in the water as I rode past.

was it an old red skyline?

I also had an awesome experience during the ride, aside
1. getting a flat before arriving to the volunteer tent
2. being too tired to strike good vconversation with anyone
3. my partner leaving for home at waterfall (previous knee operation meant he couldnt do the whole thing)
4. carrying 8 tubes and a floor pump, 5 tire levers, a full change of clothes, brake cables, and puncture repair kits for 90km

it was that great i'm bringing my girlfriend next year... to anyone who hasnt done it yet, you're missing out on something truly amazing.

[MikeyJ]

Aimed for something under 3.5 hours to beat last year's time and finished in 2h 55min to my great surprise

Would have been nicer if I'd been able to walk properly for the first 20 mins after finishing, though! Like len, I suffered a bit on the short, sharp hills between Coalcliff and Thirroul on the way back. Quads had just about given up on the last flat 5km to the finish line!

A great ride though, and far better organised than last year. The two-start system was super and I had a clear road from Sydney Park through to the Gong, starting from the 'individuals' start at the buzzer, about 6.05am.

Descent into the RNP was completely clear of riders for my trip down, which was an absolute blast! 65.8km top speed and some fun cornering.

To echo others, if you haven't done the Gong ride, you're missing out. It's great fun.

[bd80]

First gong ride complete, although not without a few small drama's. Rode to the start to meet with a group of workmates, then whilst lining up for the start, noticed that i'd lost a pedal! Got no idea how, especially considering a rode part of the way to the start and couldn't find the thing despite retracing my steps through the park.

After having no joy with the mechanics at the park, ended up finding out that king st cyclery was open, so headed up there to get some pedals. The guys up there were very helpful and sorted me out with a new set of 105 pedals, so got them fitted and headed back to the start. By this stage it was now 8:15am and not too many people around which was good in a way as the roads were relatively clear.

Had a good steady pace going and enjoyed the decents into RNP. Ended up having to wait for about 20mins just past Stanwell Tops as the police stopped to ride to assist a rider that apparently came off pretty badly on the decent (hope he/she is ok).

Ride was pretty congested after that point, but still got to the finish by 12:15pm, so was pretty happy to complete in around 4 hrs considering I'm a relative newbie to cycling (only took it up a couple of months ago).

All in all, a good day and a very worth cause - will definitely be back next year

[eon]

It was my first gong ride this year and it was unreal. I really enjoyed the ride.
Especially liked the descent through the national park and Stanwell tops area.
Closed sections of the road for cyclist - Roads you wouldn't normally be able to cycle on...

Got down to the gong in 2h:30m flat... extremely happy with the time.

I latched on to a pretty fast group... Christopher with a flatbar bike and mudguards and Graeme and a few others in their group.
Thanks for towing me through...

Will def do it again next year.

[hartleymartin]

My first Gong ride. I took nearly 7 hours to do the whole ride. This had a lot to do with two factors 1.) I don't have any hills on my regular rides and 2.) I took my expedition-touring bicycle, which is designed to carry lots of gear, and consequently it weighs 17kg BEFORE I fill up the bottles and attach the saddle pack!

I did benefit from a gear range of 26"-112", which allowed me to pedal up hills where lots of other people were walking. I'm going to have to look for some hills to climb on training rides.

I grew in determination to complete the ride after passing a rather thin girl who was riding single-speed (I wondered where the muscles were on her legs), and an elderly man on a K-mart MTB (I wondered whether I should let the Ambo's know to have the defib ready)

[jonw]

My first Gong ride, too, and had a great time. Finished in 3:38 - slightly under my aim of 4 hours. I was really impressed by the organisation of the event - I think they did a fantastic job getting 10 thousand riders from Sydney to the Gong (the vast majority of whom I'm sure really enjoyed the day) and raising 2.6 million for MS Australia in the process. Well done.

I'll be back next year.

Jon

[Chanboy]

Well, I had an awesome ride to the Gong.

As others have said - it was extremely well organised and the weather was near perfect.

Took me 4.5 hours on the old hybrid - certainly no record breaker, but we were having a pretty relaxed ride. I didn't see any serious accidents, though did see one guy lying on the side of the road being attended to by Ambos - so I guess someone wasn't so lucky...

I made it all the way without having to use the granny gear - and felt I still had some energy at the finish, was a bit surprised at my own fitness to be honest. This was my longest ride so far - about 100ks, since we rode from home to the start point, and then back again after getting the bus back to Sydney.

The first fast downhill section in the national park, after battling through the city streets really made it all worthwhile... Really is quite beautiful cycling through the national park...

Saw some really big blokes struggling/walking up some of the hills in the National Park section - hat's off to them for getting in and having a go.

Congratulations to the organisers - it's a pretty remarkable feat to pull off, and make it look so easy.

[Chanboy]

Oh, pretty sure I spotted HartleyMartin trudging his way on...

[smileNnod]

Absolutely loved the ride.
Rode last year on the mountain bike 4.20 and achieved 3.02 on my roadie for 09.
Left at 6am with the team made my way to the front of our staggered group near waterfall and pretty much rode the coastal road by myself.
whales weather and event in comparison to last year was 10/10, well done organisers.

For those that can ride the 86km around the 3hr mark and then consider riding back, I applaude and am setting the return trip as my goal for next year.

[hartleymartin]

Oh, pretty sure I spotted HartleyMartin trudging his way on...

Blue Bike, Stainless Mudguards, North Road handlebars, Green Saddle Pack, and I was wearing a turquiose (green-blue) and black polo shirt with black shorts.

Made it the whole way - rather slow - must get that 531-frame for next year.

[Chanboy]

Yep, that's you! hahaha. I remember seeing you and your pack horse. I imagine the uphill section just after the National Park lunch stop would have been a pretty slow and steady pace for you...

[sblack]

Well, didn't manage to pick any BNA members but my wife and I had a pleasant day and are happy with out 4:15 ride time. Everything seamed to run smoother and was less congested this year which was great.

[hartleymartin]

Yep, that's you! hahaha. I remember seeing you and your pack horse. I imagine the uphill section just after the National Park lunch stop would have been a pretty slow and steady pace for you...

Indeed it was!

But once out of the National Park and past the bridge (by the way - a FANTASTIC view of the ocean) at several places there were by-standers cheering everyone who went past. Two young girls threw flower petals in the air as I went past, one young boy jumped up and down and cheered for passing cyclists and one lady called out to us "Good on you! You're almost there!"

I met Dave (Bigfriendlyvegan) several times along the way.

Mechanical problems included (in order)

- Right Half Clip came lose (pedal reflector holding it one gave up the ghost)
- Front derailer failing to shift into top chainring - turns out I had routed the cable incorrectly around the centrestand. Had to re-route the cable and leave the stand in the saddle pack for the rest of the ride.
- Rear derailer not shifting into biggest sprocket - turns out that the rear derailer is bent AND twisted. Tricky use of limiters and barrel adjuster finally got back the full range of gears. Chances are going to have to replace it... F***ing derailers! (I continue to dream of a Rohloff 14-speed hub)

[flutey]

I did my first Gong ride in 2:59:08 which made me very happy. The only bit of mild panic was fighting against the camber in the RNP just after Waterfall (must...get...to...middle...of...road) whilst people far braver than me just whizzed down. It was a damn fine day.

[ghettro]

I might add my time was 3hrs 15min, I left at 6:30 with the crowds, I spent about a while stuck in traffic for the first 5k's or so until I found people at the same pace as me., maybe next year I'll get there early as I'm confident I'd be able to get under 3hrs.

I tracked it on my iPhone using runkeeper for those who are interested
http://bit.ly/3W9Xj0

Oh and I lost my campy cycling cap... must have fallen out of my pocket when I was riding.