This is the final 49km of our Greater Sydney Bike Trail adventure. We will return to where it all started – Mascot – not for any reason other than that is where my bike bag is being stored. And by 7:00pm, I’ll be on board a flight back to Adelaide to return to my ordinary existence. My ride statistics are available on Strava.

My accomodation was in the Rocks, conveniently within a stones throw from the Lord Nelson. My room had quite a pleasant view over Barangaroo. By the time we had arrived in Sydney, we were already aware that this weekend was the Sydney Marathon weekend. If I hadn’t already known, by the time I had arrived to Circular Quay by bike it would have been beyond doubt. Many groups of runners enjoying stunning Sydney weather for an iconic run. Later in the ride the temporary fencing and other preparations would also be present.

Like a homing pigeon, I headed to my favourite Sydney coffee and breakfast spot Parami to meet Andrew and Lizzie and have breakfast together. They take the humble muffin, almost universally dull and dry, and create a delicious moist extravaganza of flavour. It is the perfect light breakfast when combined with a black coffee. I know that many people don’t like muffins, but please suspend your judgement until you try it. This homing pigeon headed straight through the city utilising the excellent cycleways now in Sydney. There is not doubt in my mind that Sydney has been the most successful Australian city in transforming itself into an attractive human centred CBD. Great investments in urban space, transit and cycleways contribute to a more engaging and pleasantly quieter CBD. I have avoided brining my Brompton to Sydney for many years – but there are no excuses anymore. I didn’t take any photos because I was just enjoying my ride in the centre of Sydney!

Of course not long after breakfast there was a need to have a quick morning tea. This time we headed to an old favourite Bourke Street Bakery. I have the book – but have never made anything from it – perhaps it’s time?

I didn’t want to embarrass any of the road racers on the Centennial Park track so we only did part of the loop before heading off on a random meander towards the beach. It is fair to say that there were a few short hill climbs to keep us honest in this shore adjacent segment of the route. While we planned to arrive at Coogee for lunch, we were making good time and actually arrived a bit earlier. Andrew had a chance to explore a few ocean pools – perhaps in preparation for his next visit? We decided to follow the shore path towards Maroubra for a light cafe lunch at Marini Cafe.

All that was left was to head out to historic La Perouse and then to meander our way back to Mascot. Sounds simple enough? We were doing pretty well until Heffron Park. What I hadn’t realised at the time was that when I edited the GPX file to include directions to my luggage storage in Mascot, Strava decided to algorithmically redraw the route from Heffron Park to Mascot. So instead of turning left at Fitzgerald Avenue the algorithm decided we should go right and then join Anzac Parade!!! I was having doubts about this route but gaslighting myself I persisted for a while before stopping and confirming my fears. By this time, the best solution was for us to follow our own way back to Mascot.

There are important lessons for people contemplating doing trips like this in Sydney, or for that matter anywhere else in the world. Nothing beats a route that has been prepared by and tested by a human – the algorithm only knows a model of the world. In many cases that model is wrong because of old data, wrong data and missing data. It can lead to terrible routing decision made by a computer. It is important to encourage and support the work of people like Garry Robinson who work very hard to bring together routes like the Greater Sydney Bike Trail. If you’re interested in some of my routes in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra (and soon Brisbane) you can find them at Bromptoneering or Bust. I promise that you don’t have to have a Brompton to enjoy these rides – but it would surely will be better!

Until next time…