My best advice to anyone wanting to do the ride next year is do not take your best/good bike - the road conditions at the start were rough. We had to cross a couple of cattle grids with the help of sheets of plywood. Then there was a couple of stretches of road with enough patches of tar to make you think you were riding on cobble stones. Added to this was some gravel that nearly caused me to crash. I would also urge anyone going to it next year to take thicker tyres - 700 x 25 just did the job.
Having said that the rest of the route was good albiet badly sign posted. The result of the signposting issue was that I got lost at the begining and did part of the 50 km ride as well as the century. You should also make sure your bike is in good condition because glass and other debris caused punctures. I copped a slow leak in the rear tyre on top of getting lost which soaked up clock. This was worrying because there was a cut off time for the century riders to be at one of the control points, fortunately this was loosely enforced. As a result I reached this control point 15 minutes after it closed but was allowed to continue.
The route left Mt Penang Parklands at Kariong and went through Sommersby, down to Central Mangrove, Peats Ridge, Calga, Mt White down to a service station/cafe the Mooney Mooney Bridge on the old Pacific Highway then return in reverse. The scenery was beautiful and the traffic down was light . By and large the other road users (mostly motorcyclists) were good and friendly, although a white hire car gave his engine a good rev when he passed me at speed.
The route was challenging in some parts but the climbs were quite achievable. This being the first time I have ridden the ride I feel that the route would be quite good for anyone wanting to tour the area although it may be difficult to link the ride with any public transport. When I reached the control at Mooney Mooney a group of riders left the ride to go to a local pub and then catch a train to Gosford. Unfortunately I don't know which station they were going to take.
On the whole I would recommend the ride highly even though getting to the start area required a car. It is the third ride this year I have attended that was organised by a rotary club (the other two being the Tour de Hills and the Loop the Lake challenges). The rider support was good with the rotary club volunteers providing food and water at each control point and mechanical support provided by a bikeshop van and a volunteer in his own car (He supplied a floor pump that I used when changing the tube). The riders were a mix of serious roadies and recreational cyclists. I spoke to one guy who had camped at Kariong and strapped his swag to his rear rack. In short the ride is a good century ride and would make a good ride for anyone wanting to do their first official century
