There's a lot of uphill between Templar Street and Manly but this team of local cyclists have pushed up and over for the cause of connecting country kids to medical care.
Stuart Thomas, Luke Randall, Marco Carelli and Terry Cuskelly have completed the 409km ride - with more than 5431m of climb - to raise funds for Royal Far West.
The four departed Forbes' Royal Far West op shop in the chilly pre-dawn on Friday, cheered on their way by local Sunshine Club Royal Far West volunteers, and finished at Bondi Manly Beach late Saturday afternoon with a few friends who'd joined them along the way.
After a chilly three degrees in Cudal had riders reaching back to the support vehicle for gloves, the day dawned to beautiful blue skies and even a kindly tailwind.
Riders saw some picturesque country, tackled some hilly sections between Bathurst and Lithgow before climbing the Blue Mountains.
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"There's a lovely little back road from Hartley Vale that takes you - you're virtually on top of the range there and from there it was quite easy to ride to Blackheath," Stuart said.
There they were joined by Stuart's son Andrew and a couple of other riders for the next leg of the journey.
"Those mountains were a serious amount of fun," Stuart said.
"Crossing the mountains we were getting 40-50km (an hour) comfortably and I topped 81km/hr riding down a section."
The team went down Mitchell's Pass and took the most direct route - in the Great Western Highway and on the bike trail along the Parramatta River.
There were bridges to cross - Gladesville, ANZAC Bridge and Pyrmont- before stopping at the Opera House to capture the milestone and moment and then on over the Harbour Bridge.
The riders arrived at Manly, to a very warm welcome by Royal Far West board and staff.
"We had a lovely tour of the Royal Far West headquarters and they explained their program," Stuart said.
Royal Far West is celebrating 100 years this year and the riders were able to view their centenary display as well as learn first hand about their programs and plans for development.
The team has a $10,000 fundraising goal and you can still donate online at give.royalfarwest.org.au/fundraisers/stuartthomas
Their ride is also being supported by the Findex Community Fund.
Every donation to Royal Far West helps connect country children, families and educators to multi disciplinary services that help give country kids the best possible opportunity to learn, grow and reach their potential.
A $100 donation could pay for a country child's initial consultation with a speech pathologist, giving them the tools to express themselves in the classroom;
$150 could pay for a child's follow up consultation with a psychologist, to support their mental health and give them every chance of thriving at school and beyond.
