So yesterday I decided to ride to Goulburn, following the Federal and Hume Highways.  I need to do this to test out the touring bike and the related kit for a multi-day ride hopefully in a few months time.

I went with a work friend, Jay, who took her road bike along for the trip.  Because of Jay’s bike (and the thin nature of a road bike’s tires) we took to the highway.

The ride was a bit easier than I thought in some ways.  Leaving Canberra, there are two long climbs to overcome before reaching Lake George.  From there, there are only a few relatively minor hills between Canberra and Goulburn.  The highway is busy, though every driver that came close to us provided enough clearance when encountering bridges.  There was more shoulder space along the highways than I had originally anticipated, so that was a plus.  At the end of the day, another work friend, Jaeryl, picked us up and drove us back to Canberra.

All of my kit worked out well.  The bike, does really great up hills, as even with an extra ten kilos in the panniers I often overtook my friend.  The handlebar bag which I packed with extra camera bag padding, was good for the camera and other bits which I wanted ready access.

This is probably the last of the day long rides this year, unless there’s like a nice cool day in between those predicted heatwaves.  Otherwise, I’m going to start planning for next year when I have some leave from work.

And now photos (and this twitter thread):