Lithgow – Adelaide RAID

A chance to see the 'real' OZ. The places that even 'dinky dies' have never heard of, let alone the tourists. The ride starts from Lithgow, for safety reasons, avoiding the busy high speed freeways and highways near Sydney. But there is a train from Sydney to Lithgow. Varying landscapes including historic towns from early colonial Australia, as you ride south along the Western Slopes of the Great Divide. Nice down hill runs at first, and steep little pinches, between Lithgow and Bathurst. Bathurst being home of the famous motor race. You ride down Pit Straight! (And right around the circuit if you wish)  Then the rolling, rich landscapes, and even a castle, as you go furhter south along the Western Slopes of the Great Dividing Range. Before long you are passing through then lush irrigated pastures and crops of the River Murray basin. Soak up paddle steamer history in beautiful Echuca, on the border between NSW and Victoria. As you travel north through Victoria you start to experience the drier, flatter Mallee regions, and their huge cereal paddocks that stretch over the horizon!  Mainly quiet roads through little out of the way towns. (.e.g. the 'loneliest road', except when the Masters race along it, passing through Meringur. Check out their pioneer village. Your legs will appreciate the break. What's the rush? Crossing into South Australia, you soon reach the River Murray again, the longest in OZ, and climb into the Adelaide Hills. Through the beautiful Barossa Valley wine region, and onto Adelaide, mostly along bike paths, and the finish line in Elder Park. Riders need to finish within a minimum time of 9 days and a maximum time of 16 days. (an average overall speed between 100km/day and 200km/day, but with no time limits on the controls along the route.