Welcome to Race from/to the Rocks 2022

Day One - Ferry Diversions and Brake Pads

Day Two; Great "roads"

Day Three; Wrapping up the entree whichever way possible

Day 4; Tough choices

Day 5; swimming into town

Day 6; All quiet on the western front

Day 8; Leader scratches!

Race to the Rock is back for 2022, a little later than originally planned, but with 44 eager riders registered for either just the Entree, or the Full Meal from Sydney to Adelaide, and some potentially very wet weather on the way, it's going to be one to watch.

This year is a bit different as riders start in Sydney (near "The Rocks") at 6:22am on Sep 3, with some technical riding early on to get some "exercise". Eventually they head west and tackle some remote sections in outback NSW, but then find civilisation again as they approach Adelaide. 

You can read the full rundown from the organisers at Curve [here](https://www.curvecycling.com.au/blogs/blogs/race-to-the-rocks-2022) and the tracking [here](https://racefromtherocks2022.maprogress.com/), and follow DotWatcher for updates.

I'll be pulling content from the riders' social media feeds, dot watchers, weather forecasts, and throwing in my own anecdotes as I attempted to ride the route in April this year (with only partial success).

Godspeed to all the racers!


The racers are off and made it through their first night. Day one, and the "Amuse-bouche" section was always going to be slow going through single trail around the North Shore and Northern Beaches, but wet conditions meant racers were wearing through brake pads and scrambling to make the ferry at Palm Beach. The added bonus for the day was that due to rough conditions on the water the ferry was only going as far as Patongna, leaving racers to get back on course at Wagstaffe however they saw fit.

We saw 2 of the entree only riders scrach from the race, and sadly one of the 2 females in Su Pretto pull out with a mechanical just before reaching Palm Beach. The other female SachaD is up the front pushing with DrSLane and David Langley.

After resupply in West Gosford as darkness fell, the riders pushed on, most having less than 6 hours stopped within the first 24 hours, with hopefully a least a couple of hours of quality sleep, possibly on the side of the trail in a forest if they're anything like me.

Day 2 sees more technical sections of the course, including the very rough convict built Old Great North Rd, before a resupply in Wisemans Ferry. Thankfully the weather is mild with almost no rain forecast, although the course is likely still to be very sodden as they follow the Hawkesbury and Colo Rivers; the area having experienced multiple flood events this year.

(Photo via Damian van Loon/UltraCyclingLife)

As the race continues to unfold, on day 2 most riders hit the Old Great North Rd, either the leaders in the very early hours of Sunday morning, or the later riders during daylight. Based on my experience of this "road", it's better in daylight, as it is very rocky, sandy, soggy, and requires riders to duck under and climb over trees.

The leaders are truly playing out a Tortoise and Hare story, with Sacha (pictured via Jen Reynolds on Facebook) stopping for less than an hour in the first 2 days(!), and other riders around her DrSlane and David Langley getting a lot more sleep, a luxurious by comparison 10 or so hours.

By midnight on day 2, many racers had made it to Lithgow, one of the larger towns on the route, allowing for a full resupply, repairs, and potentially a bed.

There were no additional scratchings on day 2, and although there were some scattered showers across the course it could've been a lot worse.


Day 3 started with riders spread from Wiseman's Ferry to Lithgow. Many at the front including DrSlane, David Langley, EK, and Garth took the opportunity to sleep in a bed in Lithgow, but amazingly SachaD pushed on after only a brief resupply. In 3 days she has still barely stopped!

This section gave racers the option to take a northern route with potentially very wet river crossings, and a southern longer option with more bitumen. After speaking with locals, DrSlane took the longer, safer option around nightfall, and so far all others have followed his lead.

We saw Alex Chubb scratch and head home, amongst interesting mechanical issues; a cracked headset, braking issues (pictured), and Simon does down to single speed after breaking a component in his shifter.

Riders have Orange to look forward to for one last big resupply before Mildura with bike shops for repairs. With Orange the finishing point for the Entree, DrSLane will take the win, and 6 remaining Entree racers will end there and start the long recovery process.

Day 4 saw the majortiy of riders make the choice between the northern route throuh Hill End, along The Bridle Track and a water crossing of the Macquarie River, or the southern, longer, dryer option. While it seemed every rider took the southern option, the young Frenchman Lucas made an attempt. He reached the water crossing as it got dark, seemed to contemplate it for an hour or so then went back to Hill End for a sleep.

Day 4 saw DrSLane the first person to finish the Entree section into Orange around 3am, with Carl, David Langley, then Sascha later in the morning, and Erinn Klein not far behind.

Simon's mechanical issue with his shifter forced his choice to finish in Orange, 6th overall for the Entree (as pictured) in his second Rack to the Rock. He rode single speed for over 100km, pushing past a couple of other riders on what would be his last day.

As the riders leave Orange, they reach the highest point on the route Mount Canobolas. From there the route heads west and is mostly flat for the next 1000km, with longer gaps between supplies. The forecast rain over the coming days, on top of the flooding already in the area, could mean very muddy (ie unrideable) tracks or long detours...


Day 5 saw the remaining entree riders make it their destination in Orange, with 8 riders officially registered for that distance completing their race, plus others who decided to pull up stumps there. Chapéu!

Ahead of Orange, floodwaters sat across roads, waist-deep in sections, for hundreds of metres or even kilometeres at a time. While the leader DrSlane waded through (pictured), others were greeted with closed road signs.

As the rain came down in the afternoon, the goal for most riders simply became to make it to shelter so they could wait out the rain. The leaders are now DrSLane, Erinn Klein, Sacha the Smasher, and David Langley in Euabolong hanging out at the Royal Hotel, a second group of 4 riders 170km back in Forbes, and most of the remainder back in Orange.

With more rain coming on Thursday, there might be very little movement until the roads dry out with a bit of wind and sun.


Due to considerable rain across NSW, for the most part there was very little movement on day 6 of the 2022 Race from the Rocks. When I attempt

The leading group of 4 (Erin, Sacha, David, and Stephen) spent the day in Euabolong discussing their death mud detour options, and agreed on the route. In order to avoid the trucks on the highway, the detour is longer than the original route.

Justin rode the sealed option to Condoblin to get a little closer to the leading group, while others bunkered down in Forbes or Orange, refuelling and repairing. While it's impressive that most bikes have survived the abuse, others required significant repairs.


After almost 36 hours in Euabolong, the leaders left around dawn following the reroute option, avoiding the muddy tracks into Mungo Lake National Park, instead taking mostly sealed roads to the south, crossing over the Sturt Highway near Hay. By midnight, the leading 4 were in or near Moulamain, Justin in Hay, with Adam and Michael also following the reroute.

Callum and Sier drove ahead to Mildura, and found some very sticky mud towards the SA border (pictured). The leaders could catch Callum and Sier somewhere in the riverland, or maybe in the Adelaide Hills...

Towards the rear, Eric and Lucas left Orange early, with Damian/UltraCyclingLife a few hours behind. After mechanical issues earlier in the race, Mark made it to Orange.

Day 7; roadie time trial

As the race nears the finish line, the remaining riders were all sleeping at midnight, and started to set off from 3am. Stephen Lane got the jump on the leading group from Moulamein, but by around 8am as he pulled into Tooleybuc  decided to scratch as he simply ran out of motivation. This left the door open for Sacha, Erin, and David.

Callum and Sier continued out of Mildura actually ahead of the leaders (after driving around the worst of the mud), and while they aren't contensting the lead, they are able to provide the other riders information on the conditions of roads ahead, namely the Old Maid Rd towards the SA border. No surprise to hear it's very muddy...

As is his choice, Justin decided to take the Sturt Highway from Hay and deal with the fast trucks, allowing him to make up a bit of ground on the leaders, which Eric and Lucas also chose their own detour further back.

Damien/UltraCyclingLife, at this point still sticking diligently to the course made it into Forbes.

9 days, 4 hours, and 34 minutes after rolling out from The Rocks, Erinn Klein arrived in the centre of Adelaide to win the 2022 edition of the race he won back in 2020. He napped briefly at Charleston in the early hours of the morning, knowing he had at least 2 hours lead on 2nd place. He was greeted by a small welcoming party including his family in Victoria Square, many watching live on Facebook.

Dot Watcher favorite Sacha "the Smasher" arrived 4 hours lately, completing her longest and toughest race ever, seemingly allergic to sleep throughout the race as she slept very little each night.

Just under an hour later 3rd place David Langley pulled in, making a final galant but unsuccessfuly push to catch Sacha.

A huge congratulations to all the finishers so far!

Out on course, Callum and Sier are making their way through the Barossa, Justin rejoined the route at Mildura, while Michael, Eric, Lucas, and Damien (UltraCyclingLife) all traverse the agreed upon detour across the Hay Plains and on to Mildura.


Day 9 and a bit; Across the line!

Race from the Rocks Tracking 2022: A change to the usual route from an Aussie coastal town to Uluru, 2022 sees the race start in Sydney Opera House and finish in Adelaide. 

Race from the Rocks Tracking 2022

RACE FROM THE ROCKS TRACKING: A change to the usual route from an Aussie coastal town to Uluru, 2022 sees the race start in Sydney Opera House and finish in Adelaide. There's set to be less outback riding than usual but the rough terrain is still on the menu.

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