Seeing Sydney by Bike

     I was nervous about the weather report.  Rain and thunderstorms were expected the day that I was signed up to go on a bike tour through Sydney.  I, of course, was hoping for sunshine and no rain because the roads and bike paths would be slippery (and I would be a little MORE nervous about biking over the Harbour Bridge if it was wet!)  And when Sunday finally arrived, it was a perfect day!
     The bike trip started at Darling Harbour and we biked over the bridge and to the street.  Within the last 6 months, Sydney put in bike paths on the street that are really nice so it is easier to bike through the busy city.  Here is a picture of the bike path:

     The bikes that we rode were hybrids (and a lot easier to ride than my Walmart mountain bike at home, haha, so the flat parts were relatively easy!)
     The main sites that we saw on the bikes were Darling Harbour, Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Royal Botanic Gardens, and Hyde Park.  After Hyde Park, we started to go back to Darling Harbour, where we started.  This is where it got interesting: there was no bike path along this section of Sydney yet, so we had to "pretend" that our bikes were cars and "drive" on the road.  So, I biked in the middle of the road in downtown Sydney.  The eight of us got in pairs and followed each other.  I was gripping my handles sooo tight because I did not want to swerve into the cars beside me.  One thing that I thought about while biking on the road is if there is a car -vs- bike, the car normally wins!!!  But it was exciting and I could hear some people on the streets saying "Look at those bikers!"
      Bike. Bike. Bike!

On the trail by the Harbour Bridge