MS Gong Ride: the train back to Sydney with a bike

Eighty kilometres. Up to ten thousand riders. Sydney at your back and the sea at Wollongong waiting at the end. The MS Gong Ride rolls out for the 45th time on Sunday 1 November, and it is one of the best days you can have on a bike.

The finish is at Fairy Meadow, a long, long way from your front door. That part is on us. A train takes you and the bike home every 30 minutes from 9.30am, so all you have to do is ride.

How do you get to the start?

The 80km leaves from Tempe Recreation Reserve. Three stations sit within a ten minute ride of it. Take a train to Tempe, Wolli Creek or Sydenham. On the metro, ride to Sydenham and pedal the last seven minutes.

Between 5.30am and 8am that morning, every T4 service stops at Wolli Creek and Tempe. Every T8 service stops at Wolli Creek between 5.30am and 8.30am.

Coming up from the south, four extra early trains leave Wollongong. They go at 4.23am, 4.37am, 5.22am and 5.53am. Each one stops at Engadine, Sutherland and Hurstville. Then Wolli Creek, Tempe and Sydenham.

The 4.56am and 5.31am from Wollongong make an extra stop at Wolli Creek and Tempe. So does the 5.57am from Kiama.

For the 53km, get off at Engadine. Preston Park is a two minute ride from the station. The 6.15am from Bondi Junction makes an extra stop at Engadine for the morning.

Your bike cannot board a bus

That Sunday there is trackwork, and it lands on the way in. Buses replace trains between Central and Strathfield or Olympic Park until 10am.

Bikes are not allowed on buses. That includes rail replacement buses. It is a flat rule, not the driver's call.

So if you are coming from the west, do not plan a trip that routes you onto one. Take a T8 train to Wolli Creek or Sydenham instead.

Check the live times the night before. A replacement bus in your plan at 5am is a problem you want to find at 9pm.

What about getting home?

Fairy Meadow station is the one at the finish. Special event trains leave there for Central and Bondi Junction every 30 minutes, from 9.30am to 5.30pm.

• South of Sydney, they stop at Thirroul, Stanwell Park and Otford.
• In the Shire, Waterfall, Engadine and Sutherland.
• Closer in, Hurstville, Wolli Creek and Tempe.
• Last, Sydenham, Redfern and Central.

Most trains after 2pm go only as far as Central. If you are heading on to Bondi Junction late in the day, change there.

These trains need the ride's own $8 train ticket. Tapping on does not work on them. Buy the ticket at the finish line if you have not already got one.

Pay the normal way to get to the start. That ticket only covers the trip home.

The practical stuff

• Bikes on trains are fine at any time, on the train and on the metro.
• On the metro, stand in the multi-purpose areas in the first or last carriage.
• Stow it clear of the doorways and the aisle. Platforms are busier than usual all morning.
• Converted e-bikes, meaning a pedal bike fitted with a motor and a battery, cannot go on a train carriage or a platform. The fine is $400. Other e-bikes are fine.
• Ferries are not the backup. A crew can refuse a bike when there is no safe space for it.
• Heading further south after the finish, buses replace trains between Wollongong and Port Kembla from 9am. Your bike cannot get on those either.
• Roads around the course are closed from 4am to 10am, and some buses are diverted.

The last train out

The last special event train out of Fairy Meadow goes at 5.30pm. The ride finishes by 3.30pm, which leaves two hours.

That is plenty, right up until you stop moving and your legs decide they are finished. Pick your train before you stop pedalling.

Then check the live times on the platform. A timetable is the plan. The countdown is the train.