Non rider looking for advice for ndis client. Long haul east coast

[Asking4afriend]

Hi guys, I'm not a cyclist but I work for an ndis provider and have a client who wants to ride from grafton to sydney on his electric bike towing a small trailer. He plans on sticking to the highway and has me terrified. Is this even a possibility. I'm trying to talk him.out of it but he's adamant it can be done. Any advice or further reading you could point me to would be much appreciated
Cheers Jason

[redsonic]

Hi Jason, I wouldn't be keen on the highway myself (and I'm not a tourer), but it may be safer than some of the winding back roads South & West of Grafton. You have to consider the amount of road shoulder and the sight lines available to drivers. Hopefully, someone with more touring experience than I will reply. You may be better posting this in the touring subforum?

[find_bruce]

Hi guys, I'm not a cyclist but I work for an ndis provider and have a client who wants to ride from grafton to sydney on his electric bike towing a small trailer. He plans on sticking to the highway and has me terrified. Is this even a possibility. I'm trying to talk him.out of it but he's adamant it can be done. Any advice or further reading you could point me to would be much appreciated
Cheers Jason

Welcome Jason,

Strava heatmaps is a good place to see the more popular routes.

You will see plenty of people ride the highway - I'm more familiar with the roads south from Port Macquarie. Personally I find it less than pleasant, but that's a choice - the highway has the advantage of large shoulders.

As for route, I would suggest following the NSW Coastal Cycle Trail from Corindi

Mod Says: moved to Touring forum

[g-boaf]

Hi guys, I'm not a cyclist but I work for an ndis provider and have a client who wants to ride from grafton to sydney on his electric bike towing a small trailer. He plans on sticking to the highway and has me terrified. Is this even a possibility. I'm trying to talk him.out of it but he's adamant it can be done. Any advice or further reading you could point me to would be much appreciated
Cheers Jason

I share your concerns and second the advice of Strava heatmaps. They tend to be a fairly reliable guide to routes that are popular with riders.

And as a backup, use Google Streetview (if available) just to double check. But consider street-view might not always be up to date and could miss out on updated road conditions.

I generally prefer roads with large shoulders but watch out for cases where the shoulders disappear (such as bridges).

Best of luck with your research, do stick around.