It seems we surprised ourselves - by enjoying the UCI Road World Championships quite as much as we did.
By the last weekend of the eight-day spectacular, many Wollongong residents discovered they were closet cycling fans, after all.
Leanne Newsham, who took a week off work to volunteer for the event, heard about peoples' change of heart firsthand.
"Working as a volunteer all around Wollongong at different points I spoke to a lot of residents who thought it was all doom and gloom.
"But once they saw it, they thought it was really cool," Mrs Newsham said.
Crowds of roadside spectators increased as the event wore on, to the extent that thousands lined the course over the last weekend for the elite road races.
"It was a bit quiet during the week but it was good to see the crowds on the weekend," Ms Newsham said.
While most people did realise in time to enjoy the finale over the weekend, others were too late to the party.
Laura, from Bulli, regrets not watching it live. She even stayed at a friend's house to avoid road closures and missed cyclists riding up her own street.
"After seeing people's posts on social media I really wish I watched it, it looked good," she said.
Sisters Polly Grundy and Pena Borg, from Camden, didn't hear about the event until it was too late.
"We didn't hear about it. We didn't even know it was on until Sunday," Ms Borg said.
Ms Grundy agreed, saying that "there wasn't enough advertisement around where we live".
Both women were envious of friends who travelled to Wollongong and later raved about their experience.
One woman, who preferred not to be named, believes she summed up the general public's attitude.
"I think there was both positive and negatives," she said.
"In the long term it will be good for tourism. Wollongong looked really great on TV, but, in the short term I know a lot of businesses suffered," she told the Mercury.
Other common themes mentioned related to traffic and road closures.
No-one will miss the traffic snarls but some did say they found the short-term pain to be "worth it".
"The traffic was pretty crazy but it was okay," Steven Nguyen, from Horsley, said.
Even those residents inconvenienced by road closures praised the international event.
Keiraville's Charles Kelly, who lives in a retirement village, felt like he was in lockdown again as road closures constantly impacted his neighbourhood.
"We couldn't take our cars out at all because we were part of the course almost everyday," Mr Kelly said.
Yet despite reliving lockdowns for a week, Mr Kelly reckoned the event was "overall good for Wollongong" and enjoyed spectating on his street.
"I think the good outweighed all the shortcomings of it," he told the Mercury.
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