August 12th Rides

For a treat, I decided to catch the morning train to the Blue Mountains. It was a 20/21Km ride to Central station.

A 2 hour train trip later, I was at Leura. It's a small town, with some cute shops.

From there, I rode the scenic way to Katoomba, following the curves of the cliff top to Echo Point. Here you can see the main valley of the blue moutains & the "3 sisters" (a rock formation). The lookout is very popular with tourists & the views are quite spectacular.


From there I rode into the township itself, which has a wide variety of shops. My fav is an antique shop. Aside from books, china, jewelry & other goodies, the top level has some gorgeous vintage clothes on display. Up there, you can choose from furs, dresses, handbags, night dresses & other pretty stuff.

I joined the motorway (which has a reasonable verge) & rode down (1000metres to 30metres elevation) towards Sydney. This section of the trip was approx 40Km.

Along the way, via a 6km detour, is the home of a famous Australian artist. Norman Lindsay, worked around the early/mid 1900's, and had fasination for statues of nudes (mostly curvacious woman). I didn't pay to see the gallery, but I did have a look around the garden, admiring the statues & the nearby bush.


Just before Penrith, I discovered a section of road surrounded by bush & following a river. There were hardly any cars & it was ALL downhill. :D

After that, there was an approx 30Km into the city (towards Parramatta).
It was via a not too busy motorway with small rolling hills.
I aimed to get to Parramatta station by 3pm, I made it there just 5 mins past 3, so I made good time.

From there I caught the train to the city, rode 1km & I was at Circular Quay. A 30min ferry trip across the harbour, and I was at Manly. From there it was only 7.5Km home.


All in all, I had a great day out.

How was your Sunday ride?

Wow enzed- your ride sounds far more entertaining than mine was (and probably much prettier too). What a nice way to spend the day! How long was your adventure today? Did you take any pictures?

I rode a stretch of road that I haven't yet ridden. Did 60 hard miles yesterday, so took it easier with today's ride (40 really easy miles). Wish I'd taken some pictures. Saw some great countryside (meaning: farmland with cows/horses and lots of rural farms). Nice rolling hills and light traffic. Low wind, but really, really hot and humid. Ran out of water and had to fill up at a gas station along the way (thank goodness the woman gave me ice and water for free- I had no money). :D Kindness of strangers- something you always experience in small town rural America (and elsewhere I'm know).

Hi, it was a bit of an adventure. The week was a fairly stressfull one, so i felt like I needed to "treat" myself.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...dge-Main-Roads
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path...-to-Parramatta

I'm using a borrowed camera & and still learning how to use photos on the web. But I'll give it a go.
http://picasaweb.google.com/louiseenzed/Katoomba

Happy riding