August 12th Rides

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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.

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?