Ok so it's not a bush ride, but I did it
so that's why I'm describing it. For this ride, it's virtually all sealed
road, so it's suitable for a road bike as well as a MTB.
One of my goals has been to ride to Lithgow,
and at a later stage to Bathurst. I really never thought I'd do it but
it's done now :)
I didn't wake up and decide I'd ride to
Lithgow; it just happened - like when I rode to Medlow Bath a couple of
years ago. I initially set out to ride up to Wentworth Falls lake and back
again...but having got there the weather had become absolutely perfect
for riding , plus having got there and feeling fit with no pain I thought
I'd just go a bit further and see....
Left Hazelbrook
I left home at Hazelbrook at 9.30 Boxing
Day 2004 with the intention of riding as far as Wentworth Falls; a ride
I'd done many times before. This was however, the first time I'd taken
the Trek Y5. My usual route is to go up to Lawson via Baths Rd and ride
through the tunnel under the highway and station. From there it's a left
turn heading towards Bullaburra. You can go via the bitumen or the dirt.
I chose the dirt; which although still corrugated wasn't as bad as it has
been of late.
Past Bullaburra and onto the dirt again
up to Wentworth Falls. It's all uphill of course. There's a new estate
at Bullaburra up towards Bodington Hill, so most of this road has been
sealed now.
Wentworth Falls
Arriving at Wentworth Falls turn right
then left which takes you via the lake and back out onto the highway.
This is where it becomes tricky, for soon
after the right turn back onto the highway you are faced with the roadworks.
Being Boxing Day, the traffic wasn't too bad and I soon noticed what is
going to be a bike track being constructed so I rode on that instead up
to Leura Mall. Now, the logical way would be to continue with the highway.
There's no breakdown lane or footpath to ride here so I took the safer
alternative down through the Mall and right into Megalong St. Nice downhill
ride here, but you have to climb it at the other end. With the quiet traffic
I then went down Katoomba St, having a look at what's changed since I was
last there. Back up Parke St to the highway and the nice wide bike lane.
So far I was feeling good and it looked like I'd get to Medlow Bath again.
Funny thing is when I did get there, I still felt good. Let's keep going...
The breakdown lane between Medlow Bath
and Blackheath is minimal and doesn't really exist in most places, but
really with the light traffic and believe it or not, courteous motorists
I didn't feel unsafe at all. Remember this is holiday time and there were
very few semi trailers.
Blackheath
I didn't even stop in Blackheath...the
Trek just taking me along with minimum effort. Blackheath is the highest
town in the Blue Mountains at 1067m.
My next stop was at the Mount Boyce lookout
just to sit for a few minutes and have a drink. At this point I started
to wonder how far I should go, for it was now 11.30. Well Mt Vic isn't
that far and I can get something to eat...let's give it a go.
As it turned out Mt Boyce to Mt Victoria
was easy; I was there before I knew it. And the nice smooth cycle lane
really made a difference. Most of it's downhill with just a short climb
once you actually get into Mt Vic.
Mt Vic for
a junk food lunch
Here I stopped at the General Store just
on 12.00 feeling quite pleased with myself for having got this far. Although
it was only 36km, remember that most of that was uphill.I really hadn't
intended to come this far so had no money with me...except the $20 I keep
in my toolkit in case of the unexpected. I sat down to an ice cream and
large block of chocolate for about 15 mins while I contemplated what next.
I mean I still felt so good and I always wanted to ride to Lithgow.The
magic properties of Trek's Y bike design were starting to be revealed...
What's the options to get to Lithgow from
Mt Vic?
1) Down Victoria Pass and along the highway
to Lithgow,
2) Instead of going all the way on the
highway, take the Hartley detour
3) Darling causeway to Bell, past Clarence
and down Scenic Hill
4) Darling causeway to Comet Inn and through
Hartley.
I chose No.4 to avoid the horrors of Victoria
Pass. And I knew the road down to Comet Inn was a nice gradient having
searched it out previously as a way to use for the Model T Ford so as to
avoid having to take it up Scenic Hill or Victoria Pass.
Again it wasn't long before I was at the
Comet Inn turn off; about 8km from Mt Vic. The Darling Causeway certainly
didn't seem as hilly as when I drive it in the car.
From here it's a fantastic 5km descent
all the way down (great for those with a death wish).
Hartley Vale
Right at the bottom it's dirt for a bit,
but not very rough. Soon I was passing the Comet Inn and about another
km further the Collitts Inn, both historical buildings in Hartley Vale.
This is a very different looking area;
being flat and grassy, and also a bit warmer. There are a lot of old farm
buildings with associated rusty junk scattered around. Traffic was virtually
nil, and being so flat it's a nice place to ride. Don't ask me what the
elevation is, but at a guess I'd say about 800m. (This guess turned out
to be spot on once I looked at the topographic map).
Now for the killer! At some point along
here I saw a sign to inform that Lithgow was 10km away. Almost there you
might say. Well, yes but I've been here before and I knew what I would
have to face any moment now.
The Hill of
Horrors-Browns Gap.
There is a horrendous hill that makes
Glenbrook Gorge look like a toy ride. Honestly, this is the steepest hill
I've ridden up. Now, living in the Blue Mountains means riding up hills...so
my philosphy here is hills are to be ridden up to keep one's fitness. Therefore,
if there's a hill in front of you, you ride up it. I really
thought I'd have to walk it...which I didn't like the idea of. I haven't
yet been unable to ride up a hill and didn't want to break that tradition
yet!
Soon as I saw it the Gripshift gears were
put straight into 1&1. By stopping frequently I managed to climb the
1.5km of hell. I had plenty of time to admire the views over Hartley and
out towards Hampton as I ascended. Still had half the chocolate left so
had a bit more to fuel my high metabolic rate. I couldn't believe I wasn't
in any pain by now...oh well just keep going then :)
What works for me in hill climbing is
firstly not to rush it, and secondly stop frequently. I find I need to
ride at at least 5-6km/h too keep the bike upright, and that's what I rode
at up this hill. I would have stopped at maybe every 100m or so. Had this
hill been of dirt it would have been much worse with the huge amount of
energy wasted over the rough surface and the unavoidable slippage.
At last I reached the top at Browns Gap.
I had forgotten it, but it's actually almost at the top of the ridge you
can see from when you're still down in Hartley. I had thought there was
a natural sort of cutting much further down. Wishful thinking. As far as
I can tell from the map I had ascended something like 150-200m in elevation
in that 1.5km.
Into Lithgow
From the top at Browns Gap it was a nice
descent all the way into the suburbia of Lithgow. As always, the streets
are deserted so it's a bike friendly town to ride in. I continued down
the main street (which I think is actually called that) to the train station
to have a look when the next train would be to take me back up the hill
at least. For those that don't know it, past Mt Vic on the weekends, the
trains are only every two hours. As luck would have it, I had an hour and
a half, having arrived right on 2pm having done just on 60km.
So, I passed some time riding around this
strange place at 900m elevation. Strange because it's not like the rest
of the Blue Mountains. It's a working class mining town with a few other
industries and is also the furthest of the mountains highway towns. Houses
are in general small and run down, though there are a few nice ones that
have kept their original character. And that revolting cheap plastic or
aluminium cladding on so many of the houses! It's not a town with money...you
can see that, but an interesting place to visit nonetheless. I guess a
bit like Katoomba would have been before tourism took off in the 1920's.
Back Home
Anyway back on the train at 3.37pm. I
decided to take the easy way out and go all the way to Bullaburra to continue
the ride home. Main thing that put me off alighting further back was the
roadwork in Leura. There was no breakdown lane going east.
To conclude, I have to say the Trek Y5
has really excelled itself. That is the most challenging ride I've done
and I still felt great after doing it. No knee pain and no neck or shoulder
pain. Looks like I've got the adjustment right at last.
cablehack at yahoo dot com