Cycle Against the Beast – 2019
Day 2 – 6th October, 2019
Day 2 started, as planned, from Katoomba. After a later than planned departure (due to the moving forward of clocks, with the start of daylight saving), I hopped on my bike at about 08:45. The last time I cycled in the area, back in 2016, I took a photo of the Explorers Tree. So, I decided to take another one. Doesn’t look any different. 🙂
Stopping briefly at Medlow Bath, just outside the Hydro Majestic. The last time I tried riding to Melbourne, along this route, I was defeated at this location. This time, I was not going to let that happen!
Just after 10:00, I reached Blackheath, so I stopped for a bacon and egg roll (my tradition for a Sunday morning) and a coffee.
Shortly after, I continued on. The road beyond Blackheath has been upgraded, recently, so the hard shoulder was quite decent. I was able to make quite quick progress to Mt. Victoria. Just beyond Mt. Victoria, is Victoria Pass – a nice, steep, downhill which I’d been wanting to ride down for quite some time. Suffice to say, it was quite exhilarating. 🙂
At the bottom of the steep downhill, there was still a bit of a downward gradient. Being a Sunday morning, I was expecting The Lolly Bug (a sweet shop) to be closed. However, it was open. So, I decided to pay a visit. 🙂 Unfortunately, as I ate all my purchases, no photos were taken. They were tasty, though!
Just a short way along, is the old Hartley Historic Village. Now nothing more than a tourist attraction, I wandered around for a little, taking some photographs.
Photos of Hartley Historic Village
After spending about 20, or so, minutes walking around, it was time to move on and attack River Lett Hill. What goes down (ie: coming down Victoria Pass) must now go up! It was definitely a challenge, though. Spending the better part of an hour, I managed to make it up three quarters of the way.
It was at this point that a kind man, in a ute, offered to give me a lift to South Bowenfels. An offer I was not going to turn down! He also kindly offered a $10 donation for my FightMND fundraising efforts! After dropping me off at South Bowenfels, I stopped by the local Presbyterian Church (where a friend of mine is currently the minister). Hoping for a cup of tea, or maybe just a cold drink, I gave him a call and found that he was in Sydney for the weekend! Oh well. 🙂
After riding the short distance to Lithgow, I decided to stop for lunch. After all the uphill cycling that I’d been doing, I was pretty much buggered for the day. I decided, after lunch, that I’d stay in Lithgow overnight, and ride on to Bathurst the following day.
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