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Trip report

2008-06-07 Mountain bike riding at Katoomba
Trip report:
The morning for the ride turned out to be cloudless over Sydney, despite a forecast of rain, and it looked like we were going to have a fine winter’s day for our ride. That all changed on reaching the upper mountains, with the low cloud and intermittent drizzle making it feel like a different day altogether.

Rick, Erika, Michael and Michael’s daughter Mishka travelled up together while James caught the train. We met at the gate on Narrow Neck on schedule at 10:00 am and bikes were re-assembled and tyres pumped up. A short time later we were on our way, peddling south along the fire trail at a comfortable pace.

The weather remained cool but we were spared from getting wet. There were regular pauses while riding so we could shed our warm gear and it was then hurriedly returned when we stopped (invariably at the top each hill so we could re-group and catch our breath). The fire tower provided a good spot for a longer break and a morning snack.

The long downhill following the fire tower made for some quick riding but a puncture on Mishka’s rear tyre at the bottom stopped us for a while. It also provided an opportunity to answer the question “How many cavers does it take to fix a puncture?” (The answer is four, plus one to photograph it for the record).

A short peddle later and we were at the end of Narrow Neck. The weather got progressively finer as we ate our lunch on rocks. The impressive view, Rick’s entertaining tales about bush encounters with feral pigs and the warm sunshine combined to make it almost impossible to leave! But in a remarkable display of willpower we saddled up and headed north.

The return trip was uneventful, although the pushing of bikes up hills became more frequent toward the end. We were back at the gate by 3:30 pm and headed off home …

Photos from the Club's photo library


Photo Library » Cycling » Narrow Neck June 2008

Narrow Neck June 2008

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The view from the lunch spot
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