bikes

Today�s ride starts in a car park looking up to a hill recently denuded of trees by Forestry NSW. I�m a few kilometres west of the village of Hampton, which consists of a pub, a general store and a spectacular view east to the Blue Mountains escarpment. After electronically pawing over  Google Maps, I�ve created an itinerary from here, west to Oberon, south-east to Jenolan Caves and back up the mountain to this car park, a circuit of seventy-eight kilometres, with quite a bit of up and down in between. It�s a cool morning of 11 degrees as I set out, accompanied by bird song and the occasional roar of a logging truck. To my left are high plateau sheep pastures of lush green grass and trickling streams. To my right, forested hills yet to feel the wrath of the chainsaws.  Although Hampton and Oberon share a similar elevation of 1100 metres above sea level, the road between them dips and climbs incessantly. It�s hard to get a rhythm with these constant variations, but on a clear s...