bikes

  It's been a year in which I've hardly been out of the saddle. I've clocked up over 10,000 kilometres of cycling in Australia, Asia and Europe, so it seems appropriate I nominate my Top Ten rides of 2012, in no particular order. For a more detailed blog on each of the rides, click on the link. Some of the blogs featured include videos of the ride. 10.   Col du Galibier, France :  Let's start at the top shall we? The top of the French Alps, that is. Of all the mountain climbs, Col du Galibier was my favourite. For an Australian, the thrill of cycling in-between two-metre-high snow drifts was thrilling and, given it was summer, refreshingly cool. This climb is an icon of the Tour de France, for good reason - sumptuous views, excellent road surface and all that history. 9.   Hua Hin to Ban Krut, Thailand :  Three days of riding along quiet backroads through beachside villages on the Gulf of Thailand. No hills, a strong wind at our back and fantastic food for lunch...

Four months ago, I cycled up a few Tour de France mountains. It was the best fun I've ever had on two wheels. Since I've been back, my daily ride to Wentworth Falls and back has satisfied me, but I miss the thrill and challenge of a sustained climb. So today, I decide to ride to Mount Wilson, from my home in Katoomba. I figure any place with a name beginning with the word 'Mount' would require some climbing. A quick google map check tells me, I'm in for eighty-five kilometres return. I have a large lunch and set out.  In my novel, 'the simple gift', the main character, Billy describes the Great Western Highway as 'not great, not much of a highway, but it does head west...' He's right. Trucks and delivery vans crowd me as I climb steadily to Mount Victoria, where I turn off and ride past the Mount Vic Flicks. The Darling Causeway is a truck speedway and I'm buffeted the undulating length of it before turning onto the Bells Line of Road and hea...

The first time I rode my mountain bike up Megalong Street hill, I dry-retched. I needed a new bike, stronger legs and better-performing lungs. I bought a road bike and, for the past eighteen months, have been working on the legs and lungs. How can I say this, without sounding like an arrogant prig... but, I like riding up hills now. I actively seek them out. I'm willing to drive for a few hours to ride up the Category One climb from Kangaroo Valley to Moss Vale. Lovely hill that one - perfect road surface, tree cover so the sun is never a worry, and a relatively predictable gradient (average 7% over eight kilometres). Living in the Blue Mountains, I don't usually have to go so far for hills. Five hundred metres to be precise... Here's a saddle-eye view, no sorry, horrible image that one... here's a handlebar-eye view of my daily ride. It's starts each morning with a right turn onto quiet Cliff Drive. I pedal towards the Great Western Highway, which is not great and ...