Megalong, Blue Mountains, NSW

2 October 2017

It’s a beautiful sunny day. I’m warm. I’m back riding in shorts and a short-sleeve jersey after heading up to the Blue Mountains in search of a holiday and warmer weather. As I head out on a ride of discovery, I am inwardly pleased to have made it through another Melbourne winter and am beginning to emerge, like the hungry, hungry caterpillar from the helpless chrysalis stage, shrouded in thermals and coats and into the beautiful butterfly that is a tee-shirt and shorts existence.

But I’m a little achy. I rode up to Wentworth Falls in the Blue Monutains from Balmain three days earlier. It was (and is) a messy, windy, gritty ride. After leaving the warm-climed, eclectic-peopled, coffee-drinking, dog-loving, historically rich township of Balmain and heading west, I found myself navigating the crazy city streets, even crazier city traffic and river-arm crossings (or no-crossings) to reach Parramatta. This smattering of labyrinth streets meant that I had to constantly stop, check my bearings, get lost again, stop, check again only to get lost again. I finally made the first part of the trip and wound out of Parramatta traffic as the cars ant-crawled their way to a better, faster life aboard the M1 motorway. It was then a lonely and mundane journey on the Great Western Highway to Penrith, my Spotify Red cycling mix in my ears competing with the grumble of diesel truck engines. It was just on the western side of Penrith that I thought it worthwhile to engage in the critical climbing hill of the region, the Old Bathurst Road. Whilst I was glad I did, it was a massive gradient for someone with such humble achievements as myself, overall a huge 9.3% average for the 2.5km climb. But it was really the aptly named ‘Old Bathurst Rd – steep bit’ that I think ultimately led to my demise, or at least dented any ongoing power in my legs and took it out of me – early on in the hill – a cool 400m of 17% gradient. But, after making it to the top, I realised that the remainder of the ride to Wentworth Falls was also uphill – who would have thought. I guess the hint is in the name – Blue Mountains and not Blue hills…

So it is with a little Blue Mountains-hesitancy that I head out on this next intrepid journey…

I move off down Falls Road and pick up speed quickly. There are plenty of people out to see Wentworth Falls, a very popular viewpoint into the chasm that is the Jamison valley, understandably for the Monday of a long weekend. I get back onto the Great Western Highway, not as smugly warm now in the slight breeze as I was previously, and ride the roller-coaster that is the highway up through Leura and Katoomba to Blackheath. Sometimes I’m aware of the amazing views on either side of this road, but I only seem to get glimpses through the trees of potentials and possibilities, through converging trees, railings, bars and obligatory NSW road concrete.

I am intrigued by the cycling lanes on this busy road which range in size from XX-Exuberantly Large bike space…

…to ‘tightrope-riding’ bike space…

So, I take up my 13 centimetres of road space and, without a balancing pole, I make good time to Blackheath. Nice town…I like this town…its a very good town.

When passing through, I urge a stop at Anonymous cafe – the coffee is fabulous and the pumpkin soda bread is, as one Beanhunter reviewer suggested, ‘to die for’!

I decide to head off towards the Megalong Valley, a local legendary climb and an appropriate name for a long valley stretching off into the distance, although I know that is not the Indigenous meaning of the name.

I ride downwards – it is weird descending before ascending, almost as though I’m cheating, I suppose, because the descent has not been earned. To add some length to the ride, I follow Shipley Road to the Shipley Plateau to see where that takes me. Rolling hills and an orchard, a huge, long, dead brown snake in the mown grass to the side of the road and a bit of creative letter-boxing provide a nice leisurely pace until I run out of paved road and head back to the Megalong Valley turn-off.

So far so good – I’ve returned to the road down into the valley – Megalong Road. Instantly, the steepness of the drop hits, but so, too, does the dampness of the foliage. This is like my home Dandenongs – quiet rainforest, fern grottoes and tall trees competing for light. Yep, the descent is steep – again, a little disorienting when I need to ride up again – and I’m picking up speed and have to brake hard to take the first hairpin bend. To the right, as I fly down, I notice rocky overhanging cliffs with caves that seem to retreat into darkness. The light is diminished now and, although I’m quite able to see the road without a problem, the trees conspire above the road in an attempt to eliminate the light completely.

To the first hairpin bend, I’ve covered a kilometre in less than two minutes, dropping 94m or -10%. I’ve got to ride up that again; this is why it is best to ride up before coming down. I keep descending, braking, descending and the road flattens out to reveal some huge bluffs on both sides – I’m into the Megalong Valley, where a couple of magpies warily watch my progress, lest I randomly jump from my bike, rush 20 metres into the paddock to scale a huge gum tree and grab their young out of their nests for my next baking of mag-pie. These birds are so illogical…but we are perhaps no different and sometimes we can be a bit paranoid. Sometimes we are paranoid about bike riding or bike riders. Sometimes, despite the dangerous, scary world the media wishes to portray, things don’t always turn out for the worst and the danger passes, rides on by. That’s what I choose to believe today, anyway. Still, I hunch my shoulders and tuck my head down to avoid a swoop or beak as I cruise past the Megalong Tea Rooms. It takes another 25 minutes or so before I run out of paved road at the Six Foot Track. This is my turn-around point. I later discover this Six Foot Track (Six Foot Wide, I assume) goes through to the Jenolan Caves. Now a challenging walking trail, it was used to take intrepid explorers, also known as ‘tourists’, on horseback from the Blue Mountains to the caves, some 45 kms away. I’ll stick to cycling, thanks…

And so I turn around…

Cycling back towards the climb is okay – I pass a Primary School, which is so idyllic with its amazing views of the steep canyon walls in the distance rising shear to the sky. I wonder if the students appreciate this magnificence or if they simply think its just normal for any child going to school, or both.

The first five or so kilometres is relatively flat – maybe a slight rise, past the Megalong Tea Rooms – I take in the magpie again…is that the very same magpie, or has another taken over sentry duty? Illogically now, this monochromatic bird seems to have lost interest. It is about at this point that I pass the start of the Megalong Challenge, indicated with a bike painted in white on the edge of the road and a very official looking white line. It is from this point that the road begins it’s exponential rise. As I ride on further, I plunge back into the cool, clammy darkness of the undergrowth level of the forest. Back into rainforest…

The road is steeper and the trees thin out somewhat – the gradient is getting much harder. There are a few cars on the road, not much space and the couple of hairpin bends that I braked my way around going down are now hard turns on the way up. I’m out of my seat, pumping my legs to maintain momentum. But it is beautiful forest for a tough ride; peaceful, tranquil. The trees are dropping off as I progress, as I get higher.

I’m taking it in as the gradient continues to push the tiredness in the legs…

Finally with the last few turns, cars hemming me in, I see the turnoff and the top of the Megalong Road. I’ve beaten the Megalong Challenge: 7.2km, 31.5 minutes at 5%, as I near the top. I shift back into the seat – the last kilometre, which oddly on Strava goes for 900m, is at 9%…definitely a climb worthy of the local ‘hushed’ respect. I pedal the last kilometre or so back up Shipley Road and back to Blackheath. Ah…the serenity…

On that crazy road to Wentworth Falls, mostly downhill, I take my place back in the 13cm bike lane and power it back. ‘It’s a Long Way to the Top If You Want To Rock And Roll’ is playing in my ears…bagpipes…really? How does a full-on Heavy Rock band successfully incorporate bagpipes into such a song with its determined drumming and relentless guitar rhythms? Cars are banked up as I fly by them with a spare 5cms – it is a public holiday so the roads are still busy. You’ve got to love it when you’re flying along, passing cars, listening to Bon Scott’s singing. Because, for me, despite being in the mountains west of Sydney, the song is the very essence of ‘Melbourne’. I’m instantly taken to that flat-bed truck in the mid-1970s driving down Swanston Street carrying a bunch of young rockers whose music took me away from the likes of ABBA and into something more serious (well, at the time, I thought it was pretty serious…) – this was real rock music and very much captured my imagination. Bands like Cold Chisel, Queen and KISS and musos like Bruce became defining for me from that point on. This is a nice, powerful finish to a ride that has been an admirable challenge and a very satisfying one – I’ve covered 78.4 kms in approx. 3.5 hours with 1,350m of climbing.

Time for some tuna, a carrot or two and some feet-up rest…the Blue Mountains is an alluring, captivating place! Megalong, too!

Once again, photos capably contributed by Kaye, the support crew!