Distance: 108km
Time: 6hrs
Max Speed: 48.5km
Av Speed: 18km
More photos on MobileMe
I started out at 7.30am and headed towards Meadowbank. I’m quite comfortable with this route having down in a fair bit now. I was disappointed when arriving at Meadowbank wharf and the coffee man wasn’t there. After crossing Silverwater Bridge the signage isn’t great but luckily it’s quite easy to navigate through the industrial areas towards the M4. I stopped at a little cafe and had a coffee and muffin before getting onto M4. If it was easy to navigate to the M4 it certainly wasn’t to get onto the M4 cycleway. Thank goodness for the openmaps maps on the iphone is all I’ve got to say.
Going under the M4 was a little scary actually. There was a couple of young guys walking in my direction, hoods on, a particular gait that put me on edge. I realised that there was no one else around and I could be easily knocked off the bike. We passed each other uneventfully of course and I breathed out and told myself to stop being stupid and rode on.
With these trips I’m doing I’m seeing parts of Sydney that I’ve really never seen and/or experienced and it’s made me realised how isolated my life really is. I know such a narrow corridor of Sydney which is all basically the same. I’m was travelling past workers lined up ready to go into the factories, houses with broken windows, old lounge chairs on the verandahs and crappy cars in the driveway that looked like they couldn’t get car rego. It’s made me see how privileged my life is and has always been. So many people have life really hard.
Back to the ride. After getting off the M4 I travelled through Holroyd and to Merrylands where I joined what’s known as the Rail Trail. It’s a cycle path that runs beside the tain line to Liverpool. Passing Merrylands, Guilford, Yenora, Fairfield, Canly Vale and Warwick Farm.
When I was riding though Johnson Park in Canley Vale I saw this guy walking his ‘horse’ not what I’d expected to see. I chatted to him for a while and he told me proudly that it was an Australian Stock horse which he thought was better than a thoroughbred. When I asked him the horses name he said that he called him ‘Matey’ because “he doesn’t hit on me missus, doesn’t spend my money and doesn’t ring me up pissed late at night, so he’s me best mate!” He went on to tell me that he reckons it’s the most photographed horse because people don’t expect to see him there. I thought it was a funny sight to see because it looked like there should’ve been a dog and the end of the lead. That set against the background of a chinese temple with singing ringing out made it a memorable experience.
At Liverpool I stopped and had another coffee and some toast in a trendy little cafe opp Bigge Park which was quite nice. I continued then over Georges river and started the ‘scenic’ part of the route. There’s a pathway all around the lakes and waterways back to Canlyvale where I rejoined the ‘Rail Trail’. It was quite enjoyable apart from the condition of the pathway which made it a little unpleaseant and slow. I passed a whole lot of hens in one section around Chipping Norton that looked like their owners must open their back gate and leave them to roam free in the parkland.
Passing through Georges Hall into Landsdown was the best part of this cycleway. The one part where the path was really good there was a school doing a cross country so I had to go at walking pace!
Made it back to Homebush and stopped in Bicentennial Park for another snack and headed home.
I felt pretty good compared to last week and didn’t roll down our driveway thinking “Thank ...... for that.”
It’s a good, flat ride but I don’t know that I’d be in a huge ride to do this route again.
Bike North Information on route
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