Cycling in Sydney Australia
Mountain Challenge
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Neil Alexander on -
The question "Why?" comes to mind.
Pretty unpleasant would be my summation of the conditions.
I would recommend the nearby Old Bathurst Road as a slightly more cycle friendly alternative and at least as big a challenge.
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Permalink Reply by sit ubu sit on
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Why? Because it's there.
Does a cyclist need any other reason. Gee, almost 200 of them spend 3 weeks flogging themselves around the hills of France, knowing only one will be crowned a/the "winner". ;-)
@Luca, check out the Strava segments for Lapstone Hill (Gt Western Hwy) and the Old Bathurst Rd route as suggested by Neil
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Permalink Reply by Rob Berry on -
Those 200 or so do get paid for their sacrifices, though - compared with some of us on here who pay to do it!
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I'd suggest most of them don't get paid hansomely, given the effort they put in. I know the base salary for a US pro conti team rider is about $40k p.a (more for World Tour teams) - compare that to what they'd be earning in a "second division" baseball, football or even cricket team. A tough gig when you're at the pointy end of your chosen sport/profession.
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Permalink Reply by Ian on -
I have just this minute (well, about an hour ago) returned from a ride down the hill and up again.
The highway is not ideal, but it's not so bad once you get used to it. The traffic i find is quite consistent and predictable - all going the same speed in the same direction etc. The alternatives are as follows with good and bad points:
Old Bathurst Rd i would not ride up in a pink fit. It's uber steep (ok if you like that kind of thing), no shoulder at all - seriously, its a white line and a crash barrier and a steep drop in that order, and narrow to the point of being dangerous. It's a well known black spot for prangs despite the recent road works.
Mitchells Pass is good to come back down, but now its reopened to one way traffic (coming down) you can't go up.
The back roads through lapstone are an option, but again they are steep but you come out at Glenbrook so you can have coffee at any of the 40000 coffee shops.
My ride (from Winmalee) is down the highway to Blaxland (maccas), down Mitchells Pass, through the back streets of Emu, around the river a few times, back up the highway (not the M4) to the old Knapsack Bridge, across the bridge, up the little path on the east bound side of the highway (separated), and up the little concrete track that brings you back onto the highway about 2/3 up the hill. from there it's the highway or back streets for as far as you want.
The road condition is pretty good except for the debris - but even that's not too bad since the rain.
That route (minus the river) is my semi regular commute, and i have very few hassles. Middle of the morning is best when traffic is quieter (and no afternoon head wind!!).
Let me know if you want some company when you do the ride.
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It's uber steep
Rises ~200m over 2km = 10% average gradient, and there are bits that peak out at ~20%:
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Permalink Reply by Bill Parker (LateStarter) on -
Ian how do you get from the path on the western side of the highway to the road shoulder on the eastern, via the underpass to governors drive, the access roads both go the wrong way, is there a footpath,?
Open source maps seems to show some connecting path (blue dashed)
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=-33.76698&lon=150.64012&z...
Which I think I can see on google air photo
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Permalink Reply by Ian on
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Yep, there's a footpath that shoots off and up to the right after the underpass but before the old railway cutting (which is shown in brown dashed line). It's not maintained so it's usually covered in leaves and assorted debris, and it's short but steep access to the westbound lane on the highway. The blue dashed line is correct on your map. All this is for coming back up the hill by the way, not going down. If you are heading down to Penriff, come down Governors Dr and just follow the dotted line for the off-road path or shoot straight onto the highway into the breakdown lane.
It's a pity the old railway cutting isn't being considered as a cycle access to the mountains, it would be ideal but as usual there's no money, too hard, blah blah!
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Permalink Reply by Bill Parker (LateStarter) on
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Or a counter flow walking/bike lane on Mitchell's Pass road, the one way bit is only about a km
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Permalink Reply by Ian on
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That would be more ideal! because it goes from the bottom to the top. But would also cost heaps more.....which would kill the idea before anything else. Wishful thinking, i swear im going back there with a bloody big crow bar so the roads closed for another 3 years.
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Permalink Reply by Neil Alexander on
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Yeah, but I bet if you rode OBR early on a Sunday morning, it would be reasonably cycle friendly because the bogans are not out of bed then so you would have it to yourself.
The main reason I recommended it is because it is über steep. And because Luca said he wanted to "attempt a climb up the hill..." which sounds like he is looking for a challenge.
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