Last weekend it was off to the Blue Mountains for a big weekend of riding. We were doing Anderson’s and Oaks trails on the first day then Narrowneck on the next….
A weekend of pain was coming!
Last weekend it was off to the Blue Mountains for a big weekend of riding. We were doing Anderson‘s and Oaks trails on the first day then Narrowneck on the next.
We all rolled up on Saturday morning to the Wentworth Falls train station ready for action. It was a warm sunny day; all of us with lots of energy, no bruises and NO MUD 🙂
The weekend started with me realising the plug holding the hydraulic fluid on my back brakes had come out – they were totally dead; fun! Amazingly I managed to get through the whole weekend only going over the handlebars once, although riding all day with my seat down as far as it would go to keep my weight down was interesting!
The trails are a lot of fun; Anderson’s has some fantastic downs combined with many, many gruesome ups, a couple of fun creek crossings, technical-ish but nothing major and really varied vegetation along the way.
The view from the afternoon tea spot where you can see most of the way from Newcastle to Sydney is fantastic. Oaks is a great way to finish the day, mostly down, with a hill that would be almost nothing if we hadn’t just hammered ourselves on Anderson’s. It finishes with a singletrack section that makes all the ups worthwhile. Being able to just jump on the train at Glenbrook station then straight back to the cars is an easy way to finish the day.
By the end of the day we were all starving, tired, scratched and desperately searching for a hot shower. The Katoomba YHA provided, this place is huge and really comfortable – easily the best YHA I have stayed in and better than many hotels. It has won a lot of awards, and is virtually booked out for the year. A hot shower, comfy couch and cold beer went down very well.
The next day it was cold and drizzly – mountain weather. We were off for Narrowneck, this is a very different ride being along a ridge line on fire trails, not really technical just a few bits with sand and loose rocks – terrific views though.
Narrowneck reaches an end and you can ride no further, you can keep walking though; the Tarros Ladder goes down the side of the cliff, from here you can walk around all the way to Blackheath.
This is part of a walk friends and I had previously done, leaving Carlon’s farm, going up Carlon’s Chains, around the ridge, back down the Tarros Ladder and back to Carlon’s farm… An interesting walk, apart from the chains which are a little freaky and a 3 hour road bash back out. The ride is better!
Overall a great weekend.
