Day 1: Mount Victoria to Rylstone
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Well Day 1 of another tour. Was up at 4.30am to catch the 6.30am train to Mount Victoria. Originally I was going to catch the train to Lithgow and start from there, but they are doing track work this week. So instead of catching the bus for the last bit of the journey I thought let's start at Mount Vic.
For the beginning of this trip I have had really good weather, let's hope it lasts. Instead of following the main highway to Lithgow, I found a back road through the Hartley Valley. Part of this route is on gravel road which is currently being redone. So the first couple of kms were like cycling on the beach. Once I got past that section the road got a lot better and opened out onto farms. These farms are surrounded by sandstone cliffs, which was quite impressive.
Just a few kms before I got to Lithgow I had to climb out of the valley. Oh what a climb, my little computer was saying the grade was between 10% & 20% for 2kms. Once I got over it it was downhill to Lithgow where I stopped for a coffee and roll. Lithgow is a major service town for the area. In the area there are a lot of farms, coal mines and a couple of power stations.
After my short stop over I rode onto Portland. Portland is famous for being the town which supplied the cement which helped build Sydney. Today it still produces cement. I was going stay here overnight, but it was only 12.30pm and I was really enjoying being back on the road. So I decided to ride on to my second night stop, Rylstone, which was about another 70kms.
Went over a couple of hills which provided me with really good views. The traffic wasn't too busy. Arrived at Rylstone at about 4.30pm and went straight to the caravan park. There were lots of grey nomads in their vans. Seems a friendly spot. After I set my tent up, I went for a walk to the main street in town for a bite to eat. Decided to stop at the pub bistro for a nice big steak.
Rylstone looks like a nice little town. As I have a shorter riding day tomorrow may spend the morning here looking around.
For the beginning of this trip I have had really good weather, let's hope it lasts. Instead of following the main highway to Lithgow, I found a back road through the Hartley Valley. Part of this route is on gravel road which is currently being redone. So the first couple of kms were like cycling on the beach. Once I got past that section the road got a lot better and opened out onto farms. These farms are surrounded by sandstone cliffs, which was quite impressive.
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| The dirt road was a little bit chewed up |
After my short stop over I rode onto Portland. Portland is famous for being the town which supplied the cement which helped build Sydney. Today it still produces cement. I was going stay here overnight, but it was only 12.30pm and I was really enjoying being back on the road. So I decided to ride on to my second night stop, Rylstone, which was about another 70kms.
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| Some great views to enjoy |
Went over a couple of hills which provided me with really good views. The traffic wasn't too busy. Arrived at Rylstone at about 4.30pm and went straight to the caravan park. There were lots of grey nomads in their vans. Seems a friendly spot. After I set my tent up, I went for a walk to the main street in town for a bite to eat. Decided to stop at the pub bistro for a nice big steak.
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| A pleasant campsite in Rylstone |
Rylstone looks like a nice little town. As I have a shorter riding day tomorrow may spend the morning here looking around.