DAY 6 - BATHURST NSW

BATHURST NSW

DAY 6

BATHURST & MOUNT PANORAMA

41.7 Km

Total Time – 10.00 – 14.30 (4h 30m)

Time on Bike – 2h 10m 38s

Max. speed – 87.6 km/h!!!
(The new Low Rider Speed Record)

Av. Speed 19.2 km/h


I went racing this morning.

Not against anything but my own speed record.

And I won!

87.6 km/h is now the new benchmark and of all places to have done it – Conrod Straight at Mount Panorama – one of the fastest and most famous strips of tarmac on the planet.

My previous best of 86.3 has been eclipsed by a whole 1.3 km/h.

Mount Panorama itself is a world-famous Aussie icon – even if you couldn’t care a fig and half for car racing – the Mountain has an aura of greatness.

And taking the bike around for 2 circuits this morning was just wicked.

To have watched it on television for many years and even having completed circuits on a tour bus does not convey how steep and treacherous the track actually is.

Sure, the top racing speeds are impressive at 300 km/h ++, but the real soul of the circuit (aside from the incredible scenery) are the tight, steep drop-away curves and the impossible inclinations up the side of the mountain.

To come raging over the Skyline at top speed and then to just see the road disappear underneath you…..

Anyway, as fun as it was, there is more to Bathurst than just a racing track.

It is an impressive town, Bathurst.

Not just another hicko small town with a bit of history and some nice scenery.

There is actually something going on here.

It’s a big college town, for starters so the vibe around town is a young one.

There’s a tonne of history - mainly from the 1850's gold rushes - and unlike a lot of other places in Australia, you can actually feel it in Bathurst – in the architecture, the gardens and the culture.

Outside of Europe, Melbourne and Bathurst have the most impressive green spaces in an Australian urban area that I’ve experienced. (Not including National Parks or Botanic Gardens)

The effort has been made to preserve the heritage in Bathurst – it is important to the culture of the region. And whilst I’m sure the locals find reasons to complain, for the outsider it’s one of the first things to be noticed.

My experiences in Bathurst date back to the early 1980’s and to Abercrombie House – a famous Bathurst estate that is still owned by the founder of my former junior school.

Each year, we would board a stinky noisy bus and take a compulsory week-long excursion out into the countryside to stay in the rat-infested dorms at Abercrombie.

It’s been 25 years, but after taking a trundle out there this afternoon, I’d reckon absolutely nothing has changed in this time……