Day 46 - Country roads take me to Wimbledon

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Bathurst - Wimbledon - Blayney 55km

The decision to slow down our approach to the Orange wine region so we can reach some promising cellar doors when the palate is apparently most receptive (late morning) adds a shorter and slightly less hilly day to our tour. Instead of going all the way to Orange, today's terminal is the town of Blayney, an unexpected treasure of a small town, with a number of claims to fame, such as Australia's largest inland container terminal and the Blayney Wind Farm, the largest of its kind in Australia. 

But I know, you want to know about Wimbledon. And so did I. We get there in a minute but first, we go to brag. Not the boastful kind. BRAG stands for Bathurst Regional Arts Gallery and with a couple hours to spare in the morning, given the shorter ride, and not shy to immerse ourselves in a bit of culture, we step into the gallery. The current exhibition is a bit beyond my limited understanding of visual arts (in this case stop motion animation) but we give it a go and answer politely and respectfully when the lady at the exit asks as "did you enjoy the exhibition?". The link to the exhibition CEL : The Artist as Animator

Louise looking to be animated

Back on the bike, we feel more at home. And we soon realise that our route mapping has landed a winner as we pedal out of Bathurst (just beneath Mount Panorama) on a quiet country road. The climbs are manageable and the caravanning drivers must have read Louise's blog post yesterday as they all overtake us safely and often with a kind wave. You never know what lies around the next bend...

A rare waiting in line

The traffic controller asks us "where yas' goin'?" (or something like that) and we simply respond "far". No time for further explanation as we need to reach the other end of the road works before the oncoming traffic gets the green light. And we almost miss the turn to...

... Wimbledon!

Of course I get excited and my thoughts go to the retirement of the year, knowing that we won't be witnessing another Ash Barty win at Wimbledon. Because it was such a magic moment... 



Now I wish I could report something extraordinary from the locality of Wimbledon NSW, like the discovery of an overgrown an abandoned lawn court with some black and white photographs of maybe Sir Norman Brooke's (Australia's first winner at Wimbledon) hitting a forehand. But nothing, I am afraid. We roll on and keep enjoying the tailwind and this beautiful country road.

Roll on. 

The last 3 km into Blayney are a gentle downhill, past the previously mentioned container terminal.  We share a giggle when we witness, from a safe distance, how two motorists can't make up their mind on who has right of way of the one lane bridge, schadenfreude!  This never happens to us cyclists. 

Location: Blayney NSW 2799, Australia

Comments

  1. FrancieMarch 25, 2022 at 6:35 PM

    I've just caught up with several of your posts. Amazing. Such a Journal to look back on. Have been busy backing up Josey - whose supportive and lovely in-laws both were isolated with Covid, but have recovered now. Then over to Becky's place who has suspected Gall Bladder/Stones issues. Still getting tests. Joe and I still have a couple of tests apiece checking our hearts and lungs. He gets short of breath when walking and I have Hernia pain but so close to the heart good idea to get that checked - Doc says something about referred pain. I don't care how highly it's "references' are, I want done with it. Hopefully only a few more weeks. Otherwise all well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LizMarch 26, 2022 at 11:09 AM

    Wow I had no idea we had our very own Wimbledon in NSW!

    ReplyDelete

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