1:08 5min from my place. Less in a car. Welcome to the South West! Plenty of cycling routes around here, not marked as such but minimal traffic. Also plenty of family friendly cycling infrastructure in the suburbs built in the last 25 years or so. Well done to Camden Council!
Hi Josh, thanks for posting and of course getting on your bike. I started my cycling career back in the late 1960's and was a member of the Lidcombe Auburn CC for a number of years. At that time a training group would meet every Sunday at the intersection of Woodville Road and the Hume Highway at Villawood at 6:30am on a Sunday. In those days we'd do the ride you've just done from where we lived in Sydney and 160 to 200km rides were the norm. Of course you'll just have to imagine that there was next to no traffic on Sunday mornings in Sydney and we almost never had an issue with a vehicle. We'd do rides to Gosford via Wisemans Ferry and Spencer, the Illawarra, Katoomba either solo or in groups all the time happily chatting etc. For myself and many others I know we enjoyed and loved our sport both in training and more importantly club racing on Saturdays. The culture of cycling has changed tremendously over the years because of lots of reasons. It's a shame in some ways that you are forced for safety reasons to drive to a meeting point to start to ride but congrats for getting out there and doing it.
Thanks for sharing with me your experience of riding in Sydney. I’m slightly jealous of all your great adventures, but I’m sure I’ll make my own as time goes on :)
Josh, that one made me smile from the point that I used to live in Melbourne and do all the regular rides, I now live in Bendigo and everyday is like this ride at any time of the day, I’d never go back to the city now, combine that with gravel at my doorstep and the decision of which bike to ride is now a hard one. 😊 Great video they just keep getting better, keep it up. 👏🏻👏🏻 One thing I will say and you’re to be congratulated on it, is you don’t bang on about watts all the time like nearly every other cycling TH-camr. The watts discussion becomes tiring and for a normal cyclist like me, it just makes me feel inferior. That’s why I love your channel. You just get out and ride for the enjoyment that it should be. So thanks. 👍🏻
Thanks for the kind words mate. I’m glad you’ve found a beautiful place to ride your bike. When I was a newer cyclist I used to obsess over the data and the watts a lot more. Now a days, I prefer the rides for the scenery and social aspect. But I do enjoy a little hit out every now and then ☺️
Lived in the Camden area since early 90s. Definitely a cheeky route making you go up Razorback that way! Great to see all those familiar roads from your bike perspective.
That's the only way up razorback! :D Didn't see the details, but hopefully he went via Bakers Lodge road. There's a good pinch there that didn't show up in the video.
FOMO, gutted that I missed out on this ride, let’s go back soon. Love the selection of BGMs and your commentary at the lookout. Dumplings are perfect way to finish the ride off ❤
Another very long time Camden resident here (45-ish years). Just moved up to the mountains. Great to see others finding the local roads. Some good runs through Wallacia from that Burragorang/The Oaks location. Very quiet back roads. Another one to stretch the legs with a lot of climbing - Richmond start and then do Bells Line of Road out to Bell. For extra sportiness - then across to Katoomba and then 50+Km of downhill back to Penrith. Whole loop is about 160km IIRC. Super low gearing is a must for some of the pinches in the first part of the climb so it might be easier doing it the other way around - up the GWH, across to Bell and then down.
@@joshkwan it's a pity because bell line of road is beautiful but it is narrow and has bad shoulders... it's been ages since last time I did it, I would like to know how it goes for you
Yes Josh! The countryside is where it's at! Quiet roads, beautiful scenery decent dose of nature. In fact the more you're in nature the more fun it gets - we'll have you riding gravel again in no time - Hehe - just don't choose the most grueling, broken and rough, backwhacks roads! Head up into the Blueys some more. If you dont like saddle bags try an under the top tube bag, aero and super convenient for grabbing snacks on the move, you may need to change the front bottle cage to a side loader. I resisted bags for ages but after trying them am a total convert. Carrying stuff on your back sucks balls.
I agree, I need to do some gravel. Just don’t have the time. I wish there was some nicer gravel routes near my front door, but I’ve accepted the fact I will need to travel a little if I want to enjoy the good stuff. Thanks for the suggestions RE bags
Great ride, it's actually pretty accessible without a car. At 6am you can smash it up Pacific Highway to Turramurra and turn off to Bobin Head, then Brerowa and Galston Gorge then train back to CBD from Hornsby
Great video mate. On those longer more isolated rides where I need to take extra supplies/water I use a Camelbak Mule. It’s not too big and sits really well on your back during a ride, yet holds plenty of water, spares etc. On hotter days I used to dump a tray of ice into its water reservoir, then fill the rest with water, was awesome 👍😀
Yea I think it’s worthwhile investing in one of those especially if you’re going to ride offroad and it’s a bit more self supported. Thanks for the tip :)
Good video highlighting south western Sydney. One point I heard commented upon, the water is blue due to the eucalyptus leaves. I believe it is actually, the water being blue-turquoise, is due to the sandstone in the region, the calcium carbonate in the water from the sandstone, captures the light in the spectrum of alkalinity, thus the bluish tinge. I look forward to more of your touring ride videos.
I agree with you. If you look at any lakes created by glaciers they’re always a lighter blue colour due to the minerals from the rocks. Thanks for watching the videos :)
Hey mate, loving all your content on the channel, especially as a fellow infrastructure engineer. Ive recently gotten back into riding and after encouraging more and more mates to get into it over the years, our pack is slowly growing, however none of us have ever ridden in groups of more than 4 beginner/amateur riders at a time. Could you put together a ‘group ride rules and etiquette’ educational style video that goes through the things people should be doing and implementing so that the group can ride the most efficiently and safely? Also the things you consider as a group leader, in terms of safety and planning a ride, the calls used etc?
Thank you mate, I appreciate it. Also a great video idea which I’ll be adding to my list of video topics for the future. In the interim, we have a pretty comprehensive checklist on our pastries.cc website. Check it out: pastries.cc/rider-etiquette Would love to go into more detail about route planning and also ride organisation, but let’s save it for outside the YT comment section 🫡
I know you love your pastries, so I have to ask is that a golden croissant logo on the side of your helmet? Another great vid. It seemed an age since the one done on Bowral. Thanks
Good spotting. Yes! I have a golden croisssnt sticker on the side of my helmet. Sadly I’ve been quite busy since Bowral and I haven’t even filmed any videos since then. This one I edited a few months ago and was saving for a rainy day
Hey Mate! Love your videos, would be so sick if ya did a video on like a guide to Bondi beach and surrounds, I think a lot of tourists would benefit from this and I definitely would too!
U gonna head down to Adelaide when the tour down under is on? I feel like it’s a pretty good city to ride in. You can go from the beach to the top of the hills in about 30km
I hated saddle bags on bikes, until I got one, and of course when you're riding you can't see it. Plenty of pros use them in training and they can quickly be removed. Waiting for you to see the light...
Technically, Camden is still within Sydney’s metropolitan area; still rural though 😂😂😂 I get scared riding out there but that’s cos all of my rides are solo 😂
Riding as a group can feel much safer sometimes, because you’re visible and also can justify taking up more of the lane. Take care and safe riding mate.
HJC Furion Sadly wouldn’t recommend it. It doesn’t have a dial at the back for fine tuning the fit, and you can’t stow sunnies in the front. I think they’ve fixed this in the newer ones, but I haven’t tested it for myself
I live in Camden and do this ride often. There are a few nice ways to go to the lookout. And ways to link up some nice gravel sectors out this way for a sweet 130km ride with very low traffic 👌 HMU if you want some mixed surface routes
1:08 5min from my place. Less in a car. Welcome to the South West! Plenty of cycling routes around here, not marked as such but minimal traffic. Also plenty of family friendly cycling infrastructure in the suburbs built in the last 25 years or so. Well done to Camden Council!
Love to see local council putting in some money and effort towards bike infrastructure. Makes a better world for us to live
Hi Josh, thanks for posting and of course getting on your bike. I started my cycling career back in the late 1960's and was a member of the Lidcombe Auburn CC for a number of years. At that time a training group would meet every Sunday at the intersection of Woodville Road and the Hume Highway at Villawood at 6:30am on a Sunday. In those days we'd do the ride you've just done from where we lived in Sydney and 160 to 200km rides were the norm. Of course you'll just have to imagine that there was next to no traffic on Sunday mornings in Sydney and we almost never had an issue with a vehicle. We'd do rides to Gosford via Wisemans Ferry and Spencer, the Illawarra, Katoomba either solo or in groups all the time happily chatting etc. For myself and many others I know we enjoyed and loved our sport both in training and more importantly club racing on Saturdays. The culture of cycling has changed tremendously over the years because of lots of reasons. It's a shame in some ways that you are forced for safety reasons to drive to a meeting point to start to ride but congrats for getting out there and doing it.
Thanks for sharing with me your experience of riding in Sydney. I’m slightly jealous of all your great adventures, but I’m sure I’ll make my own as time goes on :)
Josh, that one made me smile from the point that I used to live in Melbourne and do all the regular rides, I now live in Bendigo and everyday is like this ride at any time of the day, I’d never go back to the city now, combine that with gravel at my doorstep and the decision of which bike to ride is now a hard one. 😊 Great video they just keep getting better, keep it up. 👏🏻👏🏻 One thing I will say and you’re to be congratulated on it, is you don’t bang on about watts all the time like nearly every other cycling TH-camr. The watts discussion becomes tiring and for a normal cyclist like me, it just makes me feel inferior. That’s why I love your channel. You just get out and ride for the enjoyment that it should be. So thanks. 👍🏻
Thanks for the kind words mate. I’m glad you’ve found a beautiful place to ride your bike.
When I was a newer cyclist I used to obsess over the data and the watts a lot more. Now a days, I prefer the rides for the scenery and social aspect. But I do enjoy a little hit out every now and then ☺️
Great video, looking forward when the series takes you North. Dungog is always great
Thanks for the suggestion :)
Lived in the Camden area since early 90s. Definitely a cheeky route making you go up Razorback that way! Great to see all those familiar roads from your bike perspective.
That’s awesome, I’m sure you’ve seen some parts change a lot, whilst others have barely changed at all.
That's the only way up razorback! :D Didn't see the details, but hopefully he went via Bakers Lodge road. There's a good pinch there that didn't show up in the video.
Great ride! Razorback to Nattai is nothing to sniff at! Well done all!
Thanks mate! Flying home on the false flat downhill was so much fun :)
Great video Josh! I’ve recently got into cycling and been searching for new routes so it doesn’t get dull. I saved your M7 one the other day!
Thanks for watching and supporting the channel!
Safe riding
FOMO, gutted that I missed out on this ride, let’s go back soon. Love the selection of BGMs and your commentary at the lookout. Dumplings are perfect way to finish the ride off ❤
Would love to do it again with you :)
Very scenic ride with some nice roads and good park ups
Another very long time Camden resident here (45-ish years). Just moved up to the mountains. Great to see others finding the local roads. Some good runs through Wallacia from that Burragorang/The Oaks location. Very quiet back roads. Another one to stretch the legs with a lot of climbing - Richmond start and then do Bells Line of Road out to Bell. For extra sportiness - then across to Katoomba and then 50+Km of downhill back to Penrith. Whole loop is about 160km IIRC. Super low gearing is a must for some of the pinches in the first part of the climb so it might be easier doing it the other way around - up the GWH, across to Bell and then down.
Sounds like a great route and something we may need to try and a future Drive by Series
@@joshkwan it's a pity because bell line of road is beautiful but it is narrow and has bad shoulders... it's been ages since last time I did it, I would like to know how it goes for you
Lake Burragorang is actually a man made water reservoir, impounded by the Warragamba Dam.
That’s cool! Time for me to look up more fun facts :)
Another great video, this time out in my neck of the woods. Keep up the awesome content!
Thanks!
Yes Josh! The countryside is where it's at! Quiet roads, beautiful scenery decent dose of nature. In fact the more you're in nature the more fun it gets - we'll have you riding gravel again in no time - Hehe - just don't choose the most grueling, broken and rough, backwhacks roads! Head up into the Blueys some more. If you dont like saddle bags try an under the top tube bag, aero and super convenient for grabbing snacks on the move, you may need to change the front bottle cage to a side loader. I resisted bags for ages but after trying them am a total convert. Carrying stuff on your back sucks balls.
I agree, I need to do some gravel. Just don’t have the time. I wish there was some nicer gravel routes near my front door, but I’ve accepted the fact I will need to travel a little if I want to enjoy the good stuff.
Thanks for the suggestions RE bags
Great ride, it's actually pretty accessible without a car. At 6am you can smash it up Pacific Highway to Turramurra and turn off to Bobin Head, then Brerowa and Galston Gorge then train back to CBD from Hornsby
up towards Glenorie and Dural is beautiful
great Idea for a series, hope to see more.
Thanks, will do!
Ah, places I used to cycle in my younger days... Keep them coming.
Thanks mate!
Escaping the big smoke, waaay out in the sticks 😮😅
Looks nice 👍
In the boooonies hahaha
I need to do these kinds of rides more often :)
Great video mate. On those longer more isolated rides where I need to take extra supplies/water I use a Camelbak Mule. It’s not too big and sits really well on your back during a ride, yet holds plenty of water, spares etc. On hotter days I used to dump a tray of ice into its water reservoir, then fill the rest with water, was awesome 👍😀
Yea I think it’s worthwhile investing in one of those especially if you’re going to ride offroad and it’s a bit more self supported.
Thanks for the tip :)
Good video highlighting south western Sydney. One point I heard commented upon, the water is blue due to the eucalyptus leaves. I believe it is actually, the water being blue-turquoise, is due to the sandstone in the region, the calcium carbonate in the water from the sandstone, captures the light in the spectrum of alkalinity, thus the bluish tinge.
I look forward to more of your touring ride videos.
I agree with you. If you look at any lakes created by glaciers they’re always a lighter blue colour due to the minerals from the rocks.
Thanks for watching the videos :)
I love close to Camden and is one of the rides on my list, great video @josh
Thanks! Camden is an awesome area.
Thank you Josh, what a nice Vlog, great scenary with a nice group of riders with you. 👍
Thanks for watching, it was a fantastic day
Magic pump for the win again. Still haven't had a puncture since getting one.
Magic pump has a protective aura
Cool to see so many animals just chillin on the side of the road
I sound like such a city person, but it was really cool to see animals
Lake Bura.. go....rang?? Haha - Critical feature of Sydney infrastructure there. Sick video mate, awesome to see so many riders out
Dam levels looking pretty good
Funny hearing a city slicker try to pronounce it :)
@@joshkwan I too am engineering :)
Hi Josh, yes, have done razorback from both sides doing Audaxes, not fun!
Can you share this route please, looks great!
Thanks
Just updated the video description to include it there!
Thanks for watching
Used to live at Belimbla Park. The cycling is fantastic. Living in Chiang Mai now. The cycling is even more fantastic.
What's it like to do Doi Inthanon?
Highlights in Chiang Mai?
@@gregcarroll9723 It’s 2500m in 45Km if you start at the town of Chom Thom. The last 9km are brutal.
@@joshkwan Doi Inthanon, Doi Suthep, Samoeng Loop. The list is long.
Awesome video Josh. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for watching :)
Another primo video bro. looking forward to the next away ride.
Thanks for watching mate! I look forward to the next one too 🫡
Thanks for the vid. Looking forward to the next.
Thanks
Awesome ride!
Thank you :)
"The last bit is fucked", I hate all that technical jargon...😂
No need to get into the technical lingo
Awesome ride...
Thank you :)
come to canberra and ride down to tharwa then loop up to tidbinbilla and brinadella road. 120km or so.
I have seen soooo much good Canberra cycling content. I really need to do a trip there.
@@joshkwan happy to help you plan out routes. @hnngg
Josh you are fabulous
Mucho appreciato
Making me sound like chauffeur or smthing
You’re not!?
Hey mate, loving all your content on the channel, especially as a fellow infrastructure engineer.
Ive recently gotten back into riding and after encouraging more and more mates to get into it over the years, our pack is slowly growing, however none of us have ever ridden in groups of more than 4 beginner/amateur riders at a time.
Could you put together a ‘group ride rules and etiquette’ educational style video that goes through the things people should be doing and implementing so that the group can ride the most efficiently and safely? Also the things you consider as a group leader, in terms of safety and planning a ride, the calls used etc?
Thank you mate, I appreciate it. Also a great video idea which I’ll be adding to my list of video topics for the future. In the interim, we have a pretty comprehensive checklist on our pastries.cc website. Check it out: pastries.cc/rider-etiquette
Would love to go into more detail about route planning and also ride organisation, but let’s save it for outside the YT comment section 🫡
awesome video once again brother love it
Thank you :)
Josh, I live 5 minutes from Camden, I must be a farm boy...🤣🤣
Hahaha yes, Camden very RooRal area :)
That being said it’s very nice and green, I am jealous
Skingrowsback make nice saddle bags
I know you love your pastries, so I have to ask is that a golden croissant logo on the side of your helmet? Another great vid. It seemed an age since the one done on Bowral. Thanks
Good spotting. Yes! I have a golden croisssnt sticker on the side of my helmet.
Sadly I’ve been quite busy since Bowral and I haven’t even filmed any videos since then. This one I edited a few months ago and was saving for a rainy day
Hey Mate! Love your videos, would be so sick if ya did a video on like a guide to Bondi beach and surrounds, I think a lot of tourists would benefit from this and I definitely would too!
I love that idea. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll write it down
U gonna head down to Adelaide when the tour down under is on? I feel like it’s a pretty good city to ride in. You can go from the beach to the top of the hills in about 30km
I would love to head there, but I’ve no more annual leave. I will have to save it for another year.
sick content as always. wondering what your FTP is if you've tested it?
I have not tested it in a long long time, probably a few years.
I have a power meter and my Garmin estimates it’s about 230w. So 3.7w/kg
It looks like a nice ride. Would you post a strava link for the route? thanks
Strava route added to the description.
I hated saddle bags on bikes, until I got one, and of course when you're riding you can't see it. Plenty of pros use them in training and they can quickly be removed. Waiting for you to see the light...
Haha yea lots of people have shown me some nice discreet ones. So I may have to give it a go.
Technically, Camden is still within Sydney’s metropolitan area; still rural though 😂😂😂 I get scared riding out there but that’s cos all of my rides are solo 😂
Riding as a group can feel much safer sometimes, because you’re visible and also can justify taking up more of the lane. Take care and safe riding mate.
Can't beat a good frame bag. But In this case a hydro pack or even hip bag would've been better
Yea it was a little experiment haha. I’ll consider the experiment failed 😂
That is a cool looking helmet, what is it?
HJC Furion
Sadly wouldn’t recommend it. It doesn’t have a dial at the back for fine tuning the fit, and you can’t stow sunnies in the front.
I think they’ve fixed this in the newer ones, but I haven’t tested it for myself
Nice change of scenery! I would consider that rural too. Well worth the drive out!
p.s. don't eat dodgy candy from scary strangers.
I should drive out more often and check out other places to ride :)
Instructions unclear, get into cars with strangers and eat candy.
@@joshkwan You should do a bikepacking trip too! Ride somewhere, stay overnight in a tent (ok ok or airbnb), ride back/continue on the next day.
@@veryboringname. I like the sound of that. I will need to lodge my leave request ;)
Too bad the bag doesn’t stay in place while cycling. I’d like something like that to carry my things.
Since this video I’ve actually got a bag that works. It has a stabilising strap:
www.pedalmafia.cc/products/pedal-mafia-x-sympl-sling-pack
west is best baby
West is good
I live in Camden and do this ride often. There are a few nice ways to go to the lookout. And ways to link up some nice gravel sectors out this way for a sweet 130km ride with very low traffic 👌
HMU if you want some mixed surface routes
That’s awesome
I need to go back and try a few different routes
Tim, do you have any routes published on Strava? Keen to learn more, I live not too far away but far enough that I don’t know all of the routes.
Lol. “That last bit is fucked”. PLEASE tell me that you created a Strava sector and named it that!!!!😂
Hahahaha it would be aptly named. Saving the worst bit of the climb for last
Now go do Avon Dam
🫡 yes sir
Camden is not rural 😂
Rural to a city slicker like me 🤪
Two months of production. Time to go full time TH-cam!
Hahaha this one’s been sitting in the upload schedule for a long time
Alright mister geologist
Learnt from the best
Yep RB was fucked 🤣
It’s a hill that’s for sure 😂
You want to hog/ use the road like that. These are the mobs that need a Number Plate, Registration, Insurance. And follow the rules used by cars.
You sound unhappy. Did you have a bad day?
No. Had a good day. And I am a cyclist as well. You take over the road like you own it.
still have ptsd from this ride 🙃😅🥲
I'll give it another try when I'm much fitter lol
You got this mate. Find your motivation and just send it