I have been intrigued on my ride around the waterfront at Newington by signs that point west and read "Parramatta". As far as I know, there is no bike route once you get past Newington - it just finishes. Parramatta might indeed be that-a-way, but there is no means to get there. It would be like me putting a sign out the front of my house with "NZ" on it, with the sign pointing in an easterly direction. Yes, NZ is that way, but just try driving there. I can guarantee it will all end in tears in about 25km time.
What I did notice on my last ride was that I could see a certain billboard off in the distance. One thing the councils out west allow you to do is put up enormous fat poles and put billboards on the top of them. They are ugly as sin, but so is most of the western suburbs, so I don't mind. At times like this, they make handy navigation markers. Given the way I get lost, they should erect lots more. Lots, lots more. Dot the landscape with the bloody things I say.
So today I took the "proper" cycle path that I know leads to Parramatta - the one that follows the M4. I had just left Homebush when I spotted that same billboard - it was outside a Bunnings warehouse, and I practically rode underneath it. So I reckoned if I could see that sign from the waterfront, there must be a way to ride from the cycle path to the waterfront.
All that I had to do was get across the M4, which is about 19 lanes of traffic in each direction.
Actually, it wasn't that hard. I just jumped onto the footpath at Silverwater Road and headed north. Following that would mean I would hit the water eventually. It was just a question of finding a nice, cycle-friendly route in the meantime.
I jumped off Silverwater Road as quickly as possible - like at the next set of lights - since it is a bastard of a road. It's thick with large trucks and courier vehicles, and I hate couriers. They're always in a hurry, the disobey 96% of the road rules and they are dumb as fuck. Seen anyone with a PhD driving a courier vehicle lately?
That left me in a large and horrible industrial estate. I stooged around the estate for a while before noticing that it was the same estate that I got lost in a few weeks ago, so I was in familiar territory. I had come into this estate from the opposite direction - but not from the point that I wanted to reach - so I just had to use the Force to try and get to where I wanted to go.
I then spotted the navigation marker that I really needed - a sailboat on a trailer parked on the side of the road. I had ridden past that boat just a few days ago, and I knew that it was essentially at the end of the line for the waterfront cycle path. Once I got to the boat, I was home and hosed.
The funny thing is that I kept on seeing these two other cyclists again and again on my ride. They weren't together, but they kept on popping up at odd points. I hooked up with one of them and we had a pleasant ride together for about 10 minutes. He works at Homebush, and goes for a one hour ride around the place each day, covering about 20km in the process. We had a good chat about this and that. It's not often that I get to chat to another cyclist - very few seem to be going my way - so it was a nice break from the solo pattern.
From Homebush, I headed back to Breakfast Point for another coffee at Pane e Vino. I parked the bike out the front, sat down and a waitress came out and said, "Let me guess - you want a mac", which was correct. However, I didn't remember seeing her there on Monday.
And I hadn't - today was her first day. The barrista had seen me through the door and told her that I probably wanted a macchiato. I appreciate that sort of memory. The coffee was as good as it was on Monday. The bonus was that they also had some pies in stock. I wanted a beef pie, but they were all gone, so I had Thai chicken instead.
Check out the coffee - I put the glasses in the shot for some scale, but it doesn't really work. They make the glass look much larger than it is. It's essentially a shot glass, which is what a macchiato should be. And check out the level of the coffee in the bottom - I had a small sip before taking the photo, but there is bugger all coffee in there. It's concentrated, thick and glutinous. Lovely.
This is the pie. I just loved the way they folded the pastry. I have tried making pies at home, and always buggered them up. Now I know how to do them - make a simple parcel and fold the corners in and away you go.
It was not a wimpy pie. When I have a pie that is supposed to be Thai, it should have a good kick to it. This one did. I got back on the bike, rode straight into a heavy rain shower and the pie kept me beautifully warm.
I later calculated though that if I had not stopped for a pie and coffee, I actually would have made it home before it started raining.
Such is life. I'll take a good coffee and pie anyday over wimping out over a bit of rain.
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