Recon 2: Another reconnaissance mission ...

The skies had cleared, so I took the chance to spin the wheels a week or so ago and reconnoitre Ridgewell Road and the track out to Baltzer Lookout.

While the skies had cleared, there were occasional potholes to clear.

Muddy slaloms anyone?
They just kept getting bigger ...

But, as it turned out, they weren't the puddles.
THESE are the puddles!

Notice the mud splashed 6ft or more up the trunks of surrounding trees.

Despite the drowning hazards, it was an excellent run. Amazing views at almost every turn and I'm still coughing up my lungs after one or two steep pinches. (Ok, I pushed my bike a couple of times. It was that, or brain myself on a rock, tree root or the abrupt end after a fall from a precipice. Walking made sense.)

One of the reasons it was such an excellent run out to the lookout is that it's largely downhill...seriously downhill at times.

Apart from lake-sized potholes near the start of the ride, the track is in good condition for mountain bikes. This one is definitely NOT a road bike ready ride.

HAZARD WARNING: Definitely leave your bike at the track head, where the trail becomes a single walking track, about 3.5km from a locked gate on the way out. (The locked gate is low enough to easily lift your bike over. It's also remotely monitored by NPWS.) Once on foot, I'd recommend giving a wide berth to the cliff edge too.

Spectacular views, but it's a long way down. Hope to return soon. Still hard to comprehend how close this lookout is to bustling Blackheath. Because of the excellent terrain and views, expect to share the track with hikers. Plenty of room for everyone out in this wilderness...and someone around here clearly has a chainsaw and knows how to use it!

If you haven't scrabbled up a rocky 4WD track in a while, here's your chance. While it's a mostly downhill ride out to the lookout, the flip-side is that it's mostly uphill on the return.

All up, it's only 7 or 8 km from Blackheath's cafes, pubs and shops. A neat 15km or so round trip. Hoping to make it a regular training run.

For Team Iron Horse, perhaps it's the first leg of a three lookout training run: Baltzer, Govett's Leap and Evan's Lookout? Time will tell.

Until next time, Pedal on!
Thunder Horse.