Just yakking with Pat on the phone about new places to ride here in Perth saw me training up to Warwick Station on Friday. The destination was Burns Beach, a very northern location about 35km from the city. A 30 min train ride on the very efficient Transperth train with my Tikit folded up saw us arrive 5 mins before 8am. Pat was waiting for me, all ready to go on his BF Pocket Pro.
It took us 5km riding west before we hit the beautiful coastline of North Beach. This must be the most beautiful part of Perth and my dream to stay here one day. As we stopped to savour the great views, an elderly cyclist came up to us and pointed out some dolphins cruising just off the beach.
We were so thrilled to see that. Such magnificent and graceful creatures they are. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture them on camera.
Hillary's Boat Harbour came too soon and I was surprised at how easy it was to cover distances on bicycles here with its excellent bike paths.
We enjoyed good conversations as always and marvelled at the good life people in Perth enjoy especially in these beach suburbs. The weather was sunny but not hot at 23c and this meant many people were out walking or riding.
We stopped at a lookout at Northpoint for morning tea and saw a lone jet scooter having fun tearing up the waves.
The last 5km before Burns Beach proved to be a bit hilly with some curves thrown in. This meant exhilarating downhills with steep cornering and this was where the Kojak tires came to its element. I banked in too steeply at one corner and grinded my Orb panniers. Ouch!
Burns Beach is a popular haunt and even on a weekday, it was fairly crowded. There was a cafe but it looked like it didn't need our business. Its a fairly decent beach but I prefer Cottesloe.
We made our way out east towards the Mitchell Freeway and passed through some very impressive new houses. I was pleased to know that the entire Mitchell Freeway has a bike path build alongside and it just shows the commitment of the local government to promote cycling as a way of life.
I haven't been to the town of Joondalup for a long time and wanted to see it. This has been recently voted as one of the best cities in the world to live in. Considering that this town started just 18 years ago, that is quite a feat. We dropped in at Pat's fav bakery, Patisserie Cafe, which boasts the best Polish donuts, where Pat treated me to a nice apple Danish and had our drinks.
After such indulgence, it was hard to ride again and I was tempted to hop on the train home. But we don't allow our mates to ride alone and so, it was another 11km back to Warwick station south along the Mitchell again.
I got back at 1145am, feeling very pleased at a morning well spent discovering a new cycling route.
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