01/09/25 Powered Pedaling on the Swan River Loop

There I was in Fremantle without my bicycle, and just around the corner from our flat was a bicycle hire shop. Roger hired an electric bicycle for the purposes of not straining his various aching joints, so in order not to be outdone left behind I hired an electric bicycle as well and off we went exclaiming about how easy it was to ride a bicycle when one had a motor to do all the work. 

We went north, ocean to our left, past Leighton Beach where the whale families were still gathering crowds, and all the way to Cottesloe Beach. Cottesloe Beach was Perth's flagship beach although it wasn't very grand, having been covered with drifts of seagrass washed up in recent storms.  No one was swimming, but a raft of wet-suited surfers floated on the swell further out, jostling to catch a wave or feed a shark, whichever came first.

We left the beach at Cottesloe and made our way through the suburbs to the railway line. A mob of black cockatoos cracked nuts beside the footpath, so intent on their task that they totally ignored anyone who stopped to photograph them.

"We're going too slow," Roger fretted. "We've got lots of k's to go and at this rate we wont get back to Fremantle before dark: we'll be blacklisted by the hire company and be lost and cold in the wilds of Fremantle and never be allowed to hire a bicycle ever againbin the whole world!" So we turned up the power assist and zoomed at ridiculous speed beside the railway line until we got to Kings Park.

"Goodness!" said Roger, all fretting quite soothed by a spot of speeding. "We've got heaps of time! Let's go up to the lookout in the park."

So we did.

A 

A beautiful clear day,

with views of Perth along the river bank.

Beyond Kings Park the river, now a wide estuarine lake, beckoned us.  We turned back toward Fremantle and followed the shoreline. The wind picked up, but where I would normally grizzle about a head wind I just turned up my power assist and off I went, not a grizzle in sight.  Roger was not so fortunate: his bicycle threw a fit of bad temper and ceased being powered, becoming just a very heavy bicycle before grudgingly returning to power assist at 50% of desired levels. "My legs hurt," said Roger. "This is so hard to pedal. Do you want to swap bikes? This one has a belt drive."

I said no to his most tempting offer, the promise of the belt drive not enough to balance out reported deficiencies in the power assist department.

Lake with jetty and wind.

We stopped for lunch under a winter-bare tree, with bright sunshine and a view of other people's boats.

Artworks popped up at intervals along the trail,

and the path took interesting turns past aged stone walls.

Perth's bird life hung out in the nature reserves beside the water: black swans, pelicans, shelducks, and (great excitement) a white headed osprey feasting on its fish catch.

We followed the river all the way back to Fremantle and then went for a little extra pedal along Frenantle's beachside, discovering whole streets of beautiful old buildings, 

and a tunnel. 

By then it was 5pm and we returned the bicycles with not a minute to spare, narrowly escaping bicycle shop black listing and retaining our ability to hire bicycles again when we return in November.  Let me tell you though, the ability to flatten the hills with the flick of a throttle had a seductive power all of its own.

Home we went, well satisfied and tired, to enjoy a well earned drink and biccies on our balcony overlooking the multi story carpark. As multi story car parks go it was an acceptable view, but I had to admit it wasn't a patch on the Swan River.

Please don't tell my 'real' bicycle that I've been riding with the enemy. After all, what happens in Freo stays in Freo....