The fire road to the swimming hole was quite steep, and I lost at least one beer along the way. Several large cities around the world blend tame and wild elements within the same boundaries. Portland, where I attended university, is certainly one of them. Its park, within a 15-minute bike ride of the city centre, covers more than 5,000 acres and offers some of Portland’s best cycling. Sydney, where I now live, has similarly impressive attractions. Yesterday, I visited Warragamba Park, just outside Penrith, after a morning of work at the Richmond campus, where I also caught up with Nathan.