A Nervous Crossing…
From very early in the planning of our Easter trip, I had been keeping a very close eye on the river levels on the route, especially the Macquarie… And for good reason…
As mentioned a bunch before, it has been a wet year… Super wet… A month out from the trip, the internet told me that the Mac was at about 1.9 metres… I had a long conversation with my Dad about exactly what this means, and apparently there is no standard for river depth measurement and you’re best to just ask the locals…
You will have maybe noticed in the Easter pics that there is all kinds of debris and drift wood lodged WAY up in trees, and the same was true of the Macquarie…
That’s a fucking scary thought…
We stopped at the Mac for some lunch… While the girls swam and made sandwiches with three different kinds of cheese I walked the crossing to see how much effort was going to be required to get across this thing safely… The causeway is just a bunch of river stones arranged in a thirty metre straight line, but the surface is far from level. I guess from years of having four wheel drives punching through it the stones have moved around a lot and there are some nice shallow sections, and some insanely deep holes… I found a pretty nice shallow line on the down river side, and decided that would be where I’d shoot for…
So, with Hajar’s trailer attached I hit it… The line I had chosen on the left was working out great… It had been a while since I had crossed a river with a Bob trailer though and I had forgotten one important thing…
Bob trailers float…
About ten metres in, the trailer picked itself up and, caught by the fast current and massive amount of water that was rolling across the smooth stones, swung out off the causeway and floated above the deep river…
Fuck…
I’d eaten a bunch of my food, but my total bike and gear weight was still way over twenty kilos, and Hajar’s trailer was about the same… I stood and braced the whole rig for a second and thought about what to do… I couldn’t let the weight move me as I was standing right on the edge on the downside of the causeway and a step to my left would mean a solid swim with a whole lot of expensive bike shit to wrestle…
And so I made for the up-river side of the causeway… Pushing the Fargo, still with the trailer floating at a right angle to my bike, I waded into a hole almost waist deep…
Fuck…
I remember looking down at my bike. Hubs and cranks were properly underwater, and the current was such that the water was pushing so hard against my frame bag the the water ran up over the top… A huge thanks to Eric at Revelate Designs for being an absolute craftsman and building stuff that works amazingly for things like this and people like me. My food was still dry on the other side… Love your work Sir…
A little bit of teeth gritting and leaning into the weight of the water and I was eventually at the other side…
Couple of deep breaths, then I looked back and saw Felicity starting out with her trailer… Ah yeah, pretty sure she’s not expecting this floating bullshit…
I strode back into the river towards her… I passed Rosie looking strong as hell dealing easily with her Ortlieb and Freeloader set up, and just as I got to G-Force her trailer lifted, and she slipped… I grabbed her trailer and pooed a little…
‘Hold it… Hold it…’
Please don’t fall in the fucking river…
She regained her feet, and we stood there for a second, I think both feeling a little like we’d just cheated bad luck out of totally destroying our weekend, then with Felicity weighting the front wheel, and me keeping the rear end and trailer steady, made our way a little tediously to the landing…
Everyone across safe and sound… A change of socks and some M&M’s… Not a lot of time to relax as we were running well behind time, but that’s a story already told…
You can hang out and have beers and talk shit with your friends, but getting through moments like this and having a laugh about it despite how bad things could have turned out is the stuff that friendships are really made of…
Such an awesome trip… Such awesome company…
Thanks to Rosie for the mid-river photography…
Easter…
Dirt and rivers and campfires and laughing til we cried and dehydrated cooked breakfast awesomeness and tears and an easter egg hunt and friendships made stronger… I got home half an hour ago and am not really sure where to start…
Despite having invited about two hundred people on this ride, about ninety percent of them guys, by the thursday before Easter it was obvious it was just going to be Felicity, Rosie, Hajar and myself… Small groups are always more fun anyway, and I was looking forward to spending the weekend with the Donkeys and getting to know Hajar better…
We bounced on the city at about four on thursday and made for Bathurst… A quick pizza stop in Blackheath on the way through (friendly staff and interesting wall art, but pizza was a bit meh…) and we were well on our way to the motel that Rosie had sorted us for the evening…
A good night’s sleep and some tag-teaming of the bathroom and we were good to go… We parked cars in the main road out of town in front of a house that looked like robbers probably didn’t live there, loaded up and headed north toward Ophir…
The road for the first day would mainly be tarmac… Usually in April the Central Tablelands region of our state would be in the hurt box from a long dry summer making the scenery a bunch of different shades of brown… I’ve been bitching about the wet summer we’ve had for, well, all of the summer but it really has made for a nice autumn…
Pretty nice morning’s roll… Like most of the waterways in the region, our camp spot of Summer Hill Creek was buried WAY down in a valley… For Felicity and Hajar, having never ridden with trailers on before, the final decent on Ophir Rd proved as sketchy as hell… Rosie dropped the clutch though, and arrived at the creek first…
Despite it being the long weekend, and the campground looking as though it was getting pretty close to being stacked to the brim with bogans, we managed to find a nice spot to pitch tents, cook some food and wander around and explore the creek…
This was my first time carrying (and absolutley annihilating) dehydrated meals, and I have to say these guys have it going on… Delicious, massive amount of calories, and no mucking around simmering shit… Boil water, go for a swim, come back and it’s good to eat… Awesome…
Day two dawned clear and warm and (on reflection) we spent a little too much time chatting over breakfast and wandering around in the water… With tummies full of oats and bananas and wraps toasted on the fire, we headed back out of the valley…
Our goal for the day was lunch at the crossing of the Macquarie River, and then a further twenty five kilometres to Hill End… About a fifty nine kilometre day… But, yeah, I fucked this up a bit… Instead of taking a right down Oaky Lane toward the river, I missed it all together and had us stay on Lookout Rd… They joined back up eventually, but it added eleven kilometres (and an INSANELY good fun decent) to our day… Still, it was eleven kilometres like this…
So thanks to our late start and misdirection, by the time we reached the lunch spot of the Macquarie (sorry I didn’t get pictures, I had a lot on my mind) it was three o’clock… And if the road ahead was the opposite of the crazy steep decent we had just bombed to get to the river, we were going to be spending some time riding in the dark…
Salami and cheese and salmon and bread a swim and chocolate custard baby food helped me think… Hajar was starting to feel the hurt a little bit, and would likely be pushing a lot if it got hilly, so I took her trailer on top of my own gear and we got on our way… ‘No stopping, just keep rolling,’ was the goal of the afternoon…
The four wheel drive track of Dixon’s Long Point is the most brutally steep place I have ever ridden… Including the Bloomfield Track. The Bloomfield was steeper for sure, but Dixon’s just keeps on going, never lets up… I was able to ride most of it, but Rosie was hurting too… As the guy that dragged the girls out here, I felt super responsible for making sure they had a good time (or at least didn’t have a shit time) so each small area of flat I reached, I dropped my bike and walked back down to Rosie who was struggling pushing her bike with panniers, unable to keep the front end on the ground…
Tears were close, but a hug and some M&M’s kept them at bay for now, and we continued on… Eventually the landscape became more rolling…
The sun was starting to get lower in the sky, but it was pretty hard not to smile being out here…
By now, everyone had come to terms with the fact that we’d be out after dark… Felicity was as excited as hell, the others maybe not quite so much… All had lights at the ready, but we pushed on as long as we could without them…
Even if I had been carrying my little tripod and had the time, it would have been just about impossible to properly photograph what was one of the most amazing moments of my life… Lights were needed, and we stopped together in the cold on a ridgetop to help each other get them fitted, rug up a bit and get a few calories in…
To the west, the last lines of intense red sunset were slowly sinking below the horizon… To the east, the full moon had risen, and sat just about the hills… And here the four of us were… While most of our friends were surely out drinking or watching tv, we were stuck on a ridge in the middle of nowhere witnessing something amazing… I know the other two were way to far gone to properly appreciate this, but Felicity and I were blown away… Has definitely made me want to organise more rides for myself that I know I can’t finish before dark…
Last few kilometres in the dark were cold, but fun… I knew the ‘fun’ part wasn’t being shared by the whole group at this point and I just wanted to get us to the Hill End pub as quick as possible… We arrived to the absolutely packed Royal Hotel in full darkness, with head torches punching out about two thousand lumens between us… There were plenty there that wanted to hear the tale of our day, but there were more pressing concerns afoot…
Rosie had pushed herself pretty hard to get through what had become almost seventy kilometres of loaded climbing and cold and darkness… Tears and hugs and beer and dinner and hugs can pretty much solve anything though, and being around your friends at times when they are hurting and needing these things only makes relationships stronger…
Lucky for us the National Parks guy was at the pub and directed us to the camp ground with some space left… With stomachs full of rubbish pub food (someone please buy Hill End Pub and turn it into the kind of place Hill End deserves) we rolled up the hill, put up tents and went pretty much straight to sleep…
I rose a little earlier than the girls thanks to some German lady yelling ‘Easter Bunny!!!’ to a bunch of kids that were obviously as excited as hell about finding, and then devouring, as much chocolate as possible… Went for a quick spin with the Bob trailer to get some fire wood, then sat down for breakfast to discuss the day’s plan…
I was trashed from towing the trailer on top of my stuff, and while everyone was looking forward to the day, no one really felt like riding to far… I abandoned our original plan of making for Sofala, and decided to chill-fest was in order…
Rosie and Hajar went back to bed, Felicity and I went and found coffee (good coffee too!) and had a roll around… By the time midday came around we were just starting to think about getting going…
All packed, we cruised via the pub a for a sneaky beer and grabbed a bottle of wine for the evening… The idea for the afternoon was simple – roll down the Bridle Track to the Turon river until we found a spot that looked nice, set up camp and just hang out for the evening. Eat some food, have a swim. A snooze maybe… Generally just take it easy…
Getting there was awesome…
Being there was better…
I’m still not sure how she managed to do it, but at some point Felicity ran off and hid a shitload of Easter eggs all over the place. In trees mostly, but well placed for sure… I found one, Hajar got two… Guess who got the rest?
And so the day passed… Eating, swimming, just generally enjoying being outside somewhere nice with nowhere to be…
We sat up late, watching the fire slowly fall apart into coals, eating Brie and apple (good combo!) and lauging about lettuce… Don’t ask… The girls had no idea where we were heading, but I was really looking forward to our last day on the bike…
I’d only ever riddin the Bridle Track from the Bathurst end, making it mostly uphill… Another reasonably late start that included a swim and a HUGE breakfast and we were on our way to Monaghans Bluff…
It was obvious that the area has seen a tonne of rain. I think if you look closely at photos of rivers you can see debris lodged way over head high in the trees. Parts of the trail I remember being smooth were absolutely trashed… This whole section had been rebuilt, I assume after flood water tore it to pieces…
The road followed the river for a few kays then climbed up onto the cliff face for the Bluff proper. For those that don’t know, Monaghan’s Bluff is part of the road that was originally used as a supply trail to the goldfields from Bathurst. Basically a whole bunch of stones piled up on the cliff face with dirt on top, the track is actually very stable.
Unless a cliff falls on it…
Given that ‘stack up a bunch of stones’ is no longer considered ample engineering for road construction, it is unlikely that the Bluff will ever be repaired. Bad news if you run a business in Hill End, as it was previously considered a four wheel drive epic and Hill End the obvious resupply and overnight stay. Good news if you like bikepacking, off road cycle touring or motorcycling…
The decent down the other side was all I had hoped it would be… Loose, fast, sketchy with an epic view… We hit the bottom all smiles, and with a tail wind at our backs and the road flat and following the river we were making great time…
One enormous climb on the tarmac, and were within ten of Bathurst and a much deserved beer… The tail wind that had accompanied us on the river had now become a head wind, but we were so close we hardly felt it… And again, the scenery more than made up for the heavy legs…
Jack Duggan’s was our destination thanks to the house speciality – Cheesy Bacon Fries. However, the kitchen was closed. So we settled for a meal in a glass…
An amazing weekend all wrapped up. Huge thanks to Hajar, Felicity and Rosie… Stay tuned for some more pics and randomness.
Thanks to the lack of cheesy bacon-ness, this last pic is taken from the carpark of KFC…
All Packed…
Well, I promised a ‘Can You Really Pack Four Days of Stuff On Your Bike Without Panniers or a Trailer’ post… So here it is…
Surprised me too, but the answer is Yes..!
Okay, so here is a quick breakdown for the curious or nerdy…
Mont Moondance 2 Tent – Had this for a few years after my last tent blew away in a storm…
Exped Down Mat – I have a light uninsulated summer mat aswell, which is a third the weight, but after being only a degree or two away from getting in a bit of trouble from the cold at night in Newnes a few weeks ago, I invested in one with some dead geese in it…
Deuter Plus Five sleeping bag.
Thermal tights, compression socks, tshirt and beanie for sleeping in…
Three storage bottles – one first aid, one tools and spares and one for pyromania with some fire starters and matches.
MSR water filter – I bought this especially for the trip as there is nowhere to really stop for water. Usually, I have the capacity to carry six litres in my frame bag so this wouldn’t be too big a deal, but the frame bag is full of food.
MSR Stove – old but awesome. Gonna invest in something lighter at some point but it makes water hot and that makes me happy. Thanks to The Oracle for selling it to me cheap an aeon ago…
Four Days Food – Well almost. We’ll be having a steak and ONE beer at Hill End pub but other than that we got to carry pretty much all our meals from the outset… Assorted flavours of oats (with the option of dried fruit added) for breakies… Flat bread with tuna or salmon OR curry for lunch… Dehydrated spag-bol or beef strog OR curry for dinner… Chocolate custard baby food is the best desert ever…
Snacks – Beef jerky (coles bought and some AMAZING stuff from Trunks butcher in Singleton, butchered and made in house) M&Ms and jelly beans are all a growing lad needs to keep rolling… Bit of dried fruit and some Em’s bars in there too…
Clothes – Two jerseys and shorts, windproof fleece jacket, waterproof jacket (Cannondale Morphis which converts to a vest too, pretty much my favourite piece of riding kit) Sugoi firewall gloves, towel, casual shorts and tshirt, arm and knee warmers and a windproof fleece cap…
Camera, hipflask, Light and Motion Solite (seriously awesome light, can convert from bar to helmet to headlamp to torch to table lamp. If you are looking for a multipurpose light for this kind of thing, just go get one…)
Toilet paper kit, wet wipes, voltaren, chamois cream and a toothbrush round out the essentials…
Glad I don't have suspension...
It was an interesting experience packing this thing for four days… I have my two-day pack so down I can do it watching Family Guy with a beer in my hand, but this was a lot more difficult…
Like I said earlier, no room for water in the frame bag now, it’s all stove and food and water filter, so I’ll carry a three litre hydropack which will also take arm and knee warmers and a spare tube. I really dislike riding with a pack, but it is unavoidable for this weekend… Totally getting myself some Anything Cages to remedy this next time…
Usually I only run my tent on the front, and the seat bag is sleeping gear but this time, the bar harness holds tent, poles, pegs, bag and mat… Tyre clearance is tight but I think it’ll be ok, and that’s an Ortlieb dry bag so the tyre can try as hard as it likes to rub through it and I don’t think it’s gonna happen…
Four days food is a lot. The frame bag has an internal divider horizontally through the centre and this is the first time I have opened it to make one massive space… Food is packed in the order I want to eat it with the stove up top for easy access, so we’ll see how that goes…
The saddle bag seems to grip my newish titanium seatpost a lot better than it did my old alloy one, and the saddle bag seems to sway less which is great… Could be cause it’s slightly lighter too with no sleeping mat and bag…
So, here it is…
I have to ride it to the shop tomorrow as we are leaving straight from work, so hope I have everything… I guess we’ll see…
Enjoy your Easter, see you next week…
A Therapy For Pain 