Canberra to Jindabyne - Easter 2017

This was the first tour I organised as an adult, and my first tour based out of Canberra. We optimisitically planned to ride from Canberra to Mt Kosciuszko over the Easter long weekend, setting off on thursday after work to make some headway on Namadgi. The first 50ks to Orroral Campground had bigger and steeper hills than I had ever ridden. After finally arriving at camp, I realised I had forgotten matches for our borrowed gas stove. After begging fellow campers for a lighter, the cous cous and (slightly undercooked) lentils did not impress the boys and we turned in for the night.

After a night of shivering due to inadequate sleep gear, and facing the prospect of more of my cooking, the lads cut their losses and rode back to Canberra. I was determined to see out the trip despite the rough start.

The hills in Namadgi seemed to go on forever, and no sooner than I reached level with the horizon would I be hurtling down another descent. I thought about turning back for most of the day, but didn’t back myself to get up the hills I had already descended.

I was heckled multiple times by a group of men drinking in a Holden Commodore, and at 5pm on the outskirts of Adaminaby I saw them rolling up again. I was about to jump off the bike and run into a paddock when the driver exclaimed “Far out you are still riding! Where are you headed?” and then reassured me that the pub (and some refreshing beer) was only 5ks away.

After making it into town I called my parents from a pay phone to let them know I was ok. I then went shopping for multiple things I had forgotten, including matches, some allen keys, more gas and some food. I then made myself a marginally improved dinner of eggs, hot sauce and cous cous.

After another sleepless night wearing all my clothes and waiting for the sun to come up, the ride into Jindabyne was uneventful. At a free camping spot some four wheel drivers took pity on me and invited me over to their fire. I spent a long time thinking about how I could get to Kosciusko but decided I would have to pedal home from Jindabyne on the highway.

I rode out of Jindabyne the next morning on singletrack, to avoid the large shoulder-less hill climb. However, I sheared a bolt on my pannier rack and this necessitated some trail side repairs.

This is also the point where I started to get frustrated with how much I was carrying and threw away all the food I didn’t think I’d need (which included a kilo of pears and half a dozen eggs).

After getting the pannier rack repaired in Cooma by a kind man who had just been down at Thredbo with his family, I pushed onto Bredbo. Unused to the country pub banter I nearly got whiplash from being accused of being “another bloody cyclist” before being offered a beer and introduced to the other cycle tourist - a french backpacker riding from Melbourne to Sydney. The next day we rode into Canberra together - stopping to pay our respects at the Mike Hall memorial. It was a stark reminder that tomorrow is not promised.

Overall, the trip was a massive learning experience - mostly about having the right gear to meet the conditions, understanding the difficulty of hills and gravel, and the beginning of my learning that food is not just fuel, but also needs to be enjoyable to consume.