Coolamon to Wagga

The day was just as cold as the previous one, but somehow it felt better. Probably because I was well rested and better prepared for it.

The day's ride was a short 40km of gently rolling farmland. There was more traffic as I got closer to Wagga but it never felt uncomfortable, even when there was little to no shoulder. Nearly all the traffic gave me plenty of room, most crossing to the other side of the road. Another day with plenty of birdlife and one huge fox.

As I crested the ridge at about halfway and started the small descent to Wagga I encountered a bank of fog after having blue skiles for the first half of the ride. It was never thick and visibility was still several hundred metres so I kept going. By the time I got to the Marrar Road it had lifted again.

In the end it is not much over an hour and a half of riding. It was nice to come into town through North Wagga, down past the Red Steer and the Palm and Prawn where it is much quieter on the road now that the Olympic Way goes further west. I cruised through Wagga, loaded the truck and set off home after and enjoyable four days of Riverina cycling!

Ardlethan to Coolamon

I ended up having a pretty poor breakfast (Dare iced coffee and a chicken satay pie) from the small supermarket because that was the only thing open. I was just finishing breakfast when the cafe started to come to life. Oh well. It was quite cold and I left town with three layers on. It never warmed up from 4 degrees for the entire morning.

Unfortunately the first six kilometres are along the Newell Highway and the shoulder on the road is pretty poor so I just rode as fast as I could to get it over with. Being overtaken by three B-doubles nose to tail is not exactly pleasant. After I turned off the highway I stopped to warm up and put on another layer.

After that the road was quite good to Coolamon, mostly flat through a mix of grazing and croplands with quite a good surface. Coming into Coolamon there are a couple steeper pinches but since I had plenty of spare battery I just kicked the assistance up a notch. The Coolamon Motel is modern with well appointed spacious rooms and friendly staff. Got the washing done then headed out to see the town.

Of a weekend, Coolamon rocks with day trippers from Wagga, Temora, Griffith, Cootamundra etc. They come for the cafes, the craft and antique shops, the galleries and so on. There are even two or three museums. On Mondays, not so much. Nearly everything was closed but the "Synergy Wine and Cheese" cafe was open. Has a cheese platter of  local cheese, a couple of glasses of durif and a coffee.

The only option for dinner was Chinese at the local club but I decided to pass on that since I had a late (and large) lunch. The grand-looking New Coolamon Hotel which is next door to the motel has just been sold, the pokie licences moved to Newcastle and it is feared that it will never reopen.

To Ardlethan

Today's ride was excellent, with great scenery, perfect weather and very light traffic.

I woke to a sunny and still morning and not too cold. I had a very good breakfast with good coffee and Cafe Shazaray.

The Barellan road was very quiet, in fact all the roads were. First the Barellan Road out to Lake Coolah (a "green" lake) and then Kamarah Road.  I passed one cyclist, a roadie about 20 km from town and he didn't even slow down!

The scenery for the most part was a mix of Callitris forests and crops, miles and miles of wheat and canola. Lots of birds. The terrain is gently rolling or flat with the occasional ridge to climb over.

The planned route included a dirt road which when I got there was closed but I soon found another route that was in good condition and only slightly longer. It was as I was pondering the route that a local farmer came by on his tractor and he stopped for a chin wag.

Ardlethan is a very quiet small town. There used to be a big tin mine nearby but that is closed. Now the grain handling facility on the train line is the only substantial business. On a Sunday afternoon NOTHING is open, not even the pub! The town's main claim to fame appears to be that Ardlethan is the "home of the Kelpie" and there are multiple statues of said breed to celebrate.

There is quite a nice public park with several historical displays.

What on earth does this sign mean? Anyway I didn't put on or take off at this location.

The pub opened at 4pm so I had a couple of drinks, a steak dinner and then turned in. The London Hotel Motel has basic rooms, but clean and servicable.

Wagga to Narrandera

The longest planned day... 

The day started well with blue skies and no breeze. It was crisp but I decided to get moving.

I had breakfast at Fitz's Cafe that had a stack of road bike outside. The six local riders were very curious about the bike. Lots of questions.

The ride out of Wagga was uneventful, across the North Wagga flats, under the Olympic Way and I was soon into the green countryside. Lots of canola and wheat. The livestock look in good condition.

I had a plan B in case one battery charge was not enough to get me to Narrandera. The plan was to divery up to the Canola Way where there are multiple towns where a recharge would be possible but as I went along I calculated that I could make it on one charge so no diversion to Ganmain or Grong Grong was needed.

The second half of the route is much closer to the Murrumbidgee and there were some nice views. There are a few kilometres of pretty good gravel road, in fact a lot of it is better than some of the tarmac. I saw a koala crossing the road and lots of bird life. The road was very quiet, mostly just local vehicles and all quite safe.

I stopped for a photo at the lookout over the river and from there it is only a short and mostly downhill run into town. I finished with 1% left in the battery! The Narrandera Gateway Motel room was pretty basic but good enough for my needs. I had dinner at the restaurant in the motel. The food was quite good.

Locked and loaded

Now, three days out from departure date we have good enough weather forecast accuracy to commit to the trip. It looks cool but fine, with no rain forecast and relatively light winds.

I have spent some time over the last couple of days getting the Garmin inReach all set up, so those nearest and dearest will be able to follow my ride and so that I can be confident that we can be in communication if we need to be, even in those places without mobile coverage.

I confirmed all the accommodation for the trip, my luggage is packed and I feel ready to go! Actually that picture is only about 95% of the packing, a couple of small items left out... total luggage weight around 10kg.

P.S. for the record I used 0% of the spares and tools and about half the clothing.

Before the ride

Riverina Tour 2020

Today it was announced that G&B 2020 will not be going ahead. A pity since I was really looking forward to it as usual. Instead I will be providing my own small cash injection into the Riverina economy via a solo cycling trip next week.

The Plan

Friday 17th July - drive to Wagga and stay at the Centralpoint Motel.

Saturday 18th July - ride to Naranderra via the old road and the Canola Way

Sunday 19th July - ride to Ardlethan via some back roads

Monday 20th July - ride to Coolamon, maybe via The Gap

Tuesday 21st July - ride to Wagga and then drive home.

Purpose of the ride

• The ride for its own sake, nice scenery, pretty small towns. Wait for the photos.
• The Coolamon Cheese Shop. Enuf said.
• The country pubs along the way. More enuf said.
• Test the concept of touring with the new ebike. It takes careful choice of routes to make ebike touring successful and fun. Here is a trial run.
• Test the use of inReach as a safety and comms tool. I don't know whether this is because I am nervous or because I am sensitive to the concerns of others...
• Test gear load in preparation for some other rides in the Spring - my thinking is that four days of winter riding will need about as much gear as a much longer ride in warmer weather.
• Anyway it is warmer than Canberra.

Proposed Route

• https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/36837901
• https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/36838366
• https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/36840430
• https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/36840574

Route Strategy

The general idea is to ride secondary or tertiary roads, a mix of tarmac and gravel. Day one from Wagga to Naranderra is about 110km but the journey is broken to refuel rider and bike along the way. Maybe twice. Other days are around 60km or less, easily do-able on one battery charge.

I will be staying in pubs and motels along the route and eating in local pubs.

The rest of this blog

When it starts, expect to see daily updates, mostly photos!