I'm interested in starting to do a bit of 'touring' or bush bashing. As a beginner trek, I figure what better way than utilise the Bicentennial Trail between Canberra (where I live) and Lithgow (and then onto Bathurst where I have family). Is this a very good/safe/doable intro to this world?
Yes, it's relatively straight forward (but see points below) and well documented.
This was my trip here. I kept going north from here though
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47443495
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47443481
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/47443461
I take no responsibility for the use of my GPS traces other than information purposes though
The section from Jenolan to Hampton is not so friendly. I could suggest an alternate route I havent tested yet or you could stick to the BNT. If you do, the bit that says "overgrown single track" you might want to bypass some how. The route I havent tested yet is to turn east at that point and take the Jenolan River Fire Trail. No idea how it would pan out so do so at your own risk. It rejoins the BNT later though. The guide book alludes to a private property fire trail to the west though. I just ended up on that after giving up but it's well... private property so again I wouldn't necessarily encourage you down that route. should you have the desire to stick to the "overgrown single track", take a compass and a machete and make sure you have plenty of day light.
...And I'm not joking.
Before that, there's lots of logging going on around vulcan SF so the route has been detoured through here. get the latest conditions off of the BNT site and the local co-ordinator.
The BNT around Canberra outskirts I found a little confusing. You may wish to bash through on bike paths till you get to the Gundaroo road.
There are a couple options to get into lithgow, I took the easy one. There are a couple more rugged options just short of Rydal or you may decide to bypass Lithgow all together. I can't help you much heading out to Bathurst, but there are some awesome trails in Sunny Corner SF. Craig @ Insane Cycles in lithgow (thecat on here I think) may be a good point of call though
From the looks of it, this would take probably 2 or 3 full days. Would those who know the BNT suggest buying the guidebooks for these two relevant sections (9 and 10)?
it's 370km's. first 250-300 of that is pretty straight forward. there's a section of 50 or 60k's that's a bit iffy and the final stretch into Lithgow is very straight forward. For *me*, It's a long/hard 2 days, a medium 3, and an easy 4 to Lithgow IMHO, pretty much all on dirt roads and firetrails with the odd gnarly fire trail descent/climb and some sections of bitumen. It's amazing how much time is lost through navigational errors and how much terrain is hidden inside the contours. The first couple of days I thought I'd be banging out 100+mile days with ease. While my legs were more than capable, underestimating terrain, getting lost, time lost through "chores" (getting food, water, chatting to locals who spark up a conversation etc...) can be surprisingly costly
I would absolutely advocate getting the Guidebooks. They're very good. My only tip would be to put the GPS co-ordinates on some of the intersections or other notable features once you get into any of the state forests. For those sections, it may be worth getting the 1:25k topo's too. I didn't and still go there ok but I had a few head scratching moments I would also advocate joining the organisation that both maintains the trail and the guidebooks.
Is there absolutely anything I should know (bar anything to do with the bike and the camping) about the BNT or this type of activity that seems so obvious it is therefore not found on a lot of sites?
Water between Gundaroo and Crookwell is a bit sparse. It may or may not be a problem depending on the pace you can maintain and time of year. There are a couple of private tanks along the way, including the odd church but it's not guaranteed. It was a bit splotchy on day 2 as well but a little less so with more creeks flowing. It helped for me that it had both rained a lot recently, and been a bit cooler, but I made sure I knew were all the guaranteed water supplies were and left each one with a full gut and bottles/camelback. Mt Werong ( a tank) & Hampton will be your best bets on Day 2 I think apart from the odd creek.
ED: Crookwell has quite a few services, but funny general business hours (10-5/6 or so) for most shops. The bakery had some tasty treats and was open when I left in the morning (before 7). Taralga was a bit thinner but I didn't exactly tour around to see what else was available.
You should probably have a chat to all the relevant land managers you'll be passing through before you go. This will include (to Lithgow)
Livestock health and protection agency
National parks
State Forests
of which there will be multiple offices depending on jurisdiction. Some may or may not know what your talking about on first contact. Some will be a wealth of knowledge...
As usual, take my advice/comments with a grain of salt. Responsible for your own actions yadda yadda. I'd be happy to discuss your route choice though in terms of the documented campsites etc... some of them are good, some of them arn't
HTH
Cheers
Spoonie
