The Self Sufficient Bike Camping Thread.

[Flyboy01]

Caad9, that was an epic ride! Great write up.

Here are a few more of my training rides. Nothing quite so soul crushing though.

http://dave-livingthedream.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/flyboy-epic-day-2.html

http://dave-livingthedream.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/flyboy-epic-day-3.html

http://dave-livingthedream.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/snowy-mountains-td-training-ride-day-1.html

In case you didn't follow on from the actual blog, here are the rest of the Snowy Mtns days.

http://dave-livingthedream.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/snowy-mountains-td-training-ride-day-2.html

http://dave-livingthedream.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/snowy-mountains-td-training-ride-day-3.html

http://dave-livingthedream.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/snowy-mountains-td-training-ride-day-4.html

 

[Mywifesirrational]

That was a great read Flyboy, kind of getting me inspired to quietly leave the house with bike and gear and not call anyone until I am too far away to be found.

I've done a lot of walking around the Hume and Hovell, particularly Wee jasper to Tumba, seen a lot of wild dogs (mostly above Tumba - Paddys river dam), not any more than a few together, always been really timid and ran. It was the Brumbies that always has us concerned, really aggressive with foals.

Always wanted to ride from Yass to Albury, then onto Melb, vaguely following the H&H trail. Shame about the general store at Wee Jasper, they always did great food, although 5 days walking to get there anything would be tasty.

 

[caad9]

I'm planning a new bike build which should help me get a bit more 'lost' over summer.
My road bike is making way for a disc brake/all-road style bike which can fit 40mm tyres.
Really looking forward to it and taking a few back roads.

Any ideas for some overnight rides around Vic/Southern NSW?
I've got a few areas in mind, won't be quite is intense as the last effort, but should be equally as scenic!

 

[Elbo]

I'm planning a new bike build which should help me get a bit more 'lost' over summer.
My road bike is making way for a disc brake/all-road style bike which can fit 40mm tyres.
Really looking forward to it and taking a few back roads.

Any ideas for some overnight rides around Vic/Southern NSW?
I've got a few areas in mind, won't be quite is intense as the last effort, but should be equally as scenic!

I did a 3 day loop around Mitta > Dartmouth > Bogong and back with a mate a few years ago. Could've done it in 2 days if we packed lighter and were fitter. Can get really hot in summer, so be prepared and Victorian fire trails tend to go straight up and down hills rather than wind around.

Here's my report and a few pics: https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=tS&doc_id=9762&v=2d

I'm from Albury, so let me know if you want any more info on NE Vic. I can send some scans of good topo maps through too if you decide to go for a ride there.

 

[gcouyant]

be prepared and Victorian fire trails tend to go straight up and down hills rather than wind around.

The other thing is to check that there are no controlled burns in the area and don't rely just on the relevant web sites. Sometimes these go on for days after the scheduled end. Even with a breeze, the valleys fill with smoke and breathing becomes quite a chore. And there's no escaping it...

We suffered terribly around the back of Dartmouth. OMG, it was awful.

 

[climberman]

I'm planning a new bike build which should help me get a bit more 'lost' over summer.
My road bike is making way for a disc brake/all-road style bike which can fit 40mm tyres.
Really looking forward to it and taking a few back roads.

Any ideas for some overnight rides around Vic/Southern NSW?
I've got a few areas in mind, won't be quite is intense as the last effort, but should be equally as scenic!

Jindy - Delegate - Deddick Valley - McKillops Bridge - Suggan Buggan - Barry Way - Jindy is some great country. From the Turnoff near Bonang it's about 50 km of down... but some big up and down after. Pub access at Jindy and Delegate, good camping at McKillops and the Barry Way.

Bungendore - Captains Flat - Araluen - Moruya (Pub access at all these places)

Nimmitibell - Numeralla - Yowrie - Cobargo (acom can be found at Nimmitibell and Cobargo

Lots of good roads for this type of riding in the general SE forests area

 

[caad9]

This sounds perfect! Thanks guys!

I'll look into the areas you've all mentioned, a bit of fresh air is calling.

 

[mick4130]

What sort of racks are you guys using FTP carry gear for overnight trips??

Front panniers are out of the question for me, just can't get used to the heavy awkward steering.

 

[microRobbie]

What sort of racks are you guys using FTP carry gear for overnight trips??

Front panniers are out of the question for me, just can't get used to the heavy awkward steering.

I don't use any racks, just a backpack.

I don't like too much weight on the bike as I like to enjoy the odd water bar jump and a nice handling bike.

With lightweight gear its pretty easy to go <10kg with food and gear for an overnighter (even in winter- I j bivied out the other night in at least -5 with a pretty heavy sleeping bag, but pack was still overall light with the other stuff I had).

Some posters here use frame bags which are a good idea to. There is certainly a point when a backpack can get too heavy so that's up to you.

 

[climberman]

Frame bag, seat bag, bar roll, TT bag, no backpack for me.

This wasn't a cheap option though.

great doing distance on dirt with no backpack. I find the extra weight kills your arse over time.

 

[SummitFever]

Strap as much heavy stuff as you can to your bike, but a lightweight pack is essential when you ditch the bike and hike to a summit. Around here it would be really style-cramping if you were limited to camping alongside your bike. Many sensational vistas and sunsets would be missed...

 

[Elbo]

This thread's been pretty quiet for a while.

I watched the new doco, 'Inspired To Ride,' today, from the same guys who did 'Ride The Divide.' a few years ago. Gotta say, I'm feeling very inspired and started planning a trip already. Definitely feeling the need to get out. I'd definitely recommend watching the film, well worth the $15 to purchase it as well as there's a bunch of pre-race interviews included which are interesting to watch. There's a few heavy moments in the film as well, won't divulge anymore here, other than say watch it.

[video=youtube_share;PYbWn5IMoYc]https://youtu.be/PYbWn5IMoYc[/video]

 

[Cloudrider]

The future is elsewhere......

Sadly I think this forum is in mortal decline ... I tried to put this years Cloudride up end of last year and needed Moderator approval ... never received any, sent a PM and again no response ... so I think it's over to Bikepacking Australia on Facebook. Not everyone is or wants to be on Facebook [myself included] but it's my only means of mass communication these days ... for whatever reason Forums have gone out of fashion and the drift has been to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc

So from the Bikepackers Guide to the Galaxy .....

"So long and thanks for all the fish"

Cheers Steve

 

[Cloudrider]

Testing .... is anyone home

The Bikepackers Guide to the Galaxy

"So long and thanks for all the fish"

 

[jubaeg]

Sadly I think this forum is in mortal decline ... I tried to put this years Cloudride up end of last year and needed Moderator approval ... never received any, sent a PM and again no response ... so I think it's over to Bikepacking Australia on Facebook. Not everyone is or wants to be on Facebook [myself included] but it's my only means of mass communication these days ... for whatever reason Forums have gone out of fashion and the drift has been to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc

So from the Bikepackers Guide to the Galaxy .....

"So long and thanks for all the fish"

Cheers Steve

Thanks for putting me onto that FB group Steve. I've been exploring these pages for a while as I ponder a longer term goal of doing some multi-day bike packing or some of the BNT around Sydney, and had been a bit bemused at the decline of forums, so had assumed that everyone was busy out touring, or just didn't chat much in forums.

 

[Elbo]

Sadly I think this forum is in mortal decline ... I tried to put this years Cloudride up end of last year and needed Moderator approval ... never received any, sent a PM and again no response ... so I think it's over to Bikepacking Australia on Facebook. Not everyone is or wants to be on Facebook [myself included] but it's my only means of mass communication these days ... for whatever reason Forums have gone out of fashion and the drift has been to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc

So from the Bikepackers Guide to the Galaxy .....

"So long and thanks for all the fish"

Cheers Steve

I'm on facebook, but it is the worst format for group stuff and I refuse to post much on there. I will keep contributing to this thread as its been a wealth of knowledge in the past and deserves to be kept alive for others to read.

Do you have any photos or reports from the Cloudride this year?

 

[Knuckles]

The Bikepackers Guide to the Galaxy

"So long and thanks for all the fish"

Its a recent thing...

Based on your low post count...

To stop newbies posting endless "which multitool?" threads...

Soon to be shot in the head...

Hopefully, I need a new multitool...

 

[Elbo]

Did a little overnighter last weekend from Wyong back to Windsor so thought I'd write up a report.

The preparations for the weekend started the previous week, when I finally bit the bullet and ordered a Kona Rove ST, as my road bike wasn't going to be up to the ride through the Watagans and I'm currently MTBless (…shame). The Kona stood out to me as I was after a steel frame, drop bar, 1x setup and something lively and fun to ride, but still fast enough on the black stuff. The bike arrived at the start of the week and I got it built and out riding it straight away trying to get the set up dialled before undertaking the 200km ride from Wyong to Windsor.

I borrowed a tent off a mate, which was massive and heavy and prompted me to invest in my own tent I had being eyeing off, so picked up a Mont Moondance 2 and I'm still eating 2 minute noodles for dinner 2 weeks later. It proved to be an awesome tent though and with my new setup I should get plenty of use out of it. Finished packing everything Friday night after work and decided to go with 2 panniers on a rear rack, with tent poles and a foam roll strapped across the top. I don't have any frame bags, so this seemed to be the best setup sans frame and seat bags.


Day 1
Got on an early train to Wyong and saw a few bikes on the train as it pulled up having stopped through the inner west already. Picked up Lorday at Hornsby after he rode 25km to the station as a warm up as if the prospect of doing 80km in the Watagans wasn't enough of a challenge. We arrived in Wyong and met a few of the guys and girls at the station. It was a good turn out with 18 or 19 riders I think and a whole range of bikes, from clapped out commuters and old MTBs running Rockshox Indy forks, to Disc Truckers and a Surly ECR on 3" tyres and a bunch of more CX type bikes.

We rolled out of Wyong and headed towards Cooranbong for a pie and coffee and water top up before heading into the Watagans. The girls and a few others split off before Cooranbong and we traded water before heading off for pies and to top up our empty bottles.

The first hill up Saul's Rd was a killer and one of the guys managed to get a flat right at the base of it. We caught up to the others after a bit of a breather and headed up the first of the big dirt climbs, which topped out at about 30%. I made it up the first pinch, but had to stop for a breather while Lorday spun up everything in 22x34. My 38x36 proving a little harder with a load on the rear.

We made it to the top of Cut Rock Road and went to check out a lookout nearby only to realise that it was a bit of a hike off the road, so we made do with the little bits we could see between the trees, while watching a Lace Monitor walk around under a guy sitting in his camp chair reading the paper. We waited for a while to see the reaction when he did notice, I don't think he ever noticed the giant lizard trying to steal his food, too busy reading.

We continued up the hill and came across some big corrugated and really gravelly sections which spread everyone out a bit. At this point we were riding parallel to some of the singletrack the HuRT takes in, and glancing over, it looked sandy and sketchy as hell (I met Brad, who had a hand in designing the HuRT, later that night and it was obvious he was a sucker for punishment, riding his singlespeed around those hills!)

Back on some super smooth and fast dirt roads which were a welcome relief from the bone jarring and rack-loosening corrugations then came to a side road, we ditched our panniers in the bush to ride up a steep hill being promised a good lookout at the top. We got to the top and there was nothing but trees and bush, so we gave our mate Alex a bit of shit and then rode down again. One of the guys, Niko's, rack came loose and he lost a bolt, but luckily we had a spare cleat bolt which worked to hold the rack to the braze-on on the frame.

We rode back down and ran into the girls who had been riding together as a group and tried to convince them to climb the massive hill to check out the 'awesome' view at the top. They were skeptical straight away. We were now about 7km from the campsite at The Basin in Olney State Forest, so we continued on, but not before Alex got a flat on one of the final descents. Meanwhile, Lorday, Greg, Julietta and I sped on down the hill to the campsite, fully aware that we would have to climb out the same way the next morning. Getting air off a water bar fully loaded was an interesting experience too.

We set up camp and created a little tent, bivvy and hammock city around the place, then went for a swim in the freezing cold, dirty, leech infested water. Some of the girls were brave enough to skinny dip. I was happy just to wash the layer of dust off I’d managed to collect throughout the day.



This sounds like a bikepacking trip, but in reality it was closer to glamping than camping. Rod (RCOH) was already at the campsite with spare water for all and a giant pot of pulled pork bubbling away on the gas stove. Rolling into camp and almost immediately cracking a beer and smashing some pulled pork and coleslaw rolls was incredible. Nick tore up some pallets with nothing but pure muscle and a mallet and got a fire going for us that lasted well into the night. Many beers were drunk, much shit talking was done and there’s nothing quite like a round of Cards Against Humanity to cement those first impressions amongst the many new faces I met on the weekend. We were invited to play beer pong and have a dance off by some young kids partying up the hill, but most of us decided to head to bed and get some rest ready for the next day of riding.


Day 2
The day started on a high with Rod’s egg and bacon sandwiches and an array of coffee contraptions (still think Blend 43 is the easiest for camping). The ride started with a rude awakening that the climb out was indeed massive. There wasn’t much talking as everyone ground up the hill, while Brad pointed out some singletrack sections of the HuRT off to the side (which looked absolutely wicked, in both senses of the term).

At the top of the climb we stopped for a group shot, then parted ways with most of the Newcastle guys, who were going back a different way.

The rest of the group continued on until we reached some bitumen again. This is where we said goodbye to the girls, who decided they’d take a slower pace and turn a 2 day ride into a 3 dayer, with an extra night camping in Wiseman’s Ferry. We flew down the black stuff on what was a cold misty morning before turning off towards St Albans. This was the start of 30-40km of badly corrugated roads. In many sections there was nowhere to go, the corrugations continued across the whole road, and were often mixed in with loose gravel, making controlling the bike a mission. I was glad for the steel frame and fork of the Kona, but the corrugations took their toll on the factory built wheels and by the end of the ride I had some very loose spokes. Not an issue on the ride, but a spoke key was something I overlooked in considering what I’d need tool-wise for the ride.

We finally got down to the valley floor and onto some better dirt roads, we passed some flags and a hand painted sign reading, “Touch The Earth,” and wondered what the koolaid tastes like at that commune. Greg, Lorday and I rode solidly for an hour or so until we reached St Albans, where we stopped for a water refill, before continuing on to Wiseman’s Ferry on another very corrugated road.

From St Albans to Wiseman’s Ferry, we spread out and arrived at the ferry in dribs and drabs. The majority of us rode onto the ferry as it pulled up on the northern side of the Hawkesbury and Niko showed up just before the guy closed the gates. Wiseman’s is a beautiful spot with the river and cliffs the backdrop to the town, definitely recommend going there if you can. We stopped at the cafe for a roll and almost cleared them out of their Chicken, Lettuce & Mustard rolls. From Wiseman’s Ferry everyone sort of split up into little groups. Some wanted to get going and cruise in for the 5:30pm train at Windsor, others waited around for a bit more down time and rode hard to catch up. I decided to hang back and ride with the faster guys. I knew I’d have to ride harder to stay on the wheel, but also knew it would get much harder if I let myself get dropped. Some of the guys were really strong riders, so we rolled out of Wiseman’s pushing 30km/h+ on loaded CX bikes. We rode through some beautiful country along River Road (have done it twice and it’s still one of my favourite roads to ride around Sydney) and then crossed the final ferry at Sackville. From Sackville to Windsor, it was on, we formed a paceline past the turf farms and managed to get into Windsor 15min before the next train. We laid around in the park for a few minutes then rolled on to the train station and got a finishing photo after we lost Niko for a second when we passed the bottlo. He really needed that Red Bull.

Easter Overnighter Stats
Here's the stats for the ride and a screenshot of the route. If anyone wants GPX files, let me know.

Day 1:
79km
1353m vertical
4hr 30min moving time

Day 2:
124km
1696m vertical
6hrs moving time

 

[Elbo]

Can anyone tell me about the condition of Bobeyan Road, heading south out of Canberra?
Plotting a route from Sydney to Albury to ride with some friends, trying to avoid major highways like the Monaro Hwy, but also trying to avoid corrugated super steep dirt roads, as we'll be on CX/city touring bikes.

 

[simmo200]

Nice write up of your trip Elbo.

The Boboyan Rd Sth of Canberra is ok. It is quite hilly but the first part is all tar anyway. The dirt section is not a 4wd tk, i.e. you can drive a 2wd vehicle down it. I've done it in the falcon a few times but there are usually several corrugated sections. Nothing horrendous but it isn't a dirt superhwy. It's still a better option than riding on the Monaro Hwy.