Scratching the itch to cycle tour with a cross border ride to Flea Creek
The Brindabellas
About 30km west of Canberra is hilly countryside designated as national parks and reserves. Collectively known as “The Brindabellas” or “The Brindys” it’s a series of different ranges, many deep valleys, pristine rivers and dense eucalypt forests. Maximum elevation is about 1800 metres. Much of the area is conserved as The Namadgi National Park. It is also Canberra’s main water catchment so camping is limited to designated areas. The spine of the ranges is the ACT-NSW border.
The great thing for a Canberra cycle tourer is that the Brindys can be reached on a bicycle in about two hours.
Perfect Summer Weather
This summer has been a total contrast to last year. Twelve months ago Canberra was under siege by massive wildfires, dust storms, extreme heatwaves and years of drought. Our region felt and looked like Armageddon. A year later, steady rain has greened the bushland and recharged the water catchment. Summer temperatures have been mostly benign with only a couple of heatwaves.
COVID19 Update
It’s almost back to normal here with very few cases of community transfer within Australia. A series of strict lockdowns, masks, closed international borders and community compliance have almost totally suppressed the rates of COVID19 infection. There are still some state border restrictions but even they have now mostly opened. The one exception is Western Australia which in the process of reacting to a surprise outbreak.
Flea Creek
Not the most appealing of names, Flea Creek Campground is about 64 kilometres from home and on the New South Wales side of The Brindys. My irrepressible friend and cycle touring mate John is planning a ride to southern NSW in a few weeks, was keen to do a reconnaissance ride across The Brindys and into NSW for a two-day, one night mini-tour. He invited me to join this short ride. After some hesitation (due to the recent very wet weather) I decided to join this short peloton of two cycle tourers. I’m glad I did. It was an excellent weekend cycle tour.
The slight complication is that heavy rain delayed our departure until noon Saturday. Nevertheless we made it to Flea Creek campground in about six hours and with plenty of daylight to spare. We returned by mid-afternoon on Sunday. Total 128 km. Total climb: 2020 metres (Day 1: 992 metre ascent 1028 descent. Day 2: 1028 ascent. 992 descent)
The rest of the weekend mini-tour story is covered in the following captioned photos:
There are two main routes to the Brindabella Road. Via Uriarra Road or via The Cotter Road. We exited via Urania and returned via The Cotter shown on this map.
The beginning of the walk-ride home. Gentle Annie Track is not gentle. At least 20% gradients on the steeper sections. 485 metre climb in the 3.6 km from the campground to the Brindabella Road junction.
Graham SmithTo Scott AndersonHi Scott I’ve not seen the countryside this verdant for at least six years. It’s been a freak spring and summer. I’m wondering if the months of dust storms and dense smoke we had last year deposited micronutrients which have boosted plant growth.
We are now standing by for yet anotherincoming ‘rain event’ via weather warnings. There could be up 50mm dumped in an hour or two.
Our annual average recently has been about 450 mm. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
