April 25, 2025
De ja vous all over again.
Tumut to Wee Jasper
I woke just as dawn was breaking after a sound sleep and fired up the campfire as it was quite chilly. It was so beautiful with the early mist hanging over the valley. The only sounds were the river and the occasional birdsong along with the cattle we were sharing the paddock with.
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It was hard to get going this morning. We lingered by the fire, ate breakfast and had a coffee before packing up and hitting the road around 10am. We retraced our steps into Tumut for second breakfast and then venture up into the Brindabellas. I knew we were in for a decent climb in the morning before a long descent down into Wee Jasper. Again I’d done this ride in reverse and whilst I was completely wrong with my prediction yesterday I was very confident (in fact a Darryl Kerrigan level of confidence) that today my recollections would be accurate. I was completely wrong!
After leaving Tumut we followed a lovely valley towards the looming mountain range and started the inevitable climb after about 15 kilometres of flat riding. I thought we’d be climbing for around two hours but it turned into double that and some more. Every time we thought we were at the top another climb appeared around the corner.
As if climbing up a dirty great big hill wasn’t a stupid enough idea, for shits and giggles we decide to stop for lunch just by some beehives and see who could get stung first.
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The Stingose that he bought after having survived a wasp sting a few days ago came in very handy. I used my optometrical skills to surgically remove the barb and whilst I was all scrubbed up offered to do a complimentary laser vision correction which he declined.
By 3pm we still had over 35 kilometres to go which I promised the other guys would surely be downhill, but alas no. It was up and down on a plateau with only the last 20 kilometres a rough descent into Wee Jasper.
Pete had 2 flats in quick succession which slowed us down. By the time we hit the descent it was twilight and again we finished in the dark. It was easily the biggest climbing day of the trip.
Meanwhile Ross had long since disappeared. The performance enhancing drugs he’s clearly secreted into the Stingose has made him ride like a man possessed. He seemed destined to don the yellow jersey but made the rookie error of having no idea where he was going and ended up in Wee Jasper township which was about four kilometres past our campsite. Much like a few of the Tour de France riders in the early 1900’s who were caught cheating by catching a train during one of the stages, Ross was spotted jumping out of a car in the campground. Some bloke in town took pity on him and drove him back up to our campsite.
For dinner tonight I dreamt up an Italian Indian fusion theme, hoping that that would impress my weary travellers as much as Chef Ross’ dish last night. There is a reason however why ‘Gnocchi con Pollo Tikka Masala’ does not appear on any menu in any respectable restaurant in the world. It tasted like absolute garbage, not helped by me forgetting to rehydrate the dehydrate peas that I threw in for a bit of extra jooz. The gnocchi was more tartare than al dente. I think I’ll call this never to be repeated dish ‘Crunch and Chew’.
Ross’ venture into the Wee Jasper CBD did reveal that a new cafe had opened recently so we did have that to look forward to for breakfast tomorrow. For now I need to brush my teeth and try to extricate the pellet of pea that seems to have wedged itself in my new filling.
Today's ride: 80 km (50 miles)
Total: 984 km (611 miles)
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All the best for the ascent out of Wee Jasper.
4 days ago
4 days ago