The Big Chill: Numeralla to Dalgety

September 24, 2012

Day 3
Monday 24 September 2012
Numeralla to Dalgety

Awoke to a very frosty, clear morning. Another beautiful, clear day. Subzero temperatures made it hard to get fingers and stiff limbs moving. Water was frozen in the water bottles. The overnight temperature was about -6 degrees C.

Yesterday's ride had had a considerable affect on muscles with very few parts willing to work easily today. Fingers were especially recalcitrant in the cold.

We had breakfast, disassembled the tents, packed and headed off into a still, cold, spring morning toward Cooma. It didn't take long to warm up.

Within two hours of more undulating riding, this time on good sealed road, we reached the sizeable town of Cooma. Here we rested for about 90 mins, ate at a cafe, stocked up on food and checked with the Visitor Centre about the Barry Way route ahead. They said it had re-opened four days ago to all traffic. They also showed me a 3-D topographical relief model of the Snowy-Monaro region. It showed some serious hills.

We departed Cooma on a backroad, (the Maffra Road) toward Dalgety. Although not as hard a ride as yesterday, it was still fairly demanding due to hills.

The road surface was excellent all the way to Dalgety.. There were grand views throughout the ride, especially of the Monaro high plains and of the snow covered main range. Very little traffic for most of the day.

The days' ride ended with a long, downhill roll to the small township of Dalgety on the Snowy River. We booked into the one pub in town. Buckleys Crossing Pub. The warmth, shower, and evening meal were welcome after two hard days of cycling.

The publican and his wife were keen to chat about their plans and the area.

Distance 80 km
Average 15 km/ hr
Maximum 63.7 km/ hr
5 hrs 40 mins riding