Sydney ‘roadies’ develop a taste for Orange gravel
Written by guest contributor - Tim Archer
When a bunch of long-time road cycling mates from Sydney were looking for their next trip, it was a no brainer to ‘cross over’ to gravel bikes and crazy shirts, and cross the Blue Mountains to explore the Central West’s backroads.
The group had previously done multi-day road tours around Berry, the Victorian high country and France over the years, but it was time to see if gravel riding lived up to the hype.
Chief route planner, Michael Price said it was pretty straightforward to organise a suitably challenging “credit card bikepacking” itinerary (lightweight touring with minimal gear).
“We had a four-day window and were looking for a good mix of road and gravel riding on quiet country roads with a decent amount of climbing. The first step was to find three pubs that could take our group and bikes, plus breakfast and dinner options.
“We then took a lot of inspiration from Orange and Villages Bicycle Trail to plan the routes, but we had to make some tweaks to suit our pub bookings. A shout out to Ben at RideOrange whose local knowledge helped fill the gaps,” Pricey said.
Day 1 – Blayney to Orange (54km, 880m climbing)
After an easy morning drive from Sydney, the bunch met for lunch at Blayney’s Ironbark Expresso (country portions are the best) before warming up the gravel legs on the backroads through the localities of Greghamstown and Byng. A quick stop at Mayfield Vineyard was tempting but we pressed on to Orange.
Having conquered our first half-day ride, we checked into the Hotel Canobolas, showered, had a quick beer then wandered half a block down Summer St to Mr Lim for dinner. Hungry cyclists don’t like browsing menus for long, so the ‘Let Sammy Feed You’ banquet was an easy decision. The food just kept on coming, an outstanding mix of Korean and Chinese fusion as good as anything you will find in Australia or beyond.
Day 2 – Orange to Woodstock (98km, 1,570m climbing)
This was our biggest day, starting with 30km of logging roads up and down (mostly up) the southern slopes of Mt Canobolas before emerging back on the bitumen at Cargo and lunch at Timber Tales Coffee. The Cargo Rd involved a bit of 100km/h main road traffic to Canowindra but there was ample shoulder and the understanding locals kindly gave us a wide berth.
From there, 30km of rolling hills along George Russell Drive got us to the Woodstock Royal Hotel for a well-earned dinner and drinks in the beer garden, and a chance to donate to the Woodstock swimming pool raffle.
Rider tip: the Woodstock pub does a great dinner, but breakfast is limited to a help-yourself packet of cereal and instant coffee/tea. Plan accordingly if you have big kms ahead. And remember to take some cash for raffle tickets (thanks Pricey).
Day 3 – Woodstock to Carcoar (81km, 1,440m climbing)
Beautifully quiet, scenic backroads took us over the Woods Flat Creek, past Pine Mountain and along the dauntingly named Reg Hailstone Way. There were some steeper pinches but the ‘champagne gravel’ was hard packed and smooth, leading us through the localities of Roseberg and Garland into Lyndhurst.
Sadly the Lyndhurst lunch options were limited so the bunch pushed on to the Mando Pub (Royal Hotel Mandurama), and were rewarded with supersized schnitzels and burgers. Rather than finishing with an easy 9km cruise up the Mid Western Highway, we went ‘the long way round’ by tackling the up-and-down of Fell Timber Road before crossing the Belubula River and checking in at the Carcoar Royal Hotel (our third Royal Hotel that day).
Almost all of Carcoar is heritage listed so after a delightful stroll back in time we headed for dinner at Antica Australis. This is a highly immersive dining experience with wonderful story telling by Kelly to accompany her husband Paulo’s locally inspired dishes.
Rider tip: Antica Australis is BYO so we pre-ordered a mixed dozen to be delivered from Bloodwood Wines to match the courses (thanks Adrian).
Day 4 – Carcoar back to Blayney (49km, 850m climbing)
There is no such thing as a warm up when cycling out of Carcoar - every way is up. After breakfast at The Village Grocer, we were hit in the face with the steepest climb of the trip, a 6km grind up Mount Macquarie Rd with gradients of up to 18%. After a recovery at the top to stabilise the heart rate, the rest of the morning was a stunning bunch ride through the rolling tablelands, with sheep and cattle grazing on cool climate farms. The villages of Neville and Barry were charming but we didn’t stop to learn the story of who they were. The final kilometres were well-sealed roads into Blayney and a return visit to the Ironbark Expresso for caffeine to keep us awake for the drive back to Sydney.
Rider tip: The bigger the saddle bag, the more weight you are tempted to stuff in. Go small and stay light. We generally got by with two sets of cycling kit each (hand wash and dry overnight) and one set of dinner clothes, plus requisite spares, tools, 1st aid kit, chargers, gels, snacks, toiletries, etc.
The unanimous view was that this 280km round trip was definitely not our last gravel experience. With such a wide range of routes on almost traffic free roads, welcoming locals and countless more café and restaurant experiences to be sampled, this Sydney bunch will definitely be back on the Orange Villages Bicycle Trail sometime soon.
Guest contributor: Tim Archer, avid cyclist and media and communications specialist (Director at Top Centre Communications).