We were outside the Jamestown Bakery. Why is it that all bike rides start or finish at a bakery ? It’s true all calories consumed before or during a ride are not counted in your dietary total and bike riders like sticky buns and coffee.
Anyway, I had our map stretched out and was checking it against a basic PDF that the local council had online. Not a lot of detail but it seemed a simple loop around agricultural land and then heading over the range of hills past the Hornsdale Windfarm.
Robyn gave me a nudge and said “here comes Harry”. I looked up and stopped devouring my particularly sticky bun and saw it was indeed Harry Have-a-chat making a bee line for us. He would surely know the ins and outs of the Mannanarie bike ride. Indeed Harry was the repository of all knowledge and once he had finished educating me on ebikes, weather, Covid and world politics I was able to pop in a question. What’s the road like up around the Hornsdale Loop ? “Boggy red clay roads and windy” was his only information.
Off we set through the town and into open farming country. The track was on well made backroads and easy riding on a slight incline. The most noticeable colour is green. At this time of year and with excellent Winter rains everything is green. The crops are sprouting green, the roadside weeds are green and the moss on the rocks is green; everything is green.
We hunted around and eventually found a trail marker, so we knew we were on the right track.
Stopping to admire old stone wall fencing we discovered that this was the site of the original Belalie School.
Further on we found other historical markers.
Lots of old buildings and objects for Robyn to photograph.
The first 20km or so were uneventful but that changed when the trail crossed onto a farm track. All red clay and lots of water pooled on the road meant it was no go for us. The red clay will quickly stop any wheels turning if you venture onward. Out with the map and we were able to find an alternative route that would only add a couple of kilometres and bring us to the next section.
Once you start on the Ngadjuri Mail Track the landscape is very different, changing from wide open cropping land to remnant woodlands and steep inclines. The wind was more prominent which is not surprising for a place that has a large Windfarm.
We passed the remnants of farm houses that were abandoned many years ago and they made an interesting backdrop to the huge wind turbines.
The road climbs to the top of the ridge where you can enjoy views across the plains.
After more than 5km of climbing the road heads down onto the foot of the hills and then follows along southward. Huge turbines are all around and makes for an unusual ride.
The last section makes a turn eastward and back over the range to connect with Three Chain Road which is a red clay track. Luckily it was mainly dry and we only had to negotiate a few bog holes.
From there it was a straight forward ride southward to join up with the main road into Jamestown and the local Bakery.
All up around 58km most of which was on solid dirt roads. Definitely not a ride to be done in wet weather or after recent rains. A great gravel grind that we found comfortable on mountain bikes.
PADDLING SOUTH 