The Young Ones

For the fourth year running my brothers, John and Steve, and I have been able to get a week's touring done in April. This year we did a 6 day loop starting and finishing in Young NSW: Young - Cowra - Grenfell - Temora - Junee - Cootamundra - Young.

Unfortunately the week we chose this year had unreasonably hot weather. The temperature was 10 degrees above average, so instead of balmy autumn days, we had what amounted to mid-summer conditions with the temperatures in the mid-30s. To compensate we would get on the road before sunrise and arrive at our destination mid-morning. We had reasonably bright front lights on the bikes to light up the road and carried several red blinkies at the back as well. We did have to watch out for kangaroos and had several close encounters especially in the dark on the way to Temora.

Traffic & Roads: This trip made a fair use of back roads and country lanes with a small amount riding on main roads. On the back routes we barely saw a car. The main roads weren't too heavily trafficked but sometimes lacked a verge. In general the drivers were considerate. The roads surfaces in the main were very good. It was interesting to see how the roads changed at shire boundaries. However a lot of the roads were a compacted aggregate that put tiring vibrations through your arms.

Terrain: The tour encompassed a variety of terrain from dead flat to some serious hill climbs. We mainly travelled through farmlands and the occasional state forest. Generally it was pleasant riding and the hills were not too taxing. There are generally no villages between the towns so you do need to ensure you have adequate water and edibles.

The Towns: The heyday architecturally for the towns seems to have been the late ninetieth and early twentieth century. Junee for example has its main square built around the massive 1880s railway station with the surrounding buildings built at the same time. Temora, Cootamundra and Young have significant church precincts. Grenfell has an old back street of really run down old buildings of the period. There were some highlights with interiors as well - the ornate interior of the Catholic church at Temora, the wooden booths and laminex tables in the White Rose Cafe in Temora, and the massive late colonial interior of the cafe at Junee station.

Temora and Young are significant regional centres and all towns had at least one supermarket and pubs and cafes. You could get basic bicycle parts like tubes in Temora at the hardware store and at Cootamundra at the sports store.

Logistics: This was a lightweight tour. We stayed in cabins in caravan parks and ate at pubs and cafes supplemented with supplies from supermarkets. The cost worked out to be $81 per person per day for food, drinks and accommodation. We rode on dedicated touring bikes - a Velo Orange Campeur, a Vivente and a 1980s Gemini Randonneur. Routes were in a GPS and we also carried the UBD Wagga & The Riverina touring map (Map 284) which was frequently consulted.

Day 1: Young - Mounteagle - Greenethorpe - Koorawatha - Cowra [87km]

Young, of course, is famous for it cherries so it is not surprising the road out of town passes through orchards. Midway to Cowra you pass Iandra Castle which appears incongruently in the paddocks. The route continues through the little village of Greenethorpe built around a square where we stopped to snack. The final section is along the Olympic Highway which required some concentration with the traffic and I found I was quite knocked by the time we reached Cowra - this being our first day out and riding in the heat.

Day 2: Cowra - Greenethorpe - (Tyagong Creek Rd, Gerrybang Rd) - Grenfell [71km]

The route climbed out of Cowra on the Mid-Western highway but there was a verge and the traffic was light. Unfortunately just near the top of the climb we had our one and only puncture of the ride as the bikes went over catsheads (three-corner jacks) that had spread across the tar. Our tyres looked like pin cushions. We lost an hour here fixing the flat and surgically removing catsheads from our tyres. We then turned off to Greenethorpe again, approaching from a different direction this time. We continued on the back roads and then back to the highway into Grenfell.

Day 3: Grenfell - Bimbi - Morangarell(locality) - Temora(airport) [107km]

The forecast was for 35 degrees temperature so we pack extra water and got on the road 2 hours before sunrise. The area here is known as "The Bland". It is a flat plain of sheep and wheat country that extends through to West Wyalong. And when I say flat I mean flat - we rode, and rode fast, in just the one gear for most of the 100+kms.

We stopped at Morangarell just before the Temora turnoff to eat a late breakfast. There is a covered picnic area here but nothing remains of the village of Morangarell. The caravan park at Temora is by the airport and we took the opportunity to visit the Temora Aviation Museum next door. The museum has a number of working (still flying) planes including a Spitfire, a Wirraway and a Sabre jet all of which you can see close up. The museum is well worth a visit if you are at all interested in planes or Australian history.

Day 4: Temora - Combaning - Junee Reefs - Marinna - Junee [71.5km]

We now turned south now to head to Junee. We had originally intended to join the Goldfields Highway about half way but there was a bit of truck traffic so we went the longer but quieter route through Junee Reefs instead. A farmer driving a ute full of dogs pulled me over here and earbashed me about how cyclists should wear high viz and how he would be unfairly blamed if he hit a cyclist wearing black lycra. He then drove up the road to deliver the same to my brother.

We arrived in Junee in time for a late breakfast at the railway café. BTW Junee has a liquorice factory you can visit if you like liquorice.

Day 5: Junee - Marinna - Junee Reefs - (Dirnaseer Rd) - Cootamundra [67km]

The ride started by backtracking via Marinna and Junee Reefs. (You can take a slightly different route just out of Junee along Danswans Rd). The significant part of this ride is the sharp climb of 250m over the Bethungra Range.

Day 6: Cootamundra - Berthong - (Milvale Rd) - Young [60km]

Although only 60km this was possibly the hardest day of all and turned out to be our slowest riding. The whole route was over hilly terrain and we had a significant head wind as well. The Milvale Rd into Young got busy and was not the best quality.