The Hunt Sydney to Summit – Rider Report

With a myriad of roads, groads, tracks and fire trails rattling around in his mind for some time, event organiser and route architect, Dan Hunt, widely known as the man behind The Hunt 1000, Hunt Bikes and explorer of all things remote, had an idea to link together a network of stunning gravel roads and vibrant towns into a grand finish type, bikepacking event spanning 680km and 12,000m of climbing – beginning at The Sydney Opera House and culminating at Australia’s highest peak of 2,228m above sea level ‘Mt Kosciusko’.

The Sydney to Summit (S2S) – riding between arguably Australia’s two most famous icons was the first edition of this epic event. Not one to suffer from FOMO, myself and approximately 35 fellow riders set out on this 680km bikepacking adventure over the span of 2 weeks (depending on how long we thought it would take us to complete the event) with the intention of all riders grouping together to reach summit on the last Saturday of April.

Highlights of the Hunt Sydney to Summit

• Starting the S2S with the backdrop of the steps to the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge amongst the tourists, cafes and commuter ferries along the harbour;
• Catching the Curranulla Ferry (The oldest commuter ferry working in Australia) from the seaside city town of Cronulla to the small community of Bundeena with the young surfers and commuters of the day vying for position to grabs snacks from the Bundeena IGA that peaks in volume parallel to the incoming ferries;
• Rambling through the slightly worn gravel roads of Lady Carrington Drive in Royal National Park alongside the Hacking River;
• Cycling over Bald Hill, the Sea Cliff Bridge, the scenic beaches, rock pools and ocean views through to Wollongong and beyond;
• The tough, yet rewarding Saddleback Mountain climb with pinches reaching 23% on long steep sections over road before reaching the lookout and subsequent descent through hinterland before hitting the tourist town of Berry for snacks and resupply;
• The scenic hinterland climbs outside of Berry, rolling gravel hills of Kangaroo Valley and smooth forest gravel roads rolling into Nowra;
• The remote and challenging hike-a-bike sections of the Yarramunmun & Endrick River Fire Trails connecting Yalwal & Nerriga where you can get a feed or camp out the back of the pub;
• The fast & flowing gravel roads passing Wog Wog and Charleys Forest on the way into the charming backcountry town of Braidwood;
• The winding hills and rolling countryside up to the tiny mountain town of Captains Flat with the famous Captains Flat Hotel – a popular rest spot and watering hole amongst riders;
• Subsequent champagne gravel rollers out of Captains Flat and never-ending views into the large town of Cooma “the capital of the snowy mountains where many riders grouped together before tackling the back end of the S2S;

• Leaving Cooma and beginning the slow and steep ascent up through fire trails and highly remote sections of the deeply forested Snowy Mountains weaving past elevated farmlands, mountain huts, bridge crossings and flowing streams;

• Charlotte Pass and in particular The Stillwell Hotel (a beacon of relief in these parts), 10km from The Mount Kosciusko Walking Track, summit and completion of The S2S;

What makes riding an event like The S2S so great?

As goes for The Hunt 1000 or many other bike packing adventures, these roads and routes are free. Free to ride anytime for those who choose to and sure, why not? The timing of these events doesn’t suit everyone and to others, the entry fee doesn’t seem justified.

But there’s a whole host of reasons why I choose to ride these events as an event and not just when I feel like it. Here’s why; I love the sense of community in these events and the comradeship shared amongst other
riders. As mentioned before, this is a grand finish, not a race and as such, each and every rider is willing to help, assist or urge each other on through the event. The events Whatsapp chat group is constantly buzzing with messages through-out the day with achievements, tips on what shops are open and alerts for what’s coming ahead.

There’s nothing more thrilling than running into another competitor and exchanging experiences with them, learning about their bike set-up and getting a sense of what brought them here in the first place. I’ve lost count of the amount of fellow riders I have kept in touch with, with whom I’ve met at these ‘Hunt Bikes grand finish events’ and would consider now to be great friends.

The whole experience with people in these events is profound. Furthermore, on this particular event, being slightly gentler than The Hunt 1000, there were more inexperienced bike packers giving it a go. For some, it was their first multiday event and that’s kind of what this whole thing is about. While there isn’t going to be a sag wagon to come pick you up should the going get tough, there are enough riders out there to offer support and suggestions should or if things go wrong.

An event like this gives inexperienced bike packers the confidence to sink their teeth into more complicated rides as they learn from the set-ups of others and gauge what their capabilities are as they cycle through the event. I remember hearing that a few of the riders were on the phone to bikepacking guru, Steph Skinner (also riding the S2S) in the lead-up to the event in order to sponge all the information they could to help be better prepared.

Another noteworthy celebration was the large number of female riders who entered and completed the event, complimenting the accessibility of The S2S and Hunt events.

While it’s not for everyone, I understand that not everyone has the means, I feel like these paid, grand finish style, bike packing events are an absolute pillar of Australia’s growing bikepacking community. It’s my pleasure to support and pay for an event that has gone to the effort of painstakingly scouting a 700km route through the remote, back country of Australia whilst trying to maintain a balance of safety, challenging ride and breath-taking experiences. It’s my pleasure to support and pay for an event that has taken extensive time to provide logistics to make an event accessible and open the door to both experienced and inexperienced riders, allowing them to find enjoyment, build on their skills, create everlasting memories and become a part of Australia’s growing bike packing and gravel community.

Gear Summary

Bike: Hunt Landscruiser – Titanium Frame / SRAM GX Eagle 40T Front, 10-50T Rear; (Love this bulletproof frame and wide range of gears making it easier to climb with a loaded bike).
Bags: Revelate Frame Bag, Saddle Bag and Feed Bags; (Excellent bike bags that don’t sag or swell. I used a backpack for this ride which was not
ideal, ideally a front roll would have been a better system).
Lighting, electronics: K-Lite Dynamo, small power bank; (Love the K-Lite Dynamo system, extremely bright at night and can also charge your things on the go. Small power bank for phone and Garmin when required).
Tyres: Pirelli Cinturato, 650b, 45mm width; (Good balance of speed and balance on the rougher spots).
Water: BeFree Water Filtration System and treatment tablets; (2x 700mm bottles and an extra bottle or two in my backpack for the longer sections).
Nutrition: A mixture of Sis Baked Bars and Clif Bloks Energy Chews for when I really needed a pick me up but basically just ate straight out of the towns along the way and ensured I had enough food for the distance in-between. Always allowed for one extra meal as you find yourself going through a lot more food than you normally would on a standard ride.
Kit: A tough ride for kit as there was a wide range of hottest to coldest obviously starting in a warm location and finishing in a very cold location.
(On Bike: 1x pair of bib shorts, 1x long sleeve merino base layer, 1x long sleeve deep winter merino base layer, 1x long sleeve wind block merino jersey, 1x short sleeve merino jersey, 3x pairs of merino socks, 1x merino beanie, 1x short finger gloves, 1x long finger gloves, 1x merino under gloves, 1x shake dry rain jacket, 1x merino leggings) (Off Bike: 1x down jacket, 1x pair of light shorts, 1x pair of thongs)
*It was very hot for the entire ride and I literally only needed either the short sleeve merino jersey or base layer until the last 20km of the ride where it was so cold and wet that I had to put on every layer that I had aside from my off-bike kit. 70km winds and heavy rain meant that with the already wet kit that I had, I was better off warming up and drying off in The Stillwell Hotel at Charlotte Pass (around 10km from the
summit) before attempting the summit the following morning.
Sleeping Kit: Outdoor Research Alpine – Ascent Shell Bivy / Sea to Summit Spark SP (Both lightweight and light packing sleeping kits that do the trick)