Race From the Rocks – Tourist Class Delayed Version Part 3

A fair bit of time has elapsed since my last foray onto the Race From The Rocks (RFTR) course back in February, but a few windows to do a multi-day effort closed, due to NPWS track closures (wild dog control), other trips, wet weather and jury call up. Too many excuses.

Ourimbah to Wisemans Ferry

Finally, the stars aligned and I headed off on 11 April at a rather un-touristy 6.00 am, riding across to Roseville station in Sydney, and catching a couple of trains up to Ourimbah to take up where I’d left off. 

Now those who were paying attention during the RFTR back in September 2022 would be aware that the next segment included a big climb out of Ourimbah, a descent into Yarramalong, another decent climb up to George Downs Drive, a few kms on that shoulder-less road and then the full length of the Old Great North Rd (OGNR) down to Wiseman’s Ferry.

I readily confess to cutting the course here to ensure that I got to the Wiseman’s Ferry pub unbroken and before closing time, reducing the distance from 112 km to a more manageable 62 km. To punish myself, I included a few km of hike-a-bike up the Great North Walk Track from Ourimbah Creek Rd to Somersby. In fact, it was more like hoik-a-bike, with plenty of narrow switchback steps through some lovely temperate rain forest. Not really fun with a laden bike. Then I followed Wiseman’s Ferry Rd to Mangrove Mountain, headed down Dubbo Gully Rd and then up Donny’s Track to meet the RFTR route at the junction of Donny’s and the OGNR. 

The OGNR sections are usually fun and I’ve ridden there a number of times, going back to when 4WD’s were still chewing it up and Clare’s Bridge had a deck. More recently, my visits there have been part of the Convict MTB races. It was always good to have a few hundred riders clean out a line through the rock gardens and rubbly sections before I got there. No such luck this time, and I walked a few sections I would have normally got through easily on my dually. I was interested to note that the recent NPWS wild dog baiting program hadn’t seemed particularly successful, with quite a few dog paw prints in some of the sandy sections.

I washed, fed and watered at the pub. Settled down for an early night, but woke up with lots of itchy bites on the legs. Not sure if they were from insect critters in the rain forest, or from bed bugs in the pub bed…..

Wisemans Ferry to Bilpin

Got up at stupid early again the next morning and picked up some breakfast and some sandwiches for lunch at the Wiseman’s Ferry Grocer just down the road. Then across the Webb’s Creek Ferry and onto the first climb of the day, Bicentenary Rd. I initially thought the RFTR organisers had just been perverse in detouring off Bicentenary, up Wheelbarrow Ridge Trail and then back down Wheelbarrow Ridge Rd to Portland. However, the “direct” route through to Portland is closed and the Wheelbarrow Ridge sections were actually quite fun. Good gravel.

From Portland it was up again to the start of Lower Colo Rd and back down again for a pleasant run along the Colo River. Pleasant that is, until Comleroy Rd. Comleroy Rd is a cracking hill, and it cracked me good and early. Walking was required again. After that it was Mountain Lagoon Trail, about 7kms continually uphill, with lots of little 10-15% pinches to sap the legs. At this stage my rear derailleur was giving me grief, being uncomfortable on the big cog and not changing smoothly. After fiddling with the barrel adjuster while in motion, the chain dropped off inside the big cog. I stopped, flipped the bike over and started fiddling, when a moto rider (also kitted up for touring) stopped. Between us we managed to get it settled and working. 

After a few more pinches, it was finally a relief to ride down towards Mountain Lagoon, greeting a friendly Lyrebird on the way down. The road from there to Bilpin has a few undulations, but the hills were over. For today.

Stopped at the Grumpy Baker at Bilpin and bought provisions before heading a few kms up the Bell Rd to a Tiny Cabin I’d rented just near the Mt Irvine Rd turnoff. A riding buddy of mine, Bruce, kindly dropped in with a couple of Coopers Pale before heading over to Mt Wilson to camp for the night. We were aiming to meet up at Bowen Creek in the morning.

Bilpin to Lithgow

A little slower away on day 3. After coffee and Grumpy Baker pastries in my cabin, I made a quick dash to the servo at just down the road to top up supplies for Day 3. I then headed down Mt Irvine Rd towards Bowen Creek. While this once was a road, it has been blocked off not far out of Bilpin for many years and the rest of the section down to the creek is interesting, to say the least. Pretty boggy in places, partly thanks to a decent shower of rain overnight, overgrown in others, almost washed away in a few places. Used by a few moto’s and walkers.

The infamous bridge at the bottom has barely survived bush fires and floods, but locals have dragged stuff down there to ensure that it is at least crossable by foot. Bruce wasn’t game to try to get across, I walked it once very gingerly, then went back and walked across again wheeling the bike.

The fire trail on the other side of the bridge is more navigable, but it’s the start of 15kms of uphill, rising nearly 700vm. I’d left Bilpin a bit light on for water, thinking I’d fill up in Mt Wilson once the big climb was over, but it seems everybody’s on tank water and I only got hold of some after asking for help from a local. 

I left Bruce at Mt Wilson and headed across to the Bell Rd, keen to get to Lithgow and the 3.30pm train to Sydney, as it was another 2 hours for the next one. I don’t really enjoy riding on 100kmph roads with narrow shoulders, but the traffic wasn’t bad and the 7kms of Bell Rd on the route was broken up with a short detour on what looked like an old alignment of the road, now dirt and disused. Then down the rail service track at Bell to the old Canyon Colliery site, onto the Darling Causeway for another quick flirt with the traffic and on down into Hartley Vale, which is very scenic.

This section of the RFTR course had one final sting in the tail. With legs now screaming from 3 days of climbing, the bitumen Browns Gap Rd (closed, but I couldn’t see why?) was impossibly steep. I went from being confident of my timing to starting to wonder. Just after reaching the crest and thinking about a swift descent into Lithgow, the course then heads back up onto Hassan’s Walls for a final gravel climb and gravel descent into the back of Lithgow. This was the third climb for the day to go over the 1000m above sea level (Mt Wilson, Bell, Hassan’s Walls). For comparison, Jindabyne sits at 915m.

In the end I made it to the station with about 40 minutes to spare. Enough to buy some food and chow down before the train left. Then followed a leisurely 3 hours on the train back to a rainy Sydney, a wet ride down to Circular Quay, a ferry back to Manly and a puddle-strewn ride back up to home.

Race From the Rocks – Delayed Tourist Version Progress

Day 5: ​Cromer to Roseville 13.78km, 373vm

​Ourimbah to Wisemans Ferry 61.27km 1312vm (20km on RFTR course)

Day 6: ​Wisemans Ferry to Bilpin 78.7km 1553vm (all RFTR course)

Day 7:​ Bilpin to Lithgow 61.63km 1421vm (all RFTR course)

​Central station to Circular Quay 3km 21vm

​Manly to home 9.45km 64vm

Total: 227.8km 4744vm

Now I know that’s not much for the athletes that line up for events like the RFTR. But it’s a pretty big three days for me. Especially the climbing.

The next section of the RFTR Entrée looks like 4 days of again pretty hilly work to get from Lithgow to Orange and, if I can’t sort out some better logistics, another day to ride back to Bathurst to catch the Bullet back to Lithgow. Not sure when that’ll happen. Might have to get the other hand operated on before that, so I might have to squeeze it in just before RTTR 2023.

Race From the Rocks – Tourist Class Delayed Version – Part 1

Race From the Rocks – Tourist Class Delayed Version – Part 2