We were greeted with a 22'C perfect day for our meet at Point Hut; On the menu: a crack at some brand spanking new fire trail that links Point Hut to the Southern end of Bullen Range, it's so new infact that's it's not on Google Earth yet (so my map makes it look like we were bush bashing it, but really, we were on groomed smooth firetail the whole way). The dirt starts at the top of the first climb after you turn North on Tidbinbilla Road from Point Hut Road. This new fire trail is groomed perfectly smooth and flat and the erosion management is frst class, this trail should manage itself for years to come.
The climb to the top was simple enough, some sharp pinches, but nothing too bad, and an hour after the start we were at the top. One might think that the run along the top is flat, but you'd be wrong. Very wrong. There's no flat spots up here, you're either climbing or descending; it's an hour long roller coaster ride, or as Adam mused, a serious interval workout! It's lush up there though, with views East to Canberra and West to the Brindabellas. A great unique look at Tidbinbilla Space Tracking Station from above too.
2 hours later we rolled into the Cottor, feeling a little sore from all the ups and downs, but the crew was strong and it didn't take long for Adam to launch into roadie nirvania, smashing the dog on the bitchumen all the way to Duffy while Kev and I tried to keep up!
From there we rolled up and onto Cooleman Ridge, where the pace stayed stong, with all the climbing behind us, and the whiff of home tantalising, we keep the hammer down along the ridge (which is always a blast) and onto the bike paths to Lake Tuggeranong, where we finally backed off and split up, Adam heading home and Kev and I heading back for Point Hut via Pine Island's single track walking trail, which is always a hoot, an awesome finish to a great day out.
Thanx for the ride boys, it was awesome! :)
The crew:
| Adam | SC Blur |
| Kevin | Anthem X1 |
| Jason | Anthem X1 |
The Stats:
| Date | 30/11/08 |
| Distance | 60km |
| Climb | 1445vm |
| Time | 4:04 |