By my reckoning this was my 9th Bike North Tour de Cowra and most my definite favourite!
During my previous visits I’ve always ridden my road bike with, over the years, using wider and wider tyres and ridden many road based courses handed out to us. And they were very enjoyable rides don’t get me wrong but could there be more roads out there, hidden gems just waiting to explored if you had the right sort of bike setup?
So this year I spent some time beforehand with RWGPS and plotted some gravel variants for each day. And how good were they? Granted we were blessed with dry weather leading up to the event but over the years this is not unusual so the gravel roads were dry and very very ridable for anyone with a gravel or suitably equipped bike.
So, on most days, the group of three Gravel Rebels (and even a fourth on one day) headed out on alternate unsealed courses to check them out and report back. I can say for a fact that each and every time we returned with smiles on our faces having explored new roads and even areas around Cowra.
Below is a list of 7 new rides tested and ridden this time around. There are more I’ve plotted out but as yet are unridden which is important as sometimes roads and tracks might appear in RWGPS but in reality, are simply not there or become a gated field!
- Cowra to Woodstock 57km mixed surface loop.A mixed surface variant of the classic Where’s Wolli still taking on the classic bits of Scrubby Brush Road and Goodacre Drive but diverting in a few places and returning via Blazley and then Westville unsealed roads before rejoining Bini Creek Road to ride back to Cowra.39% unsealed.
- Greenethorpe to Grenfell62km via Henry Lawson Way with some gravel on way back.Rather than ride back from Grenfell via tar; return via a slightly more direct gravel road.26% unsealed.
- Cowra to Billimari 49km gravel loop.A wonderful variant of out and back to Billimari, now a loop on mostly unsealed and slightly less flat roads.67% unsealed.
- Cowra to Conimbla via Sheep Stn Rd 50km anticlockwise gravel loop.Very enjoyable loop out to Conimbla, an area less ridden by Bike North using some even less ridden gravel roads.Few corrugations out here but nothing to worry about.Great scenery, no cars.58% unsealed.
- Cowra to Conimbla Rd 40km clockwise gravel loop.Another variant of the above out and back to Conimbla.60% unsealed.
- Cowra to Koorawatha Pub 70km gravel loop.The “no tar” way to get to Koorawatha Pub.Wonderful scenery, slow climb with fantastic views to give a nice descent to the pub.Flatlands ride home.72% unsealed.
- I also found a new 40km variant for Billimari to Canowindra return which doesn’t have to have gravel but also includes newly sealed roads, thanks to a NSW Govt roads “improvement” program.Our route was 13% unsealed.
All routes have been uploaded to Bike North RWGPS account, are public and tagged with “gravel” and “cowra” for your searches. Or you can look here https://ridewithgps.com/collections/3914404 for a RWGPS Collection.
Something to consider for future Tour de Cowra rides. Bring a suitably equipped bike and enjoy the roads less travelled!!