canberra.bike
The Namadgi National Park website of the ACT Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, for short ACT Environment, has been updated. They have even provided a rather nice map and updated the walks page, too.
CyclingGravel has recently published a commentary about the Canberra Centenary Trail. As canberra.bike has noted the environment and the quality and type of the trail vary a lot. The Canberra Centenary Trail was designed to showcase all that is good about Canberra. Canberra Centenary Trail tries to make everybody happy and that is its weakness.
A great dirt loop around Canberra: “Canberra Centenary Trail without the suburbs” is made up of the Bicentennial National Trail (BNT) and the Canberra Centenary Trail (CCT). The route avoids crossing the suburbs. New loop rides in the north and south follow cross links reviewed by CyclingGravel recently.
“Canberra Centenary Trail without the suburbs” explains how Canberra can be circumnavigated on dirt tracks on a combination of the Bicentennial National Trail (BNT) and the Canberra Centenary Trail (CCT). The Komoot app provides navigation on the smartphone. The route passes through or by Canberra Nature Park. The links are provided below.
The Canberra Centenary Trail is 140km long. Most people will not ride it in one go. One trick is to break it up into multiple stages and to do a different section on different days. The question now is how to get to the track head and home again at the end of the ride. Canberra.bike suggests taking the bike on a Canberra Rapid Bus. The terminus stations are a base camp for the rides.
CyclingGravel has been out and about and is always good for ideas. This route is from National Arboretum to Campbell via Black Mountain and Ainslie. The route is found in Komoot and on the website. If you do not mind the suburbs this is a good ride.
Denman Prospect is a new suburb in the Molonglo Valley and is located close to Stromlo. Canberra.bike features a number of rides starting from Denman Prospect shops:
Getting to the starting point at Denman Prospect shops is described in Denman Prospect base camp.
A gravel ride from Denman Prospect shops, to Stromlo Forest and across its western slopes. The route winds its way over hills and across creeks, with uninterrupted views of the Murrumbidgee Valley and the Brindabella Range. The ride is 25.7km, a 500m rise, hilly, and with no locked gates. A mountain bike is recommended.
For rides, it is useful to have a base camp. For gravel riding a base camp is suitably remote, has good facilities, gravel roads at the door, a Rapid bus service to get you there, and hopefully a bike shop close by.
Denman Prospect is the first of our chosen base camps. Only the bike shop is missing. Three rides start here: Denman Prospect and Stromlo West, Denman Prospect Forest Loop and Denman Prospect and Pipe Flat.
A gravel ride starting at Denman Prospect shops and riding towards the Murrumbidgee River after crossing Butters Bridge. Return along the same route. The ride is a maximum 17km return, 150m rise and mostly flat. Magnificent views of the Molonglo River along the route. Ideal as a family ride.
