Central West Cycle Trail – Day 4 – Mendooran to Ballimore

I’m not afraid to say I was a little nervous about today’s stage.

When talking to people about the ride, those in-the-know would get a slightly evil glint in their eye when there was mention of the Goonoo State Forest. And Yes, we had reached the stage where we must tackle the dreaded Goonoo.

Gulp!

Logistics:

Day: 4

Date: Wednesday, 22 March 2023

From: Mendooran, Central West NSW

To: Ballimore

Official Distance: 53km                 Actual/Garmin Distance: 54km including an unplanned side trip

Total: 192/400km

Time: 4h39m

Ascent: 409m                                  Descent: 448m

Average Speed: 11.6kph                Maximum Speed: 50.4kph

Weather: Hot and dry again.

Stayed At: The Hair of the Dog Inn, Ballimore.

General Comments:

• You would think that with all this fresh air and exercise that I would be sleeping like a log, but No! The lights go out and the brain switches on worrying about the next day and random things like, why some people have ‘inny’ bellybuttons and others have ‘outy’ ones? What the?? How and why does my brain generate such ridiculous things at equally ridiculous times of the night?
• It was a full house in the ol’ Royal Hotel last night and we did not need to worry about creeping about and quietly packing in the early morning dark. It seemed that there were a tonne of workers up and about too, and no doubt they were very pleased to be going to work rather than having to get on a bike and pedalling 54km.

• Unfortunately for us cyclists, a lot of these workers and many of their friends, had to drive past us on their way to said work and the road out of town was very busy, too busy for my liking. Thankfully there was a fairly wide verge adjacent to the road and we could give them plenty of space and they could give us plenty of space…if they chose to.
• After puffing and panting up the inevitable inclines and whipping down the other side, we finally arrived at the turn-off to the much-feared Goonoo State Forest. We re-grouped, had a good drink of water and I pulled up my ‘big girl panties’ and got on with the next part of today’s stage.
• It turned out to be very beautiful! Yes, it was hard, but what a joy to be riding through the Aussie bush.

• My chunky mountain bike finally came into its own as we bumped along narrow and rocky roads, and through large patches of sand. Riding quietly, I startled a kangaroo which bounded across my path, still with its mouth full of grass, and feral pigs also went scurrying into the undergrowth.
• Apparently, this area is a blanket of wild flowers when the season is good, but after the recent heatwave all that was left were a few crispy paper daisies.
• All was going along swimmingly when we came to a detour that was not marked on my map/trip notes or on the Pocket Rocket’s app. What to do? Let’s have a break and think about it. When all else fails, eat and drink! 😊

• Eventually we decided we should do as we were told and pedalled off on the detour in a whole different direction. We never did find out why the detour was in place, but it must have meant incredibly rough terrain – even rougher than what we had already experienced today.
• One thing that really surprised me about this stage was how much climbing was required. I had visions of us heading more westerly which should mean flatter terrain. Nope! It was a constant variation of more ups than downs – or that’s what it felt like anyway. Oh well, it’s all character building!

Top Tips for this Section:

• Today you are really going bush! There is no food, water and mobile phone service is very patchy. Make sure you have a Plan B if something goes wrong i.e. flat tyres etc.
• Road Conditions: ‘Road’ is probably a very generous description of much of today’s route. While we started out with a long stretch of tar road, the rest of today’s surface is tough. It varies from a narrow dirt fire trail through the Goonoo State Forest which includes bone-jarring rocks, wide patches of sand and large sections that are completely washed away. The Goan Creek Road is also tough. While thankfully there is little passing traffic on this back road, the surface does not make for easy riding, and the endless dirt corrugations tested my sense of humour at the end of a long hot ride. A gravel or mountain bike would be best to handle these conditions.

• Detours: The detours are clearly marked and easy to follow. Do not do as we did (Note to self: never blindly follow your husband) and continue following the fence line after the intersection of Brennan’s Trail. There is an intimidating and misleading ‘PRIVATE’ sign on an open gateway opposite Brennan’s Trail and you must turn here. While the land is private, the road is public and you need to turn onto this road (Goan Creek Road) to get to Ballimore.
• Stayed At: Your accommodation choices are very limited at the village of Ballimore (a small school, hall and some silos) and the best option is the Hair of the Dog Inn ($75 – Double including breakfast). They have around seven air-conditioned rooms with shared bathrooms, and an undercover area to lock up your bikes. They have very good food and, again, the cold beer was sincerely appreciated. There is also a camping ground with powered sites adjacent to the pub.

Previous Stages:

• Day 1 – Mudgee to Gulgong – HERE
• Day 2 – Gulgong to Dunedoo – HERE
• Day 3 – Dunedoo to Mendooran – HERE

Resources:

• Central West Cycle Trail – find out more – HERE
• Dubbo Tourism – find out more – HERE
• Goonoo State Forest – HERE
• Overview of the Central West Cycle Trail – find out more – HERE

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