2022 Rider Registrations open...
Seasons Greetings to the many bike racers, friends, fans out there interested in our Bikepacking Ultra Racing thread and following the growing calendar of races and bikepacking events around Australia and indeed the wider world.
As many of you will be aware the events Breathtaking Events promote come with a competitive edge to challenge your personal physical, mental and emotional limits. The start gun goes and you’re off! It’s not a camping holiday.
These challenges have many personal variances. It isn’t just about how fast, how long you can ride but how you can train, prepare, plan to overcome your perceived limits, ride the course, push yourself to grow and move beyond, to stand taller as a more confident person and discover, I can!
For 2022 rider registrations open as in the past on January 1 from midnight. A brief outline of the races follows below;
Go to the website and click the link to register ...
CLOUDRIDE PROLOGUE 500k
EVENT START DATE: Saturday 12 March
RACE TRACKING ADMIN FEE: $100
RACE ROUTE:
The 2022 Prologue route, for a change in scenery and challenge will take in some amazing east coast escarpment rainforest, seaside coastal panoramas, lush rolling pasture lands and river flats. From Canberra the course will traverse the Gourock National Park, a challenging descent off The Great Dividing Range through spectacular rainforest, sandstone escarpments down to the rolling Pacific surf ’n seafood towns of Bermagui, Narooma, and Moruya before turning west for the climb back to Canberra via Araluen and Braidwood. The route will be a little step up in difficulty to recent years with approximately 8,500Vm. The provisional route and preliminary course notes will be available for early rider registrations however, there has been some extreme rainfall and flooding through the South East Coastal Region in recent months and further reconnaissance is needed before the final route is locked in. In particular the preferred route through the Wadbillaga National Park has only just reopened and the current state of the steep fire trails through there will need a closer look. Of course much of this country was devastated by the horrific fires in 2019/20 and we urge riders to support the towns along the route by shopping local for re-supply and if a bed for the night beckons take the opportunity.
MONARO CLOUDRIDE 1000k
EVENT START DATE: Friday 15 April
RACE TRACKING ADMIN FEE: $150
RACE ROUTE:
The 2022 race route will be counter-clockwise …. Tumut, Batlow, Jindabyne. Delegate, Bombala, Nimmitabel, Cooma, Bungendore. It’s unlikely Cabramurra will be a re-supply option with Snowy 2.0 construction still in progress. Uncertainty remains about access along the Blowering Dam Hume & Hovel Trail and the final route will reflect the best available option. After the challenging blackberry infestations along last years route out of Batlow there will be a working-bee pruning plan actioned to make this section more negotiable. It’s been another amazing wet spring and the country generally is in decades best condition. I’ve no doubt the blackberries will be in overdrive once again through this section. Is there an alternate route to circumvent this problem? No …. but go tubeless and you’ll eliminate 99% of the puncture risk. You might still get shredded and scarred for life …. dine out on the epic encounter, all part of the adventure.
TERRA AUSTRALIS BIKE EPIC 6250k
EVENT START DATE: Wednesday 1 September
RACE TRACKING ADMIN FEE: $250
RACE ROUTE:
There are no expected changes to the Covid cancelled 2021 race route. I now have a list of 10/12+ paid up riders who have registered for Terra Australis in 2020, or 21 and carried their registrations forward [not taken a refund] to the next available opportunity. Just where that fits with any of them for 2022 remains to be seen. What is clear from this rolling ongoing Covid challenge is that the windows of opportunity in life can be fleeting. This event was always and remains a major commitment of time and life to simply start …. to finish and complete the journey is a super accomplishment that will be forever remain a highlight in one’s lifetime achievements.
2018 inaugural race winner Steve Halligan has reflected on his achievement this year on his Insta page… “three years on …. for 31 days I rode alone, but I was never really alone, I was never scared. I embraced the adventure for what it was, a truly awe inspiring trip. I hope to ride this route again one day.”
Anyone seriously contemplating this challenge is welcome to send in an expression of interest [EOI] and I’ll provide the .gpx files and support notes for contemplation. There are some technically challenging sections but in the main it’s a simple ride the bike challenge. It’s a long way! Planning, determination, discipline, commitment are the primary challenges for success. Road surfaces, wind, rain, heat, snow, isolation and ….why, are friends to discover along the way.