It’s a cracker route, though, following some of the best little back roads in the region as it winds its way from Canberra to Cootamundra and back. To quote John Grace, a repeat Rosehill Back Roads Tourist, “Berremangra Road is a bloody beauty – it’s as if they just poured a line of bitumen across the paddocks.”
Seven of us on six bikes gathered at the new Caltex servo overlooking Cotter Road at Weston, having been teased by unseasonal fog on the way in. We left right on time at 9am and headed out of town on Uriarra Road, crossed the Murrumbidgee, climbed out of the valley on Fairlight Road and turned right onto Mountain Creek Road in bright sunshine.
The valley of The Mullion was a joy to behold. The recently rained-upon pastures were such a vivid shade of green we almost had to don our sunnies, and there were bright white, freshly shorn sheep and little black Angus calves (baby cows, for our city readers) everywhere.
Our leader set a steady pace (slow and steady wins the race!) along Mountain Creek Road and then Wee Jasper Road to Yass, where we were briefly separated by a traffic jam. But this was the last of the traffic we would see all day – with the COVID-19 coronavirus stalking the highways, byways and cruise ships, there were not many people travelling. In fact, we probably saw more motorbikes than cars, no doubt all out and about on “essential travel”.
From Yass we rode up the usual non-back road to Boorowa for coffee and a pie at the Superb Café (superb by name, not by nature) which has resorted to serving even the eat-in food in takeaway containers. No crockery, no cutlery, no germs being hauled back into the kitchen to make the leap to clean dishes and thence to unsuspecting victims in the dining room (or I guess that’s the theory).
A note here about social distancing: it has been decreed by the coronavirus cops that each person must have four square metres to themselves when inside a restaurant. While critics might point out that all seven of us sat huddled around the same table in the middle of the room, the absence of any other diners meant that yes, in fact, each of us occupied, on average, four square metres.
We departed Boorowa at 11am and headed back south a few kilometres before turning west onto Cunningar Road and left onto Galong Road, riding through the dwindling village of Galong and crossing Burley Griffin Way onto Bouyeo Road.
We were now in the infamous Jugiong Triangle, a seven-sided triangle bounded by Jugiong, Coolac, Cootamundra, Wallendbeen, Harden-Murrumburrah, Binalong and Bookham. Apart from its mysterious shape, it is also known for its disappearing livestock, which grow to a certain size before suddenly vanishing from the landscape and leaving no trace of their ever having existed (except for some scattered turds). Scientists are sceptical but privately admit to being baffled.
Undeterred, we rode west on Bouyeo Road, south on McMahons Reef Road and then even more south on Berremangra Road or BM for short. While only 20km in length, BM has everything for the back roads aficionado. It’s narrow, it’s twisting, it has lots of ups and downs, blind crests, a mostly smooth surface and spectacular country vistas. Oh, and the occasional mob of cattle (grown-up calves, see above) grazing the unfenced roadside grass. It was a shitload of fun!
BM ends at the Hume Freeway, which we followed west to Jugiong before heading north on Jugiong Road and then vaguely west-ish on Rosehill Road, another delightful back road that winds and climbs through steep, hilly granite country. The Jugiong Triangle hasn’t received as much rain as the rest of the region and the thin veneer of green growth still has a way to go before it can finish off the drought.
At 12:30pm we pulled in for lunch at the Family Hotel in Cootamundra. Customer numbers were way down because of the damned virus but the reception was as friendly as always and the food was good. You can’t complain about two plump sausages with mash, gravy and lashings of dead horse for ten bucks (unless you’re a vegan, I suppose). John splurged a bit more on a delicious Scotch fillet steak.
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| Distant socialisers |
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| Simple fare - perfect! |
When we emerged, it was sunny and 26° with a light breeze – almost perfect riding weather. But our row of grown-up bikes had been joined by the tiniest, bluest motor scooter I had ever seen. It was as if a Vespa had been hit by the Jivaro headhunters’ shrinking juice revealed to the world in “Uncle Scrooge and the Money Champ” (Uncle Scrooge #27, written and drawn by Carl Barks, 1959). But no, it belonged to a burnt-out local chippie who came out of the pub to say g’day and lament that he wasn’t going with us on his other bike, a Hayabusa.
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| Street level social distancing. |
We refuelled at the Coota Caltex before heading across the railway line, past the showground and out of town on Pinkerton Road, Kilrush Road, Cullinga Road, Cullinga Mines Road and Jugiong Road (the same Jugiong Road as before but the other end of it) to the southern outskirts of Harden.
Then it was right onto East Street and right again onto Bouyeo Road (the same Bouyeo Road as before but the other end of it) for a roller-coaster ride back to Burley Griffin Way near Galong. Confused? Imagine what it was like navigating…
Apart from a short detour on Red Hill Road (the old Burley Griffin Way) into Bowning, that was the end of our back-roadery (except for Scott, who returned home via Mountain Creek Road). The rest of us had a coffee break with the horses, peacocks and emus at the Rollonin Café before following the highways back to Canberra. I got home at 4:20pm, which would be really interesting to someone with OCD because we had ridden 420km.
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| Parade ground distancing |
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| Alas my friends there is but one spoon. |
Ian Paterson
- Ian Paterson Honda GL1800 Goldwing
- Neil McRitchie Kawasaki GTR1400
- Alan & Lyn Munday Yamaha FJR1300
- Warren Richer Triumph Thruxton R
- Scott England BMW R1250RT
- John Grace Triumph Tiger 1200
