An adventurous group of 16 Bike North members and friends signed up for the annual Snowy Valleys Cycle Challenge (SVCC). Several distances are available including 20km,45km,72km,117km and 160km. SVCC has always been a friendly, well run reasonably priced event: a nice spring ride in the Snowy foothills with great scenery. The weather forecast for 10 November was looking good with light wind, clear sky and temperature ranging from 12 – 28C.
This article focuses on the day 10 Bike North stalwarts took on the full 160Km. Other stories from those that attempted the 73Km and 117Km event ranged from, “a great ride with stunning scenery” through to “this was most arduous ride I have ever attempted”. As SVCC website states, “Life is a climb, but the view is great”.
The day dawned as the forecast predicted - a sunny mild 12C. 160Km riders gathered early for a quick coffee from the coffee truck. Meantime, Mike Tomalaris was commentating and Bruce Giles the organiser from Rotary Tumut in the foreground below with riders starting to assemble. The shorter distances started later in the day.
The profile and route for the 160Km is shown below. According to Garmin data the route contains 14 categorised climbs and bunch of lumps and bumps!
As can be seen from the profile, the route immediately heads upward with a steep pinch at 3Km. Legs were NOT happy. We then dropped back into the scenic valley and cruised alongside the bubbling Adelong Creek and at 7km we encountered and safely passed some cattle wandering on the road. After that peaceful valley cruise, we turned right and were greeted by a CAT2 climb to Batlow, about 7Km long and 650m of climb. Our original group of 10 is just 9 as Jamie has blasted off into the distance! A steady climb toward Batlow with crystal clear sky and wide vista view toward Blowering cliffs. It is not too long before we have completed the climb, the road flattens into Apple territory with orchards dotted across the hills.
We roll into Batlow for an early stop for some tasty homemade Apple Pie. At this stage, after some apple pie, we are look refreshed and relaxed but we have just covered 26Km of the 160Km, just a few bumps and one big climb. More to come!
We leave Batlow and immediately the white lines change to yellow. Snow country! Likewise the road is now a coarse chip tar to accommodate the icy winter conditions. We head past the Bago turnoff.
Then down and up and down and up and so on, over the mountains toward Rosewood. Certainly, BIG sky country and great scenery caused by the bushfires of 2019-2020. The tall pine forest was mostly burnt out and the newly planted pines can be seen growing up. As a bonus we had very little traffic. During the week the road had plenty of timber trucks and forestry trucks. Fortunately for us the forestry had a memo from the organisers to stop trucks for the ride day.
Yet a few more ups and downs before passing Taradale (just an intersection) and the last climb before we regrouped at the start of the Rosewood – Tumbarumba rail trail. Fun fact, the last train from Wagga to Tumbarumba ran in 1974.
A nice cruise along the rail trail, albeit interrupted by some bike repairs. The valley alongside the Mannus creek was just like the Windows XP startup screen. The first 10km is a slight grade down and then after Glenroy it become a 10km 3-4% drag up to the outskirts of Tumbarumba. At this stage we had covered close to 90Km and 1500m of climbing and it was a welcome plunge down into Tumbarumba for lunch provided by Tumut Rotary. Excellent home-made sandwiches, drinks, salty chips, snacks, coffee, water and sunscreen. The last item was quite handy as the sun was now directly above and it felt hotter than the predicted 23C.
Whilst nice to plunge downhill into Tumbarumba, it now meant our sleepy legs had to haul ourselves back out of Tumbarumba and then navigate the roller-coaster ups and downs through Courabyra. This section certainly ‘softened’ up our legs before we reached the Taradale turn and the 20Km climb to the Bago rest stop. Over this section we all scattered over the climb.
The last rest stop was located at Bago Road turn off and we gathered to recharge with snakes, watermelon, fruit cake and hydration powder plus icy cold water. After we were fully satiated, we gathered for the obligatory group photo. Just 34 Km to the finish! Even though the official profile seems to be overall down, there were plenty of smaller climbs to deal with. Adding to challenge, it was now quite hot with some suffering from hot foot and heat fatigue.
Whilst we were all together at Bago it wasn’t long before there, surging and like horses with the ‘scent of home’, our group attacked and separated across the last kilometres including a fast plunge down the last big descent, following by a cruise along the bubbling Adelong creek to the finish. Thankfully we all made the finish and most made it into the final group picture under the tent (including others) enjoying Tumut River Brew Beer, bananas, sausage sangers, sandwiches, cold water and coke. An awesome and successful 160Km ride with riders achieving new PB’s for climbing. Hey, look, we are all still smiling 😊and Chris seemed happy to reach the finish, although it should be said that he added some extra climb repeats to nudge up his total climb by a few hundred metres.
Snowy Valley Cycle Challenge is fabulous event – well organised, friendly helpers, awesome scenery, plus tasty local apple pie. If 160Km seems too much there are other shorter options available. More images of the event can be found on Snowy Valleys Cycle Challenge Facebook page. Big thanks to Tumut Rotary and Bruce Giles for an awesome event. If the idea of riding around Tumut seems interesting the next local event is 5 January 2025, The Tumut Classic. Adult road distances 40, 75, 100Km plus a gravel option of 75km. Also, 40km and 75Km for 13-17yr olds with added bonus of free 20Km for under 12yr. Early bird pricing for the other events is $40 -$85. For those worried about the summer heat, the rides start early and completed before it gets too hot.
Otherwise, pencil in November 2025 for the next Snowy Valleys Cycle Challenge.