Tenterfield bikers - 30/9/25

We set off this fine and sunny morning for a 70 km ride out of Tenterfield. Thank god for my e-bike, as there was over 1100 metres of ascent. It was so steep in places that even Ray had to dismount.

He attributed it to the lack of traction on the gravel and the dodgy gearing on the bike. I kinda thought the sheer steepness had a lot to do with it.

My fine steed rode up the inclines speedily, so I would wait at the top and talk lovingly to my bike whilst waiting for Ray. I would still be pedalling back to Tenterfield if I had an ordinary bike, and Ray would be dead.

Tomorrow we will drive to Armidale for a short ride (only 46 km) before heading off to Bright.

No shortage of granite rocks

Big rocks

And bigger rocks. Now how many tennis courts would that have made in the 60's

Great views from up here. Which means only one thing...

... Hills

R.I.Tree

Did not see one cow chasing a sheep.

No mobile coverage out here and needed to make an important call.

Ride Notes

We discovered this ride on the Tenterfield website. It is the short course version of the Tenterfield Gravel and Granite Ride held annually.

• A peaceful but moderately hard ride on quiet roads
• Generally the gravel surfaces are good with a couple of exceptions
  • One short downhill (at around 47klm?) was extremely corrugated but it only lasted a few hundred meters - it came as a shock and almost threw me off the bike
  • A couple of relatively short uphill sections on the way back were pretty rough and very steep .
  • That in itself was ok but the there was decomposed granite on the surface as well which meant there was very little grip
  • I probably had too much air (80psi) in my 38mm road tyres and my gearing was too high (~0.9 ratio) to be able to stay seated
  • When i got on the pedals, completely lost grip. Start pushing!
  • Lower tyre pressures with wider/more knobbly tyres with lower gear ratios and all is fine.
• You will need to take all food and water with you. Take plenty of both.