Curve Ambassador, Claire Stevens, recently headed out on a 570km multi-day gravel adventure on her trusty GMX+. Digging the route out of the Curve archives, you can read April’s story from this route HERE, Claire headed out in the opposite direction so read on to hear how it went!

My latest mini adventure was a ride from Bairnsdale in south-eastern Victoria up to the NSW Border and Albury. A bit of a train shuffle was required to get me to either end, and the best option was south to north to follow a route already out there and on the Curve Cycling website, brilliantly put together by April Drage. It was the reverse of what was intended, and no less magnificent for the direction change. It started with a short section of bike path and was soon onto quiet gravel trails and tracks towards the border. 

The route then takes Barry Way to Jindabyne and leaves the town via MTB and shared trails. These pop the rider out onto an unavoidable bit of highway prior to a return to quiet backroads and a climb up past Eucumbene dam to the Jagungal Wilderness. 55km of magical alpine terrain and a few huts later, the route spits its travellers out onto a bitumen road to descend toward Khancoban (which I detoured to), then Towong, Tintaldra and then the gravel Great River Road through Jingellic to Albury.

We hadn’t yet had a proper summer down here in Victoria, but these few days turned out to be rather warm, and the afternoons were not as productive for pedalling. I made up for that by riding through from one year to the next with only a few hours bivy to wait for the ferry on NYD. I rolled into Albury grinning from ear-to-ear 74hrs after I had started.

There were some fabulous views. 

The riding highlights were Barry Way and of course the Jagungal Wilderness. The birding opportunities were fabulous. Highlights were a group of Glossy Black Cockatoos at about 30km out of Bairnsdale, Wedge-tailed Eagles near Eucumbene and being buzzed by owls along the River Road. On the stroke of midnight, a half hour after passing the Jingelic pub in full sing along to “Am I ever going to see your face again…”, something disturbed a flock of corellas (AKA Party Parrots) who made me giggle my way into a new year. 🦜

Happy New Year Everyone!