The Canberra Report - Paddy's River Road

I've been invited by Pablo to share some of my rides here on The Weekend Report, so I hope you like hills! Contrary to the popular image of a sun-burnt flat country, here in Canberra, Australia we have hills all around. For a skinny climber dude like myself, this is a good thing. If you'd like to read more about Canberra's rides, check out my blog at bike.sipols.com.

Paddy's River road is the main connector the runs through the foothills of the Brindabella range, the most famous of the three ranges which surround Canberra. It makes a nice loop by itself in either direction. The southerly direction gives you the Pierces Creek climb, but I prefer northerly for ease of access. This ride is rolling, with plenty of climbing but not the crazy gradients of the deep south.

From Tuggeranong, you can either take the short way across Point Hut crossing or the higher Tharwa bridge. The Tharwa extension makes a nice flatter warmup, plus unlike Point Hut the Tharwa bridge doesn't flood (a critical consideration at this time of year).

On deep south rides, Tharwa can be a critical resupply point but here its just a town to pass through. There is a surprisingly steep lump straight out of Tharwa, before the road meanders up and down. Once you reach the lookout get your climbing legs ready.

The road climbs steeply up to the Corin dam turnoff (a great sidetrip), then the landscape opens up as you approach Tidbinbilla. Take this opportunity for a bit of a breather.

The Canberra Deep Space Centre has a cafe and is the default coffee stop around here but since thats a side trip, we're not going there today. After you pass the Space Centre turnoff, the road will descend, with a few lumps to keep you honest. Like most of this ride, this area is farming land so you'll see quite a few cows and sheep.

If the ride so far has tired you out, you'll pay for it through the lumps at the back of Pierces Creek, they may be short but they are steep too, with gradients reaching 11%. Around here the scenery transitions to pine forest, but still has a nice scattering of natives too.

After a hair-raising descent on tarmac of dubious provenance down Pierces Creek, the short option is to climb back up the Cotter, through to Adelaide Ave and wherever home may be. On this day, the Murrumbidgee was threatening to burst its banks (good thing we went via Tharwa at the beginning).

The Canberra Report is a collaboration between Pablo Alves and Michael Sipols. For more in-depth detail on this route, check out Michael's post on the Paddy's River Road at bike.sipols.com.