Bicentennial National Trail

Gerd said:

That section 7 of the BNT must indeed be very tough. According
to my map from Tenterfield to Grafton is hardly 200 km. If
that took you 5 days, you did 40 km per day. That way I would
never be in Cairns in time to catch my plane.

The few sections I've done around Canberra are slow going too.

Much of the surface is chopped up by horse hooves. Some is very
muddy after rain. In places, there's only a 10-15 cm wide foot
pad through metre long grass, so snakes are a worry at any
decent speed in warm weather.

And then there's the stopping (and perhaps backtracking) to work
out where the trail goes next.

John

"Gerd" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That section 7 of the BNT must indeed be very tough. According to my
map from Tenterfield to Grafton is hardly 200 km. If that took you 5
days, you did 40 km per day. That way I would never be in Cairns in
time to catch my plane.

Gerd

Well it was a holiday, not a race.
Also it was in November last year which was a record drought up here and the
day temps were around 35c and I was loaded down with my camping gear and
food for 5 days.
Water was also a problem to collect.
Day 1. Arrived in Tenterfield just after lunch...a late afternnon start and
made it as far as Mount Bajimba
Day 2. Mt Bajimba to Glen Elgin (slept in the old schoolhouse)
Day 3. Glen Elgin to Mann River Nature Reserve
Day 4. Mann River Nature Reserve to Dalmorton (pass through an old convict
tunnel)
Day 5. Dalmorton to Grafton

Quoted message said:

Well it was a holiday, not a race.
Also it was in November last year which was a record drought up here and

the

Quoted message said:

day temps were around 35c and I was loaded down with my camping gear and
food for 5 days.

P.S.
Some notes from the Trail website
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~bnt/mtnbikes.htm
quote...

Through easy terrain touring cyclists travel about 50 to 60kms per day, so a
trip from one end of the National Trail to the other (5,330km) will take
about 6 months

Section 7 Killarney to Ebor
The Trail through this part traverses wild country half way between the New
England Highway and the coast. It is clear from looking at the Shell road
map that there are no roads heading north-south through this part of the
country and those with little time may prefer to avoid this whole section by
following the New England Highway from Tenterfield through Glen Innes to
Armidale on the western side of the Trail. An off-highway route which is
reasonably direct and fast goes from Killarney south to Legume, Taloom,
Paddy Flat, Pretty Gully, Tabulum, Alice, Baryugil, Fine Flower, Copmanhurst
into Grafton, then south-west from Grafton to Nymboida, Clouds Creek,
Tyringham, Hernani, Ebor. Most of this is on dirt roads. The mountainous
terrain makes almost all of Section 7 difficult for mountain bikes. If you
are very determined and prepared for much carrying and pushing of your bike
it is possible to follow it all but most will find the Timbarra (Rocky)
River and the Guy Fawkes River far too difficult and time consuming. The
alternative via Tenterfield to Glen Elgin, given in the guidebook, is quite
suitable for bikes and the Trail can be followed from Glen Elgin to the
Gwydir Highway then down the old Grafton Road to Dalmorton where a forest
road (not shown on the Shell map) links Dalmorton with Marengo and onto
Ebor.

gaza said:

An off-highway route which is
reasonably direct and fast goes from Killarney south to Legume, Taloom,
Paddy Flat, Pretty Gully, Tabulum, Alice, Baryugil, Fine Flower, Copmanhurst
into Grafton, then south-west from Grafton to Nymboida, Clouds Creek,
Tyringham, Hernani, Ebor. Most of this is on dirt roads.

Done most of that route by bicycle.
I thought most was sealed or there are sealed (non-main road)
alternatives.