30th anniversary 2012: How things have changed 1982–2012

The course

One of the biggest changes to the Brookvale ride over its 30 year history has been to the course. Originally 110 km in three legs, the ride was changed in 1986 to 100 km in two legs, then in 1993 to the present length of 80 km. The general location of the course has stayed the same, with the first leg north of the ride base, mostly or wholly in NSW and including part of what is now Brindabella National Park, and the second leg south of the base, mostly in the ACT and including the Uriarra pine forest. There have, however, been many changes to the tracks used and the lengths of individual legs. Further changes to the course are planned for 2012.

Some changes were made after the first ride, which was considered too hard, including removing a long, steep hill from the second leg. For the next three years the course remained about 110 km long, in legs of approximately 50 km, 40 km and 20 km. Unfortunately, no maps or detailed descriptions of the 110 km courses seem to have survived and recollections of the course are now vague. Detailed knowledge of the course therefore starts from 1986.

In 1986 ACTERA decided to reduce the course to two legs totalling around 100 km. This was apparently achieved by combining the second and third legs of the 110 km course and making some minor adjustments to achieve leg lengths of around 55 km and 45 km. The first leg, which had apparently changed little from the one used previously, started behind the camp and followed a track through the paddocks to Two Sticks Road, which it followed for several kilometres before turning right onto the Dingi Dingi Firetrail, then proceeded along Webbs Ridge to Doctors Flat Road. It returned to the ride base via Doctors Flat Road, with two detours to add distance, one being across the ‘Link Road’ to Maginot Firetrail and the other being a detour into private property at Dingo Dell. That leg, with minor variations, was used from 1986 until 1993. While the length of the second leg of the 100 km course remained about the same for several years, the course it took changed several times. In 1986 it started as for the first leg (across the paddocks to Two Sticks Road), then a few kilometres out it turned left off Two Sticks Road, dropped down to Uriarra Forest and through it almost to the Brindabella Road, across Condor Creek and up to the base of Mount Coree then back onto Two Sticks Road, turning off it onto the Firebreak Trail, then following a bridle track along Swamp Creek almost all the way back to the ride base. From 1989 the second leg went out along Mountain Creek Road (as it has done ever since), through Sherwood Forest, across Brindabella Road and back, then past Blue Range Hut to Two Sticks Road, which it followed for a few kilometres before turning off onto the track through the paddocks back to camp. By then, a training ride was being held concurrently with the main ride and, to comply with the rules then in place, a vet-check for the training ride was set up at Condor Hut near Brindabella Road.

Following a rule change in 1991 reducing the maximum length of any one leg from 60 km to 50 km, there were major changes to the course from 1993 (the ride was not held in 1992). The first leg was reduced to 50 km by removing the detours. To keep the average distance between vet checks to 40 km as required, the second leg was reduced to 30 km, all on the northern side of Brindabella Road. A 10 km loop over Uriarra Hill was added for the training ride. The 30 km leg became the course for the social ride, which was introduced in 1998. With some minor variations, these courses were used for the second leg and the short rides until 2002.

In 1994 a major change was made to the first leg, which switched from the western to the eastern side of Doctors Flat Road. The start was moved to Doctors Flat Road, just outside the front gate of the campsite. The course followed that road for nearly 20 km before turning right onto Scorgies Firetrail, dropping into a valley and crossing private properties before climbing Flanagans Hill, returning via Doctors Flat Road which it rejoined about 5 km from the ride base.

Damage from the January 2003 bushfires and subsequent closure of some tracks in the Uriarra pine forest led to further changes from 2004. The first leg was reduced to 40 km, returning to Doctors Flat Road via the Maginot Firetrail; that route continues to be used for the first leg. The second leg (which is also the training ride course) was also changed. After short-term arrangements in 2004 and 2005 to provide a leg of the required distance while ensuring safety in the fire-damaged forest areas (Uriarra Hill was not accessible at all in 2005, due to fallen or dangerous trees), a new 40 km leg was planned in 2006 that included a loop on the Cotter side of Brindabella Road, but as the ride was moved into town that year that course was never used. In 2009 a new second leg was developed with some difficulty, using a combination of the available tracks to make a 40 km loop without crossing Brindabella Road. This went out and back along Mountain Creek Road, with a loop through Sherwood and Uriarra forests and over Uriarra Hill. The leg was run in reverse in 2011 so that the hill was closer to the beginning than the end. A 20 km variation of the loop was developed for the social ride. That change to the second leg resulted in all riders approaching the finish line through the campsite and across the creek, rather than across the paddocks as they had done previously.

Significant changes to the second leg are planned for 2012 to include more of the old ride routes. For several years the policy on horse riding in Brindabella National Park precluded us from using any of the old courses west of Doctors Flat Road, but under the Plan of Management that came into force in 2009 tracks in that area are once again available. This year the ride returns to Two Sticks Road, incorporating part of the early course which has not been used for the ride since 1993.

The course is now marked with the standard markers provided by the NSWERA but for most of the 30 years the Brookvale course was marked with pieces of venetian blind (white for the first leg, red for the second), supplemented where necessary by tape tied to trees. In later years reflective tape was added to the blind strips for the part of the course covered in darkness. The tracks not to be taken were identified by crosses on plastic plates or ice-cream lids and where necessary by white lines (originally lime, replaced in later years by line-marking chalk) across them. Before glow sticks were available, hazards and parts of the course where the track was unclear were marked with flashing lights. The marking has generally been of a high standard and we have only ever had one rider become seriously lost – that is now 28 years ago.

Getting approval to run a ride over a particular course is a much more complicated process than it was even a few years ago, particularly as the course is partly in NSW and partly in the ACT. Detailed applications need to be submitted, approval obtained from several different government agencies, and specific conditions complied with, including some new ones from 2009 for the part of Uriarra Forest that is within the lower Cotter catchment.

By Melanie O'Flynn

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