Echuca to Swan Hill - Seeking some advice

[VeloGiro]

Hi Touring Australia forum(ites)

My wife and i are planning a ride from Echuca to Swan Hill in July on our tandem - we are attracted to getting off the blacktop and traversing the network of riverside tracks - noting in Cycle trails Australia Murry River Tour that "All bike tourers should at least do the impressive Swan Hill to Echuca section which is mostly right by the river".

We have a few questions...
Are the tracks likely to be sandy?
Conversely are some of the tracks likely to be underwater?
Are we likely to encounter lots of puncture causing burrs or jacks on the tracks?
Has anyone ridden this section recently?
Any other thoughts or advice would be greatly welcomed!
We will be credit card touring so not camping on this occasion...places to stay?

Thanks very much - Johnno and Lisa...

[il padrone]

Hi Touring Australia forum(ites)

My wife and i are planning a ride from Echuca to Swan Hill in July on our tandem - we are attracted to getting off the blacktop and traversing the network of riverside tracks - noting in Cycle trails Australia Murry River Tour that "All bike tourers should at least do the impressive Swan Hill to Echuca section which is mostly right by the river".

We have a few questions...
Are the tracks likely to be sandy?

No. They tend to be river clays mostly; can get slippery after heavy rain.

Conversely are some of the tracks likely to be underwater?

Pretty unlikely. Have not heard of any upstream flooding or major water releases from the Hume Dam.

Are we likely to encounter lots of puncture causing burrs or jacks on the tracks?

Always a potential for this, but less likely than further out in the pasture-lands or in the Riverina.

Has anyone ridden this section recently?
Any other thoughts or advice would be greatly welcomed!
We will be credit card touring so not camping on this occasion...places to stay?

I last rode through there about 7-8 years ago now. It is marvellous redgum forest riding, and really very easy going. I can't remember the details of the places we stayed at but one was a lovely campsite by the river at McClure's Bend. We also stopped at an old irrigation worker's hut. There is a historic cemetery you may want to visit in the forest, and the weir at Torumbarry was worth a look around - in a blokey, engineering sort of way

I guess with the time of year it is better to do the full accommodation tour.

[VeloGiro]

Thanks (again) IP for your info and insights...you are a indeed a wonder of SE Australian (and beyond) touring!

Reckon it will be a ripper of a ride...I'll let you know how we get on!

Cheers

[VeloGiro]

[quote="il padrone"][

No. They tend to be river clays mostly; can get slippery after heavy rain.
/quote]


IP do you reckon we could tackle the ride on a Bike Friday tandem?

[il padrone]

If it is dry on the tracks you should have few problems, and they are unlikely to get too much heavy rain. Rising rivers are the major thing that would be a problem for the tracks. Gauge the conditions from local info, and take a 'suck-it-and-see' approach. Worst comes to worst you can always take the sealed road - there are sections of quiet sealed roads in parts through there that run through farmlands south of the redgum forests.

The worst bit of track we struck (dry conditions) was a section for 3-4 kms that had been chopped up by rains some time earlier.



Some of the delights of the forest in October (though I think it is probably a noxious weed species).

[Tim]

Some of the delights of the forest in October (though I think it is probably a noxious weed species).

Methinks it might be Patersons curse (Salvation Jane), though a keener botanical eye than mine (VeloGiro) should be able to confirm it.

[VeloGiro]

Some of the delights of the forest in October (though I think it is probably a noxious weed species).

Methinks it might be Patersons curse (Salvation Jane), though a keener botanical eye than mine (VeloGiro) should be able to confirm it.

Back yourself in Tim - Its most certainly Patersons Curse!

[Tim]

Credit card touring I think you mentioned? No camping load?
How about adding a couple of backpack spray units? It wouldn't be right touring without extra heavy weight.
A working holiday.
You can do both sides of the road at once on the tandem.

[il padrone]

Salvation Jane for the 'Crow-eaters'

[VeloGiro]

Credit card touring I think you mentioned? No camping load?
How about adding a couple of backpack spray units? It wouldn't be right touring without extra heavy weight.
A working holiday.
You can do both sides of the road at once on the tandem.

Mmm - Lisa doesn't have an AgVet ticket to spray...looks like we could be hand weeding for a spell

[VeloGiro]

Just negotiated with the Torrumbarry Weir keepers (Goulburn/Murray Waters staff) to let us cross at the weir from NSW back into Victoria and to our digs for the first night - the salubrious Torrumbarry Weir Holiday Park!

The weir is not a publicly accessible crossing point at all...this was completely a case of seek and you shall receive! It knocks out 30+ K's of Murray Valley Highway from Echuca and replaces it with 40 K's of quite backroads from Moama to the weir via the Perricoota and Perricoota River Roads. Ripper!

[VeloGiro]

We completed (a variant) of the ride on the weekend...

Our planned route was to catch the V line train – cycle from Echuca to Swan Hill and catch the train back to Melbourne from Swan Hill. Due to the weather forecast (the prospect of strong headwinds for the entire journey) we modified the ride and caught a bus to Kerang, headed north to Murrabit and rode back to Echuca via Barham, Torrumbarry and Terrick Terrick - We had quite a time of it on the muddy Murray Track...As suggested by il Padrone 'twas very slippery! Quite a challenging but rewarding ride...

Here's a quick report if your interested...

https://redgumride.wordpress.com/2016/0 ... blog-post/

[il padrone]

Quite the initiation for you

[VeloGiro]

Quite the initiation for you

Indeed ip - I have done some rough-ish cycle touring by myself and with a few of my mates but for my wife Lisa i think this was her first experience of having to really steel yourself to deal with the challenges of the conditions...which were pretty challenging I must say along the slippery river track...The good news is i think she is completely hooked

We were actively planning the next ride on the train on the way home...thinking East Gippsland in spring...

Tim I'll keep you posted if we are heading your way...