CHASING THE DIRTY 130
With 36 hours and a 420km pilgrimage behind us it was time for the main event.
The Gears & Beers Dirty 130.
SECTIONS
I: IN THE MORNING
II: LIFT OFF
III: PAUSE
IV: THE HUNTERS
V: THE VERDICT
This story of adventure was made possible by the crew behind the Gears & Beers Festival.
Five times we've ridden the Gears & Beers Dirty 130. Five whole times. That's almost 700km of Dirty 130 when you account for the times we've taken wrong turns or doubled back.
Does it get any easier? Sometimes. Do we come any more prepared? Nope – probably the opposite.
We blame the timing of the event, in that it is on the same day we lose an hour of sleep. Thing is, we are either buzzing from the drive to Wagga, or desperately recovering from the pilgrimage, so that lost 60 minutes feels like so much more.
Despite the same fight with the alarm clock each time, it's an event that keeps us coming back – and it was no different this year. We were excited to check out the updated route and try our best to put our lenders through their paces.
That means now is the perfect time to talk about the three bikes that had taken us from Echuca to our rooms at the Red Steer Hotel in North Wagga.
We'd been lucky to be supplied with a Baum, a Prova and a Bastion – two of them personal bikes of the people who hand-build them. There is something to be said about putting us aboard arguably 3 of the most high-end, highly-considered, and most sought after hand-made bicycles this country can produce – but we're not entirely sure what that "something" is. In any case, taking some bikes that would overdraw our bank accounts made the weekend very special.
Funnily enough, with nothing but a slight adjustment to saddle heights, they all fit perfectly – a surprise to us considering their custom geometry. Comfortable fit aside, they tackled the pilgrimage incredibly – including Adrian's more road-spec Bastion, making the sandier sections a little treacherous. Luckily the night before, the Bastion crew swapped out his bike for an eye-catching, turquoise fade gravel bike.
In our hotel room, we did our final preparations. Tyres pumped up, chain nice and smooth, Deni Ute Muster cattle tags hung from underneath our saddles. It was showtime, and these bikes were the main attraction.
I: IN THE MORNING
We opened the door to our room at the Red Steer Hotel in North Wagga and took a momentary pause. Legs cocked to hop aboard our bikes, yet we remained frozen as we took in the scene around us.
Yesterday evening, as our night came to a close, our neighbour's was beginning. Two days of travel and a few hours at the Thirsty Crow had us ready for bed. Plus – there was a bike ride tomorrow and the matter of a lost hour of sleep. While we dozed off, our neighbour's Bucks Party started to warm up, hitting full throttle shortly after.
The scene in front of us told the journey and outcome of redlining on your Bucks. Beerbongs, bottles, stripped costume items – it was all there, laid out like the end of a civil war re-enactment. Gaskets blown.
While all of this was happening, we were running later and later. It was time to time-trial some gravel bikes to the start line.
II: LIFT OFF
And we made it – just. The first riders were cruising down Fitzmaurice Street in Wagga under police escort, heading back from where we just came on the way out of town and into the dusty, canola-y plains of the Riverina.
We didn't know much about the route for this edition of the Dirty 130. It had partly slipped our minds, while we were partly relying on experience and complete comfort in following the flock. The Gears & Beers team gave us a few spoilers in video calls leading up to the weekend but wanted to keep us in the dark to allow the element of surprise and delight to take hold across the morning. We figured that the classic routes in and out of town would remain. As would the Coolamon picnic stop – we were already licking our lips in anticipation.
What of the remaining 110 kilometres or so? No clue.
ROUTE: THE 2019 DIRTY 130
Distance: 133km / Elevation Gain: +1160m
Everything was going good so far. The sun was beginning to peek through the clouds, and we'd tracked down Benno aboard his Ti Curve – completing the Australian quaddie. Tacked on the back of a long, stretched out bunch, North Wagga was light work even on gravel tyres. But this is where it all started to turn bad.
III: PAUSE
We pulled on to the boulevard that led you into the local university campus – where the pace transitions from being slightly processional into "time to go" when Adrian's line started blowing up. Our video guy Mal was on the phone, wondering where we were as Mike Tomalaris was down at the start line and wanted to chat.
"Put him on!"
"No, he means in person."
"Oh..."
We paused and watched Benno and the rest of the bunch continue their way north, slowly turning into the dots on the horizon that we had been over the last few days.
Mike had been kind enough to Skype us personally in the past, and it's not like us to leave cycling presenter royalty hanging, so we made a detour back to the start line.
Not wanting to deal with the hundreds of "you're going the wrong way" from the last bits of the Dirty 130 bunch, we took a familiar detour across the Gobbagombalin Bridge, making light work of our return to Victory Gardens.
Early the night before at the Thirsty Crow, Mike was formally introduced to us face-to-face for the first time. "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you, nice to meet you, oh great – an Arsenal fan" were his first words, setting the tone for what would ultimately be a weekend-long roast of Adrian, one that resumed before Adrian even had a chance to catch his breath upon arriving back at the start.
A quickfire 10 minute roast out of the way, we were permitted to charge on ahead, just the three of us. As we passed that same spot on the road where we made our u-turn, we laid down some guesses as to how long it would be before we caught anyone.
IV: BECOMING THE HUNTERS
So began the chase.
Early on we were helped by a marshall who sent us right when we were supposed to go left in what would usually be labelled a disaster but meant we were blessed with a tarmac shortcut. Yet there were still no other riders to be seen. 35km had ticked past.
We were on the cusp of giving up all hope until we crested a climb 50km into our ride, 35km into the 130 that we came across a bustling crowd. The first of many new additions to the Gears & Beers route had become our saving grace.
Taking a turn left off a typical gravel road was a detour through a local farm, the loop-de-loop sending riders deep into the pastures then back out again. It just so happened that Benno was making his way out as we were turning in, opting to join us for another spin. We were back to a gang of four, weaving our way in and around the farm, slowly rejoining larger groups along the way.
Morale instantly boosted we made hay north to Marrar and made light work of the tarmac transfer across to Coolamon. The local Rotary Club put on their typical award-winning spread, only this time we were more cooked than ever, unable to give it the attention and enjoyment it deserved.
We had the wind on our backs leaving Coolamon, lending a much needed helping hand on the return to the finish line in Wagga. Lunch, soft grass to lay upon, and a swim in the river weren't far away. Dead Camel Lane provided a moment of technical concentration that the wider, mostly straight sections hadn't called upon from the days previous. The roots, rocks and ruts climbing up Dead Camel Lane provided enough of a challenge, but the biggest was yet to come – another sit down with Mike Tomalaris, adding enough fire into the bellies of all of us that we were able to push on to the finish line.
V: THE VERDICT
The lawns of the Victory Gardens in Wagga Wagga, just metres from the finish line, provided a certain sense of comfort. The shade was good, but being surrounded by memories of bicycle riding at the time was not. We had just completed the longest Dirty 130 of our five attempts due to the required detour. Complete exhaustion aside, it was up there as being the most enjoyable edition yet, bringing together the classics with some fresh additions and new roads.
A swim down at the river helped us regain our collective trains of thoughts and washed off enough dust that we began feeling human again. We returned to the Beer component of the G & B Festival for some burgers, bratwurst, cold drinks, and just one last roast courtesy of Mike.