Stay in the Pub, Drink the Coffee
Words of Wisdom For The CWCT
I had a great time on the Central West Cycle Trail. It had all the things I love about cycle touring: quiet gravel back roads; rural landscapes; birds; creeks; tiny little towns with crumbling old buildings; and a distinct lack of too many other people. Not that I don't like people, just not too many of them. Despite seeing their tracks in the gravel and spotting one or two far in the distance, we didn't have any up close and personal contact with any other cyclists on the Trail and after spending some time perusing the CWCT facebook group I came to the sad conclusion that the way we did it wasn't how the trail was designed to be used.
What I didn't understand about the CWCT back then was that the properties and businesses and little towns and defunct pubs along the trail had embraced it heartily and the best way to experience the camaradarie of the CWCT was to engage with everything that you possibly could. Stay at the Dunedoo Pub and the Hair of the Dog Hotel and whichever B&Bs or little church halls offered accommodation along the way. Drink coffee at the White Rose Cafe; have a pub lunch at Mendooran; ring ahead and book morning tea/lunch/afternoon smoko at Mayfield. All those cyclists we didn't see were lolling around in pubs every night, drinking wine (or coffee), having a jolly good time beside a roaring fire and taking selfies to post on the facebook group as they left in the morning.
If I'm to be honest my introvert self tires quickly when hanging out with mobs of jolly cyclists, but the nature of the CWCT is as much in the small communities along the way as it is in the rolling rural hills, little gravel roads, and sense of isolation in the Goonoo Forest. And the boost that the CWCT has brought to those small communities is invaluable, so get out there and say hello on the CWCT; eat those scones and drink that tea; you won't regret it.
I fully intend to come back and do just that, although introversion may demand that I spend at least one night sitting under a gum tree, eating instant mashed potatoes and talking to no-one. I won't regret that either.
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