Matt and Cathy Rogers have founded Brindabella E-Bike Adventures to help people explore the ACT’s trails. Photo: James Coleman.
There’s really only one way to see the ACT’s Sherwood Forest, tucked away as it is between the toes of the Brindabellas: set your car’s maps to the Blue Range Recreation Area, and be prepared to walk 7.2 km from there, return.
But I’ve just done it in under 15 minutes – without breaking a sweat – from a new location that’s just opened up.
Brindabella E-bike Adventures is based out of the home of Matt and Cathy Rogers, on Twin Sticks Road, right on the ACT’s north-western border.
As the name implies, it offers a variety of e-bike tours of the area, including half a day to Sherwood Forest, a full day to the Cotter Dam, and an overnight weekend camping trip to the top of Mount Coree.
And the couple have plans to go further – hiring out their house for farm-stay-style accommodation, with Matt’s own handiwork of a wood-fired outdoor sauna and outdoor bathroom to boot.
The couple have lived here for more than 20 years, a fairly private life raising their five kids and commuting to Canberra and Queanbeyan for work.
But in their spare time, heading out on bike or horse, they’ve come to find all the hidden gems of the surrounding area.
And they finally thought Canberrans have been missing out for too long.
“Brindabella e-bikes was born mainly from our own self-discovery,” Matt says.
“We realised this area where we live, nestled under the Brindabellas, is just rich with beautiful trails … And we picked up these e-bikes and discovered how lovely they were to explore those regions and those trails, and it’s grown from there.
“We just realised that if we enjoyed it and if we can do it, we’re sure others would enjoy it too.”
They’re not exactly shy about this sort of thing. In a previous life, they bundled themselves and their five kids up into a 4WD van and took off across Australia for two years and 80,000 km.
The very van the Rogers family used to travel Australia. Photo: James Coleman.
As the kids grew up and left home, however, Matt and Cathy found themselves with more time on their hands.
“We got bored, basically,” Cathy adds.
“So we’ve started a business.”
The Sherwood Forest tour costs $290.40 per person, including the bike, helmet, National Park day pass, and Matt as guide.
The full-day ride out to the Cotter is $594 per person, while the ‘Overnight Bikepacking Adventure’ into the Brindabellas costs $1727 per person.
Matt says the biggest challenge with working out the prices was finding a third-party insurance provider.
“Some companies would cover some parts of the tours, but not others. In the end, we could only find one.”
The e-bikes themselves are sourced from Europe and feature electronic gear shifting and four modes that adjust the amount of assistance, from ‘Turbo’ to ‘Eco’. The estimated range is over 100 km.
The couple is looking to purchase smaller bikes, but for now, riders must be at least 170 cm tall.
Just enough for me then.
For our test route, we head to Sherwood Forest, and once you get around the gears and the odd flare of acceleration when you first start pedalling – especially in ‘Turbo’ – the bike is easy to get used to.
The path takes us down through a pine forest that could serve as a portal to the English countryside because, come out the other side, and it’s all gently sloping hills studded with oaks, elms, cedars and poplars. Thanks to the recent spell of rain, everything’s green.
The area’s first European settlers were the Phillips family, who built a homestead here in 1863 and reared dairy cows until 1922.
As you’ve probably heard, the Sherwood Forest name is inherited from one of the trees that apparently started life as an acorn in the original English forest of Robin Hood fame.
Just one of the views. Photo: James Coleman.
The ACT’s version is also renowned for the daffodils that carpet the ground every September, and even now, in March, the green shoots are shooting. I have to try my best not to roll over them.
Normally, e-bike tour customers would pause for lunch here to truly savour the views. Because that’s what it’s all about.
“We really just want to get people out on these bikes, just to explore the area because it’s so beautiful,” Cathy says.
Visit Brindabella E-Bike Adventures for more information or to book your tour.
Original Article published by James Coleman on Region Canberra.
