It’s beer, Jim, but not as we know it! I can’t think of many long-distance cycling events in which the halfway refreshment table is handing out tins of ice-cold beer, but then Gears + Beers isn’t your average bike race. For a start, it isn’t a race, but more of that later. Back to Bridge Road Brewers and its Free Time pale ale. Okay, so it’s zero alcohol, but it still embodies the spirit of the weekend – riding with your mates and good beer at every turn.
Far from boredom
The 2023 Labour Day public holiday caught me by surprise. I’d neglected to organise any cool activity whatsoever, so the Friday beforehand I put out word I was seeking same, and what came back was a revelation. Come Sunday, I found myself milling about in the early morning sunshine alongside a couple of thousand other cycling enthusiasts, a chattering mass of colourful bibs, muscled calves and handlebars of both the drop and mustachio varieties. There was a thriving coffee van, an inflatable start line, and spokes as far as the eye could see. Who were all these people?
This marked the tenth annual Gears + Beers event, organised by the Rotary Club of Wollundry in Wagga Wagga every October long weekend. The concept is simple – a friendly gravel ride with the emphasis on fun (there are no prizes so jostling for position is pointless), followed by an afternoon of music, food and craft beer at the accompanying festival in Victory Memorial Gardens. Milan Peyrac, from Redfern, explained himself:
“Well, I bought a gravel bike, and I thought ‘I can’t gravel in Sydney, so I’d better come to Wagga and give it a bash.’” Having done so, he successfully piqued the interest of an Irish mate, Feargal Tierney, who took up the story enthusiastically.
“I’d never been to Wagga. I used to call it Wagga Wagga, because I didn’t realise that when you’re in the know, you drop the second Wagga. Plus, it was something to do on a long weekend.” Both valid reasons for attending, no doubt. It was Feargal, in his turn, who offered to bring me along. My first question was whether Gears + Beers was only for serious cyclists.
“Absolutely not!” he retorted. “Even in my profession, that they pay me for, nobody would describe me as serious.”
“So, you wouldn’t describe yourself as serious in any aspect of your life?” I joked.
“No, none,” came the reply.
“Would you describe yourself as a cyclist?” I said, changing tack.
“I own more than one bicycle, so I think that qualifies me. And they’ve got like, clip-in pedals and things. Look at me – I’m wearing f**king Lycra! But cyclists I find are a narky bunch,” he continued, warming to his theme. “You cycle around Centennial Park in Sydney and they’re all shouting, ‘ON YOUR LEFT!’ There’s all this tension, because these guys are going off to work in risk, and banks, and things, in an hour or two, and their bikes are worth fifteen thousand bucks, and presumably their teeth are important, too.” A bunch of cyclepaths? I offered. “Look, I get how cycling can be dangerous, and crashes are something you want to avoid, but here, you look out for each other. Bike Nazis don’t seem to have infiltrated yet.”
Back when it all began
I’d signed up for the Sic 60 (formerly the Filthy 50) which kicked off at 08:30, so I had time to watch the first wave of riders rolling out to tackle the legendary Dirty 130. The longest course of the weekend, the D130 first appeared in its second year.
“Riding on gravel was not a popular pastime,” explained Phillip McIntosh of the Rotary Club, chief instigator and organiser of G + B since its inception, “So when the Dirty 130 was first introduced, most people rode it on standard road bikes, and there was a fair amount of carnage out there. It was the stories that got told; about people supporting each other over those 130km that grew the event, and it morphed into something bigger than we could have ever expected. Over time, gravel cycling has become a thing.” He’s not wrong – gravel riding is now a distinct discipline, a sort of halfway hobby between tarmac and downhill mountain biking, with all the concomitant equipment and vocabulary. It’s like trail running for cyclists.
The day was a zinger by the time the Sic 60 pack set off, pinging and clacking, along Wagga’s main drag, but soon ditching the black stuff for crunchier territory. After 15 minutes of flat to warm us up, the gentle hills started making their presence known, stringing the participants out along the back roads of country NSW. I was surrounded by other riders, chatting and laughing as they pedalled along like carefree Tour de France leaders larking about on the final stage into Paris.
No excuse not to stop for a break
Even with the convivial atmosphere, the miles and hills eventually began to take their toll, and my relief was palpable when, at the 31km mark, the Sic 60 and Dirty 130 converged in an explosion of bananas, jelly snakes, and even a sausage sizzle. The whole event is underpinned by sponsor donations and a huge volunteer effort from the surrounding area’s rotary clubs (about 140 bodies this year), meaning pretty much 100 per cent of rider registration fees can be donated to the clubs’ various charities – a spectacular effort by Phillip and co.
”We can put on the event much more cheaply than someone who’s running it for commercial gain,” explained the man himself, “which means we can keep registration fees down and we’ve got more dollars to give away to charity. Effectively, what riders are doing is donating to a charitable organisation. The club has a projects committee which takes applications from multiple charitable organisations, and the proceeds from G+B all go into that committee, so people feel good about being involved in the event.”
The halfway aid station was also where beer first entered the frame. The aforementioned Bridge Road, hailing from Beechworth, VIC, were one of ten quality craft beer mobs set up to welcome thirsty riders.
“In general terms,” Phillip continued, “you go to a bike event, you pack your bike up after the ride and go home. The Alpine Classic in Bright used to have a bit of a festival thing happening down by the river, and this is what’s different about this event. To be able to come back to the park with a whole heap of likeminded people who’ve experienced something similar, and chill out, listen to some music and have a couple of craft beers and something to eat – it’s an opportunity to celebrate what you’ve been through.”
The beer tents are coveted spots, manned by a core of brewers who have supported the festival since day one. Thirsty Crow was the first and a natural choice, situated as it is in the heart of Wagga. As Gears + Beers has grown, the Crow premises have become a natural hub at which riders will gather the night before the event to catch up on some last-minute carb loading (i.e. beer drinking). This year there were food and drinks specials, a speed tyre-changing competition, and above all, an enjoyable ‘Welcome to the weekend’ vibe.
According to Phillip, Tumut River Brewing Co. was really struggling at the time of the first festival, but that generated enough cash flow for them to survive another 12 months and ten years later they’re still going strong. “Tumut, Bright, Bridge Road – they came and supported us from the get-go. We have to balance the right number of brewers so that they all have a great time and it’s worthwhile for them to come, and our priority is to look after the people who looked after us.”
The ice-cold dream holds up in the heat
The delights of a (real) frosty pint were still a couple of hours’ cycling, and 29km away from the halfway bottleneck as the mercury hit 30°C, and I was flagging by the time Wagga hove back into view. Fortunately, revival was close at hand in the form of a disturbing marriage of electrolyte drink and beer, courtesy of Thirsty Crow and sports nutrition brand Skratch Labs, one of the event sponsors. While forcing down this dubious concoction, I asked Matt Adams from Skratch why on earth he would condone such an abomination.
“Skratch labs in the US work with a brewer and actually can their beers,” he laughed, “so we got the idea from them. We contacted Thirsty Crow, and they opted for the Fruit Punch flavour.” While still recovering from this polysemantic punch in the throat, I wondered aloud how Skratch came to be sponsoring the event, anyway?
“We like these styles of events because there are a lot of first-timers and it’s good to educate them about nutrition,” explained Matt. “We gave all the riders in the gravel events some hydration and handed out some energy bars on the 130.” But it’s not just a corporate gig; Matt’s a fan of gravel cycling from years back (read our guide to gravel cycling, here). “I’ve been here previously as a rider, I think six times, and it’s a great community atmosphere and brings people to Wagga from all over the place. It’s just good to see so many people riding bikes and having a good time out there.” And he’s nailed what really makes the event work – the community atmosphere.
“Ah, you couldn’t beat it,” agreed Feargal after a couple of Bent Spoke’s finest behind the finish line. Far from being a post-ride, back-slapping competition for participants and their friends/families, the festival is well-attended by locals who might have zero interest in all things cycological. Entry is free for riders, as is secure bike parking out the back, but all others pay a modest ticket fee. A main stage is host to live music, and is surrounded by shaded tables, trees, a line of food trucks and … at last … the finest selection of craft beers outside of Marrickville!
“I arrived in the bar last night and was instant fast friends with these guys who’d set up this tyre-changing competition,” Feargal says. “I did feature on the leader board early on, and while a lot of names got wiped out as faster and faster people came, I’d been lucky enough to set the slowest score they’d ever seen. I even won a prize! Then I ran into some of the same people today on the ride. I’ve been here a day, and I feel like I’ve got friends.”
“This is my third year now,” continued Feargal. “The first ride I did was the 50km and I thought ‘Nah, too easy,’ so the next year I came back and did the 100km, and totally blew up and suffered. So today, with no training (I focused mainly on my tapering), I did the Sic 60 and I loved it. Once I let the tyre pressure down on my bike anyway, ’cause I was nearly gonna lose my fillings in the first few kilometres.”
The perfect excuse for another celebratory beverage
So, what exciting plans does Phillip have for the upcoming 2024 festival? Some sort of celebration of 10 years of the Dirty 130, for starters. “A reasonable number of people have ridden nine D130s, which is a pretty big ask. We’ve been planning what we can do to make that celebration special, both for people riding their tenth, and also their first, but I can’t tell you yet exactly what that will look like.”
Everywhere you look are Lycra-clad bodies, zips open to the navel and stretched out on the grass in prone positions, usually with a tinnie close at hand. This is the life! Take some craft beer, add sweat and cycling, marinate in the sunshine and consume at leisure – the perfect recipe for a fabulous weekend.
Gears + Beers 2024 is scheduled for the weekend of the 5-6 October at Victory Memorial Gardens in Wagga Wagga, NSW.
