Hanging Mountain

From Tuross Heads to Hanging Mountain and back is one ride that will test your hill climbing endurance. When I first did this ride back about 12 years ago, I can remember looking down at my Speedo thinking if only I could get my speed up above 8km/h it would be so much better, the climb seemed to last forever.
This time I was heading up there for my 3rd time, and I was really looking forward to it. I left my parents house at 5:20am, it was a perfect morning, with little traffic on the road. I pushed up the Princess highway and turned towards the fire trail onto Western Boundary road. The whole ride is on fire trail and is a pretty smooth run all the way. This trail to Little sugarloaf road was uphill and very undulating., and heads straight for Deua National Park and I was very surprised to get there on an hour of riding. Along little sugarloaf is where most of the climbing begins, this is where it just seems to never end. Being stronger this time it did seem to be easier from what I remembered and looking towards my destination during my climb encouraged a good pace.
Before I knew it I was there well under the 3 hour mark I was hoping for. Looking at the view of where I had just come from is always rewarding on this ride. As you can see (by the bottom picture) there is a clear view to Mt Dromedary. Heading back was very quick, putting some power down and keeping my speed up made the up hill sections very easy work. I completed the 75k’s in 4.5 hours which was about 1 hour quicker than any other time I have ridden it. I did feel pretty tired though and I knew I had pushed it pretty hard. A great ride and a lot of fun. Next time I am down there I will have to try Mt Dromedary.