One of the benefits of being based in Canberra has to be the accessibility of great country riding roads to all points of the compass. One of our best known, and a personal favourite of mine, is a case in point.
Power out through Gungahlin, Forde, and Bonner, head north-east on Mulligan's Flat Road and take it easy on the throttle over the cattle grids as you leave the suburbs. The ride along Mulligans Flat Road is all good tarmac, especially the newer section after the intersection with East Tallagandra Lane. Once you hit the T-intersection with Sutton Road, take a left and cruise the undulating tarmac through fields and native forest, over the Yass River and into Gundaroo, the home of the fantastic Grazing Restaurant and Gundaroo Inn. Stay on Gundaroo Road for another thirty kilometres. Just after you pass over the Hume Highway, take a left onto Hume Street and find yourself on the Main Street of Gunning. Sticking to the speed limits and enjoying the views, you might find yourself sipping a latte and enjoying a fresh scone at the Merino Cafe or, if you are so inclined, a pie and cappuccino at the Old Hume Cafe in under an hour.
Gunning lies between Canberra and Goulburn, beside the Hume Highway in New South Wales. With around 500 people, the little village exudes charm and history, with a main street full of well-preserved colonial architecture and heritage-listed buildings. The little CBD lines Yass Street in the quintessential Australian rural town manner with a handful of businesses worthy of the ride and your time. The Merino Cafe and the Old Hume Cafe are great spots for lunch, as is the Telegraph Hotel, named in celebration of the arrival of the telegraph in Gunning in 1858. There are a host of historic sites around town, which make a great leg stretch before the ride back to Canberra. Sure, you could thunder run down the highway home, but why would you?
The 1840 obituary for Hamilton Hume's brother, John Hume, is an epic testament to Gunning's rough and ready history.
"On the night of Monday last, the 20th instant, Mr John Hume, late of Appin and the Fish River, hearing the report of shots, and justly conceiving that the house of his neighbour, John Cooper, of Gunning, on the Yass road, was being attacked by bushrangers, he called on his servants to accompany him, in order to assist and protect his neighbours. Some of his servants accordingly did accompany him, and on reaching Mr. Cooper's they found there three armed bushrangers. One of those villains immediately asked who Mr. Hume was, the latter made the same inquiry of the villains; the answer he received was a ball from a gun or pistol: the robber perceiving that the poor gentleman was not actually dead, fired a second and third shot, all of which passed through different parts of his body."
My advice is to do yourself a favour, climb onto your bike and head on out there if you haven't already.
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