The Rock and Pillar Loop: a Great Ride

This a great ride and is worth the trip to Middlemarch and the time to do it; it's a day ride. Be well prepared and do not go on your own as there is no cell phone coverage for most of it. We shortened this by being dropped at the bottom of the hill.

If you ride from Middlemarch, you need to add another 9kms of easy riding mostly on the rail trail. The course is not a particularly technically difficult one, it's just hard going and quite long. It starts with a 2-hour ascent to the top of the Rock and Pillar. It gets progressively harder as you go up. Once at the top, you follow the ridge but there is nothing very flat as there are many up and down hills. In some areas, the track is really dug up and you must chose your line quite carefully as there are some drops that could be quite problematic. But really, being alert is all you need to consider. As some point, you join up the old Dunstan Road. It feels like civilisation for a while but you're not likely to see anyone around. As some point you will leave the road and take a 4-wheel drive farm track. I suggest you follow this itinerary carefully as there are places where you can easily take the wrong turnoff. The downhill proper is quite easy and exhilarating. There is quite a bit of tussock grass on the track and that can be unnerving as you expect some sudden drops behind them. But the track is actually quite smooth. I've done this downhill a couple of times and I have not been surprised by any unforeseen obstacles. At the bottom, you will ride through many paddocks and you will need to open and close many fences some of them deer fences that are quite big. The final bit is an easy ride to Middlemarch and a beer at the pub.

I'll say it again: it's a great ride. The landscape throughout that ride is fantastic. I would not recommend this on a windy as the tops are very exposed. It might only be 1400 meters but when you see the vegetation at the top (moss and lichen) you really understand how tough an environment it is.