Muggaccinos cyclists invite ardent hill climbers to 12th annual King of the Mountain Challenge camping for -

A.       initial 6 nights Fri. 13th to Wed 18th at the verdant, bucolic Berry Showground which adjoins the 20 yards Berry Swimming Pool at $9 p/h p/n for an Unpowered Site and $14 p/h p/n for a Powered Site if you have a mobile home/caravan.  Hence, no bookings req'd. It doesn't cost you anything if you have to bail-out at the 11th hour.  All attendees will pay the Caretaker, Phil Monaghan, their camping fees within 4 hours of arriving. If you are unsure of how many nights you intend to camp, then pay up until your earliest departure date, and pay later for any extra days if you stay longer.  Make sure you don't drive back to Sydney not having paid for all you days, 'cause the camp ground caretaker has access to Indicative Attendance Schedule which I will again update over the 7 ride days from Berry; and

Cycle up to nine ave. 70km approx Hilly Day Rides (Friday to Sunday inclusive) in the Mecca of scenic cycling country, the Southern Highlands, which include all 12 KOM Climbs in the Illawarra Climb Region.  Cyclists are encouraged to log a Climb Time at KOMpm.com.  Each scheduled day ride heads Westish up the escarpment/mountains. 

On five of the nine mornings we can catch a train, or drive, from Berry to nearby -

*        Sat. 14th. - Albion Park train station to climb Macquarie Pass and Fountaindale Rd to Saddleback Mtn

If you aren't up to serious climbing, shorter / flatter routes are available from Berry:

*        East quiet countryside to Seven Mile Beach's National Park, picnic area and surf and return - 16km

*        Bomaderry via Sth down Wharf Rd, Ahead into Coolangatta Rd, R into Bryce's Rd, R into Back Forest Rd, R into Bolong Rd to Bomaderry and retrace - 44.4km

*        picturesque Gerroa Beach - a few flat kms away. 

*        rustic Gerringong and Shoalhaven Heads.

Train timetables for South Coast:

(a)      in case anyone wants to catch a train from/to Sydney and Berry, and

(b)      on 5 of the 9 days we catch a train from Berry to commence from Albion Park Rail, Kiama and Bomaderry.  Due to the local train being only 2 carriages, we will drive a few cars with bike racks to those train stations, and catch the trains back there after the rides to pick-up their cars.

Our camp ground is 250m from Berry train station.  Trains take 3 hours from Central Railway to Berry station and cost $5.70 single fare.

Click on:  Mon to Fri where trains depart Central at 7:57am, 9:27am, 11:28am, 12:28pm and 1:28pm arriving Berry station approx 3½ hours later

Saturday morn' - Depart Central station at 6:40am arriving Kiama station 9:13am (just in time for 9:18am train coming from Berry)

Sat & Sun -   Berry station to Central station             

                    Berry station 1:40pm to Central Railway station 4:57pm.  Berry station 4:58pm to Central Railway station 7:58pm

Accommodation in Berry if you don't want to camp at quaint Berry Showground or the weather turns nasty

Directions to Berry and camping at Berry Showground

Meals at night for an array of fine restaurants befitting the quaint Berry township - toast of the Southern Highlands

Pics taken at previous annual Berry KOM Challenges

Pacific Pete's movie of Fri 17-18th Nov 2006 Berry "King of the Mountain" Challenge produced by Peter Tyson

Scribe's rap-up and pics from 4th Berry "King of the Mountain Challenge Series"  -  21 Climbers over 7 glorious days

Pete's pics of 2009 KOM Challenge

Pete's 2009 Berry KOM movie

Bank Teller's pics of Berry 2009

2010 7th Berry KOM Challenge pics

2011  8th Berry KOM Challenge pics

2012  9th Berry KOM ride pics as well as pics of three dodgy road sections (550m 'in toto') that Bank Teller is asking Shoalhaven Council to resurface

2013  10th Berry KOM rides, pleasantries, cemetery and 'potholes' pics

Download below poster for Berry KOM Challenge and invite your bike shop to display it, because more good road cycling "product", such as this annual 9 day assault on all the marvelous mountains in the Southern Highlands and Kiama, will induce more people to road cycling the best concentration of serious climbs in NSW:

*        Word version

*        HTM version

Risk Warning:  King of the Mountain Challenge is targeted at road cyclists who have climbed lots of hills.  The ride schedule between Sat. to Sunday week entails climbing and descending 11 marvelous KOM Climbs.  Take the descents slowly, even if the cyclist ahead is ripping down the mountain.   One badly taken corner in concert with a motorist coming up the other way, could result in a bad accident...............for you, where they may need paint scrappers and blotters to get you back up.  The challenge is in the climb, not the descent.

Scribe   0434 715.861