2020 Terra Australis Bike Epic. By Dane Roberts

I recently had a good chance to continue using my Mont Zero Super Light sleeping bag and Mont Zero Ultralight down jacket when I rode the 2020 Terra Australis Bike Epic. Due to the Queensland and Victoria border closures, the 2020 version of this annual bike-packing race was shortened to a 1500km self-supported race from Byron Bay to Canberra in late September. The route mostly follows quiet coastal roads and beach tracks down the coast from Byron Bay to Harrington, NSW, before heading south-west across the Barrington tops and the Upper Hunter Valley before following the National Trail through Wollemi National Park, Newnes Plateau and Kanangra Boyd National Park, before heading into Canberra via Crookwell.

I managed to have a good race, with the bike and body cooperating and won the event in a time of 6 days, 2 hours and 45 minutes.

I managed to have a good race, with the bike and body cooperating and won the event in a time of 6 days, 2 hours and 45 minutes. My Mont Zero SL sleeping bag and Mont Zero UL down jacket were essential parts of my race equipment.

I've been using the Zero SL sleeping bag for over a year now, attracted to its warmth for an extremely low weight and small bulk, all of which are essential in bike-packing races. During the race, I had some colder than expected weather. Still, I've found that pairing the Zero SL sleeping bag with an SOL bivvy bag and a sleeping mat with a high r-rating enables me to remain comfortable even a few degrees below the bag's comfort rating.

My Mont Zero down jacket continues to be my new favourite piece of kit. It amazes me how warm I am when wearing such a light piece of kit that packs down to almost nothing! When wearing the jacket I'm warmer and more comfortable in camp, and when staying in towns, I fit in a lot better at the pub for dinner in the Zero UL down jacket and my rain pants than in my cycling lycra!

Thanks again for creating such great equipment for these adventures.

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Have you got an adventure story and photos of a recent trip with Mont gear that you'd like to see on our Blog? Then please send it to mont@mont.com.au with the subject line "Adventure Story for the Mont Blog" for review.