With a love for adventure, Gus has ridden (and ran) along the trail that loops through Dubbo, Geurie, Wellington, Mudgee, Gulgong, Dunedoo, Mendooran and Ballimore, with his owners Glenn Druery and his partner Melissa.

Glenn, a successful ultra-distance rider also known for his notable political work which has seen him dubbed the "preference whisperer", said he was surprised to learn the trail has thrived in the absence of government funding and that it was also is driving money to the region.

Glenn and Melissa found out about the trail from social media.

"I was speaking to a lady who worked in one of the pubs up there. And she said just over 12 months ago she was struggling for work. And now she's complaining she's got too much and it's all driven by cyclists," Glenn said.

"The guy that runs the Hair of the Dog Inn at Ballimore said that on any given weekend there'd be motorcyclists in their hairy face leather, denim tattooed bikes, and now it's full of lycra-clad cyclists.

"It's been twice as much money.

"With a bit of local government and state government support, this can boom. It's a godsend for local communities.

"Just the two of us - we've spent over $1,000. Well, I should say three of us."

By three of us Glenn was referring to their third riding partner Gus.

Gus is two-year-old Tonkinese cat with a love of adventure and the outdoors.

The cat shot to fame in 2019 when he competed in, and won, his category in the Scotland Island Dog Race, beating a few dogs along the way.

After the six-day-long trip along the trail Gus seemed tired, but Melissa said it might have been because he was so busy chasing mice when he wasn't riding up front on one of their bikes.

Glenn said Gus was never 'trained' to be the way he is, he just doesn't know any differently.

"We got him as a 'puppy' as Glenn likes to say, in April 2019. He was born in January 2019.

"He goes kayaking with us and even goes kayak camping. Last week, he was kayak camping on the Hawkesbury. He sits on the kayak and like swimming," Melissa said.

"He actually gets a bit cranky in the morning if he doesn't have an activity. We'll walk around and he'll chase and bite at our ankles if we're not doing some sort of activity."

For more on the trail, visit cwc.mudgeebushwalking.org.au/trail-description

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