Seven days in the saddle

Wednesday 26 Feb 2014

Got away early, at sunrise. Headed out through Berwick, Cockatoo, Healsville then through the Black Spur. Unfortunately it had been raining and the blacktop was quite wet so I was taking it easy, still a long way to go. Out through Alexandria  to my first pit stop at Bonnie Doon, oh the serenity! Coffee and a 15 minute break, not due for fuel yet. Time to cut across to the Hume taking the Midland Hwy. Fuel stop at Wangaratta then back onto the Hume. The Hume = very boring, time to try out my go cruise throttle lock . Ho hum, not really impressed you need it very tight to keep the throttle position steady and even then your speed will drift substantially with the rise and fall of the road. It does however give you a chance to rest up your right hand. Take the Hume to Holbrook, time for lunch and a visit to HMAS Otway




Time to leave Holbrook, so head back over to the Hume. Who says you can't ride on the footpath

Take the Gundagai Rd to Cootamundra. This is the best bit of road I've seen since I got on the Hume earlier today, pity it starts to rain 25ks from Coota, Oh well this is my planned overnight stop.
I stayed in the Central Hotel in the main street. Cost $30 for a basic pub room with shared bathroom, though I think I was the only guest. Beer was cold    food was average.

Total distance for the day 610k

Thursday 27 Feb 2014

An easy day today. Left Coota at 7:15 headed out towards Bathurst, Fuel stop for both myself and the bike. Then on towards Kandos and into the Bylong Valley. This is a very picturesque valley mainly used for cattle farming. Watch out for those cows!
The Bylong Valley way does have some nice twisties as you head over the top of some of the hills, unfortunately they had recently seen some rework with loose gravel everywhere except for the tyre tracks.
Out of there through Denman and into Muswellbrook at about 13:00
Now to find the John Hunter Motel and wait for Boatz and Ewok.

Total distance for the day 476k

Friday 28 Feb 2014

The John Hunter Motel is right next door to Maccas in Muswellbrook. So its easy to guess where we headed for breakfast this morning. After refuelling both us and the bikes it was off to Drake.
A brief pit stop at the Golden Guitar Coffee shop in Tamworth then back on the rad to Armidale. As we had planned to stop at Armidale for fuel and lunch and I was out in front I took the turn off to Armidale and lost Ewok and Boatz! Unknown to me they had stopped for fuel out on the highway. I fuelled up in the heart of town. Meanwhile they had found an excellent pub in town and messaged me where it was. We waited there for Re-Cycled (Peter) and his brother Dave. Now as group of 5 we headed out to Tenterfield where we had a very quick stop just to refuel the bike and it was onwards to Drake. Hammy was right the road to Drake from Tenterfield is an awesome bike road, unfortunately halfway along it started to rain, which slowed me down somewhat but didn't seem to faze Peter who gradually disappeared into the distance. Still we all arrived at Drake with smiles on our faces. Hammy and Baz had already arrived, so it was time to freshen up, swap stories of our travels and get into some serious elbow exercising.

Bikes parked at Drake Hotel



Total distance for the day 510k

Saturday 1 March 2014

Saturday morning we woke to drizzle. So while we were waiting on Bosco and his wife Chris to arrive we took a tour out to Bob's property 6ks out of town. When we got back they were waiting for us.
As the weather had improved considerably we decided to head out to Casino and then head up to Rathdowney via the Lions Rd.
I hung back at the back so I could get some video of the riders in front of me, gradually overtaking them each so as to get a shot of everyone. Alas it wasn't to be as I lost the leaders and then lost everyone.  

The ones I did get

Boatz under one of the many old railway bridges


Boatz


Bosco


Baz


When I got to Rathdowney I was surprised that there was no one from our group there! I knew Boatz, Baz and Bosco should be behind me. So I filled up the bike and hung around for about 20mins. The other I thought were in front of me but they aren't here! I'm thinking I've missed something, but I've got no idea what. Did they take a turn off somewhere that I didn't know about? The only thing I did know was Drake so I decided to head there.
The road to Woodenbong is not to bad. It has some nice twisty bits mixed with some fast sweepers.Once you get to Urberville however it all changes, The road has become a mosaic of potholes and patched pot holes. This bone rattling goat track goes on for 62ks none of it is enjoyable. Once again you need to keep and eye out for cattle and even horses on the road. Eventually I go back to Drake to find Kiwisteve had just arrived  .
It was an hour and half or so later that the rest of the guys arrived back. As it turns out they had stopped at a lookout that I hadn't known about or seen. I am very sorry for causing such a mess up and I very much appreciate the thoughts of those who took the road back to see if I had dropped it somewhere, thank you all for your concern.
Later we were joined by BanditDave and John, bringing the total of us to 12. As it turned out dinner consisted of the 2 meat trays Baz and myself had won the night before. Cooked in the kitchen by the pub staff for a very reasonable fee. Of course we can't forget it was also Chris's birthday.


Total distance for the day 312k

Sunday 2 March 2014

Time to leave   time to bid our farewells to Hammy, John KiwiSteve, BanditDave and Bosco. Sorry didn't get to say farewell to Chris I think she might have been tucked up in bed still.
The rest of us headed out to Tenterfield hoping the weather had been nice to us an the road would be in its most awesome dry state. Unfortunately it was still damp so it wasn't long before Dave, Peter brother passed me. though we had all caught up again by the time we arrived in Tenterfield. Breakfast and a refuel and we were back on the road south heading to Armidale. Ewok stopped to check out the Dalek on side of the road. I thinks its the farms letterbox??? Just after that with Baz leading and me behind him a highway patrol car heading the other way gave us all a fright. Luckily we were all doing the right thing  



We all refuelled at the servo just outside of Armidale. Ewok and I witnessed an idiot in a car almost crushed by a coach in the servos driveway! Here we said goodbye to Peter and Dave who would be turning off at Uralla while we pressed on to Muswellbrook. At Tamworth Ewok, Boatz and myself decided to visit the motorcycle museum. I think this is where we lost Baz. Stopping for lunch a the Golden Guitar again when Baz pulls into the carpark. When we left Tamworth we got split up a little as Boatz, Baz and myself got stuck behind some nervous motorists   
The ride through from Scone to Muswellbrook has to be some of the most tedious riding I have ever done. Traffic-roadworks-traffic-speedup-slowdown-roadworks and then more traffic as we got into Muswellbrook No wonder Peter and Dave didn't want to go this way.
At Muswellbrook we walked to the pub! a little over a k away from the motel, only to find the bistro was closed on Sunday nights. Never mind there's a pizza shop just up the road and well bring the pizza back and eat them in the closed bistro!

Total distance for the day 510k

Monday 3 March 2014

As I'm up early I bid my farewells to Baz, Boatz and Ewok. as they make their way into Maccas for breakfast. I'm soon onto the Bylong Valley way keeping my eye out for more wonder cattle, they didn't let me down. Refuelled at Bathurst again and headed down to Young where I took a well earned break for lunch. From  Young it was on through Cootamundra and down the Gundagai Rd again, this time it was dry   Out onto the Hume once more I pulled into the Dog on the Tuckerbox Servo and filled up. Met a guy there who was travelling up from WSBK to Queensland on a old battered FZ1. Somewhere along the way he had broken the rear shock and was limping along putting up with it. As it was still early I typed Albury into the GPS, only 180ks, I can do that before 5pm. So I rolled into Albury sore, stiff and yawning at 4:45

Total distance for the day 710k


Tuesday 4 March 2014

Heading out of Albury early, I don't need fuel yet or breakfast. Getting a great run with very little traffic on the highway. About 80k south of Albury I enter a long stretch of roadworks at 60kph at the end of the roadworks I accelerate back up to 100 when the bike cuts out! WTF! Now I've got no idea. So I roll it off to the side of the road and try and restart it. Still no go. I'm listening the the tank as I turn the key and I'm not hearing the pump start up. I give Ewok a ring and his first guess is correct, the bloody killswitch, but how the f*#k did that get flicked. I can only assume I've flicked it somehow when I accelerated, but I've never done that before! OH well if that the worst thing that happens today I'll be happy. Fuelled up both myself and the bike at the roadhouse outside Glenrowan then head on down to Euroa where I take the Euroa-Mansfield Rd. This road is nice surprise, it may start off straight but later gets into the swing of things with some nice sweepers and some tight twisties. It ends at Merton on the Maroondah Hwy. From there its back down through Alexandria, the black spur, lunch at Healesville, Cockatoo, Berwick and onto home. I arrived home at 13:30

Black Spur


Total distance for the day 370k

Total distance all up 3620k

Great write up Brian (hope its Brian). Your submarine is better than my blue one  

Top stuff MM. That Black Spur road looks like it's well surfaced. Funny about that kill switch - on the way down here to the Valley I was trying to see how it might happen but came up with nothing, unless you leaned forward to adjust the RHS mirror?

Baz wrote:Great write up Brian (hope its Brian). Your submarine is better than my blue one  

Come on Baz, it's Bryan!

Thanks for the write up and the photos, I think from the distance you went past Sofala between Bathurst and Rylstone, I hope so because that is a good section.
Next time you should avoid the New England Highway and go through Denman and Gloucester and up Thunderbolts Way, a bit rough in places but anything's better than the highway. You can also go from Gloucester to Taree which is not a bad run if you are heading for the coast.

Good effort all up you put in plenty of K's.   

Ewok1958 wrote:Top stuff MM.  That Black Spur road looks like it's well surfaced.  Funny about that kill switch - on the way down here to the Valley I was trying to see how it might happen but came up with nothing, unless you leaned forward to adjust the RHS mirror?

I spoke to someone else who did just that. I can't remember adjusting it at the time but its not uncommon for me to adjust the right hand mirror while moving. I don't think it just happened say by vibrations etc. I think I knocked it without knowing.

Yes the Black Spur has a great surface. It needs too, lots of bikes on there on the weekends

Re-Cycled wrote:

Baz wrote:Great write up Brian (hope its Brian). Your submarine is better than my blue one  

Come on Baz, it's Bryan!

Thanks for the write up and the photos, I think from the distance you went past Sofala between Bathurst and Rylstone, I hope so because that is a good section.
Next time you should avoid the New England Highway and go through Denman and Gloucester and up Thunderbolts Way, a bit rough in places but anything's better than the highway. You can also go from Gloucester to Taree which is not a bad run if you are heading for the coast.

Good effort all up you put in plenty of K's.   

Thanks Peter, yes it was a challenge at time to keep going past the 400k mark, a great experience all the same.

Yes I did go through Sofala, there is some good bits around there

Great write up MM. Sucks about you turning the bike off with the kill switch!   
Last time I went through the Sofala rd I was towing my camper trailer behind the 4be. I made a mental note to myself that it would be a top bike road. The time before that, the road was gravel.
Good to hear you got home unscathed, apart from the "incident"   
Cheers, Steve

Oh, how's the phone going? No nasty side effects I hope  

Great post and good Pics MM

Kiwisteve wrote:Great write up MM. Sucks about you turning the bike off with the kill switch!   
Last time I went through the Sofala rd I was towing my camper trailer behind the 4be. I made a mental note to myself that it would be a top bike road. The time before that, the road was gravel.
Good to hear you got home unscathed, apart from the "incident"   
Cheers, Steve

Oh, how's the phone going? No nasty side effects I hope  

The phone was feeling a bit hungover Sunday morning but seems to have recovered now.
Any more trouble out of it and I might have to send it to an AA group

Best write up on the forum that I have read. Well done. And well done to ride so far solo.  Sounds like you guys had a good ride home.  Next time we won't let you ride so far MM.  

Great write up MM, you put in some serious miles mate, well done.