Extra Short Ride - Day 5

24/10/2011

Today it's time to start the relaxing ride back to sunny Queensland.  It was my intention to ride from Wodonga to Tumut today, via Corryong and Cooma.  Unfortunately, a quick check of the BOM site upon waking put those plans out the window….80-100kph winds, heavy rain and hail were forecast to hit the Snowy Mountains by midday, just in time for my arrival.  With this wonderful forecast, I changed plans (yet again) and decided I’d try to outrun the approaching foul weather and shoot straight up the Hume Highway, destination Lithgow.

 Leaving my accommodation at 7:30, I started heading north, first scheduled stop, The Dog On The Tuckerbox. 

It was going to be an interesting ride today.  As soon as I left the relative protection of Albury, the approaching storms started to provide a hint of the weather that would head this way.  Most of the way from Albury to Gundagai I was forced to ride with a strong lean on the bike due to the winds hitting me from the left.  On several occasions I was blow across lanes and thankfully there was no traffic in the other lane.

 Riding today was going to be relatively easy as I’ll be on divided highway almost all of the way.

First stop was at Gundagai for fuel and feed, then off to the Dog for the mandatory photo shoot and souvenir purchase.

 Back on the road, the wind had died down, however, the dark clouds were still following and it started to rain.  20 minutes later I was out of the rain, but the wind had started up again.

 Before I knew it I was at Yass for refuel and feed.  2 bikes and a trike from the bike show pulled and we started to chat.  They were from Sydney and were heading home. I had seen them pulled over earlier in the morning adjusting their bikes. When I mentioned I had seen them a few hours before, they said their bags had been getting blown around by the wind and they had to repack their bags with all the heavy gear in the left saddle bag to give some stability in the wind.

Cruising on a motorway for hour after hour starts to play with your head…no traffic heading towards you to worry about, smooth road surfaces and very few vehicles passing you due to the number of speed cameras.  On a couple of occasions my mind started to wonder looking at the scenery and enjoying the smells of the countryside.  To break the monotony, I took several off ramps and called in to some of the small towns and played tourist.

After Yass, it was on towards Sydney and the Blue Mountains.  Fuelling up at Campbelltown, I noticed a lot of smoke in the direction I was heading.  I started up the radio app on my phone and within a few minutes I knew I wasn’t going to get to Lithgow tonight. A large bushfire had taken hold near the Three Sisters and smoke from the fires had caused the main road to Lithgow to be closed.  Once again I had to change my plans and decided I’d ride through to Singleton via the Old Putty Road. 

Roadworks on the “freeway” were slowing me down and at the rate I was going, I knew I wasn’t going to get to Singleton before sunset – not a good idea when I’d have to ride over 100km through national parks with all the furry speed bumps.  Time for another change of plans.  I decided I'd be heading to Raymond Terrace.  Fortunately, I’d been this way several times and knew there was only about 20km of riding where kangaroos might cause an issue.

 Finally working through the traffic, I pulled off at Edmondson Park, had a feed and headed towards tonights destination. 

I was not looking forward to the Sydney traffic, but turning on to the WestLink M7 Toll Road, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the traffic flowed.  20 minutes from Edmondson Park to Beecroft during peak hour. If only the roads were this good back home.

After Beecroft, it was a 20 minute crawl to get onto the highway again and then it was 110kph, multi lane freeway for the next hour or so. Just as I entered the freeway, the rain started and it was with me for the rest of the day.  

Arriving at Beresfield just on sunset, I refuelled again, grabbed another bite to eat and then rode the last 20 or so kilometres trying to see where I was going.  Finally arriving at Raymond Terrace, I pulled in at the first place I saw, Pacific Gardens Van Village, very tired and very wet.  12 hours on the bike is enough for anyone. 

 Pacific Gardens Van Village is a great little place to stay. The cabins sleep 6-8 people and are excellent value for money.  The on-site Chinese restaurant does an excellent Sweet & Sour Pork and it sure tasted better than any of the foods I’d eaten during the day.  I’ll definitely be calling in next time I ride through.

Extra Short Ride - Day 4

23/10/2011

After yesterdays problems, I was looking forward to a nice quiet day of rest and relaxation.  Today was the day of the Albury / Wodonga Border Bike Fest, the reason I’d come all this way.

After last nights catch up with a few of the Albury / Wodonga Ulysses Branch members, I was looking forward to see how the event panned out.

The Bike Fest was held on the Lincoln Causeway (the Mad Mile) between Albury and Wodonga. When I arrived, I was blown away by the number of bikes already there…hundreds of them.  There was every type of bike you could imagine…drag bikes, customized cruisers, dirt bikes, early Enfields, BSAs, Raleighs, Bradburys, Matchless and Indians.  The oldest bike I could find was a 1914 Indian, however I’m sure there were older bikes there.

After I’d spent a few hours at the Bike Fest, I decided to go for a short loop around the Hume Weir and call in to a few of the old haunts.

 Leaving the Bike Fest, I headed north, crossing the Murray River and back into NSW.  A few minutes later, it was past the new Albury Base Hospital and Airport then on towards the Hume Weir. I haven’t been here since  the late 70’s and didn’t know what to expect.  Suprisingly, apart from a few more houses, the area has hardly changed.  I intended to ride over the Weir wall and head towards Tallangatta.  Unfortunately, the Weir road has been closed to all traffic, so rather than take the low road at the bottom of the weir, I decided to head to Tallangatta via Bethanga. 

Crossing Bethanga Bridge is great on a bike..steel frames to the side and overhead, straight, flat concrete below and water views to the side. It was very tempting to open the throttle and see what my bike could do.  I resisted temptation and kept to the speed limit, turning right at the end of the bridge.  Ahh, back in Victoria again.  Now the real fun began.  Passing through Bellbird, I made myself comfortable and headed towards Bethanga, taking a few detours on the way to check out the water skiers and hang gliders.

One thing I had to be conscious of was the amount of dirt and gravel on the roads, especially on corners and intersections.  Several times I had to quickly slow down due to large gravel patches on the roads, or sealed roads suddenly turning into dirt.  Calling into Bethanga, I stopped at the pub and grabbed a quick drink to make up for yesterday.  I could quite happily have stayed for a few hours, but, I had places to go, and didn’t really want to be stuck here because I’d had one drink too many.

 Off again following the signs to Tallangatta. Unfortunately, the road turned to dirt a few kilometres from Bethanga.  I didn’t like the idea of riding on the dirt road, mainly because the surface was like riding on ice, the bike sliding all over the place.  No matter what I did, I didn’t feel in control, so after about 2 km, I turned back the way I’d come, heading back towards Bethanga Bridge and into NSW.

 A few minutes later I was back where I started two hours before.  Taking the “low” road, I soon passed what remains of the Trout Farm, then across the bridge and back in Victoria.

 Following the road a short way, I turned onto an unnamed dirt track that led to the base of the weir wall. Once again I was having flashbacks to my childhood. I spent so much time on or in the Murray and it’s tributaries, so I did something I always used to do. Shoes, socks and bike pants off and into the water for a quick dip. The water was as cold and clear as I remembered it. I received a few weird looks from the few people around, but they probably thought I was some crazy drugged out biker, so they left me alone. 

 After the quick cool off and several cups of Murray River water I dried off, got dressed and jumped back on the bike, past the newly upgraded resettlement village at Bonegilla. Warning signs at the Tallangatta turn off advising of delays of up to 45 minutes took Tallangatta off my destination list for today. Turning right I opened up the throttle, past an old primary school friends farm (hi Fiona) and headed into Killara, slowing down as I hit the 60 zone. From here it was a short ride to my old Primary School at Bandiana, then on to the Black Stump Hotel (Perry’s Pub) for a cold ale and a bite to eat.

Extra Short Ride - Day 3

22/10/2011

Up early after a good nights sleep and a forecast of slightly cooler weather, I was looking forward to todays riding.

 Checking the BOM web site, I noticed severe storms were forecast around Bendigo area at about the time I was due to pass through. Weather in Wodonga was forecast to be fine, so it was no choice – 280k ride to Wodonga in fine weather, or 600k to Tarnagulla, through storms (and what turned out to be 6 inches of hail).  Wodonga was going to be my destination today. I phoned a contact in Wodonga and found out there was a ride on and they were going to be at Bethanga Pub at about midday.  Plenty of time to cover the distance and catch up with them by midday.  Bike packed and fuelled and off I go, a nice easy ride without any problems, or so I thought.

Leaving West Wyalong and turning my bike in the direction of Wagga Wagga, the road was smooth, in good condition and the weather was clear with a cool breeze, perfect conditions.  Before I realised it, I had passed through several small towns (and the mandatory speed traps) and reached Wagga Wagga.  After fueling my bike and grabbing a drink, I checked the time and realised I had plenty of time to complete the remaining kilometres and make it to Bethanga before midday. With a lunch appointment to look forward to, it was off again.  Leaving Wagga Wagga, it’s onto the Olympic Way to Albury.  I haven’t been on this road since the late 70’s and couldn’t remember what it was like.  After a few minutes, the memories came flooding back…not rough, just constantly up and down, like a mild chop on the water.  Cruising along and starting to drift off with the constant vibrations, I took a break at The Rock and checked the bike to make sure nothing had worked it’s way loose.  Everything seemed OK, but little did I know the next 50kms had in store for me.

Leaving The Rock, the road became even worse, really shaking the bike and testing my ability to concentrate.  4km south of The Rock, my handle bar mounted Go Pro camera decided it had had enough and the mount snapped, dropping the camera between the handle bars and the bike windscreen.

I checked my mirrors, made sure the trucks behind me were far enough back and jammed on the brakes, stopping just as the camera fell onto the road

Camera and case weren’t damaged, but it now ment I could not capture any video until I could find a replacement mount…nothing too major to worry about, it’s not like the bike is broken.

Camera thrown in the saddle bag and it’s off again.  In an hours time I’ll be sitting at the Bethanga Pub having lunch and laughing about the camera breaking.   10km later, the road caused another failure..my GPS mount failed.  Fortunately, it was only the plastic mounting ring..the GPS stayed attached, just sitting at a 90 degree angle.  I pulled over in a truck rest stop to remove the GPS and have a drink.  Bad move..if you’ve ever been near a fly blown sheep carcass, you’ll known what I mean. It seems a truck had stopped there a few days before and dumped 3 sheep that had died.  The smell was horrendous, and the flies were even worse. GPS was removed, safely stowed and drink forgotten about.  Off we go again…what else could go wrong ??

It is said that things always happen in 3’s. I can confirm this is correct.  Not long after getting back on the road, I noticed my tent had moved a little on my rack. Nothing unusual as a little bit of movement happens when the straps loosen.  A few minutes later I noticed it had moved  so much that it was no longer visible in my right mirror. I checked the left and it was still there, but it appeared to be way to the left and hanging down more than usual. As I had just entered Yerong Creek, I slowed down and pulled into a side street to sort out the problem. When I stopped and looked back I knew today was not my day….the rack and sissy bar were at a 45 degree angle…the mount has failed and left a large gouge in my guard!!!!!

 ( see Note 1 below for reason for failure)

So here I am, on the side of the road, in a small country town, miles from where I want to be, trying to work out how I’m going to get the failed rack and sissy bar, my tent and mattress packed into already overstuffed saddle bags. After about 20 minutes I had removed the rack and sissy bar, repacked the saddle bags as best I could and, with sleeping bag, tent and mattress attached to the pillion seat, started heading off to my lunch appointment.  No sooner had I started off, I stopped again…the wind was blowing the tent and mattress around too much to consider leaving them on the bike. With much reluctance, I removed the tent and mattress and placed them beside a tree with a note saying “Help Yourself”. 

By now, I realised I was not going to make my lunch appointment, so I opened up my hexamine stove, made myself a coffee and had a good hard think about whether this ride was really one of my better ideas.

Finally back on the road, and knowing that nothing else could go wrong, I rode on to Wodonga to check in with the guys setting up for Sunday’s Bike Fest.  After a quick introduction and finding out what was going on over the weekend, I headed off to find a replacement tent.  After much searching in both Wodonga and Albury, I finally gave up looking for a tent and decided to book into a motel – easier said than done as there were a lot of “events” going on in Albury over the weekend.  Sixteen motels / hotels later, I was finally able to get a room..nothing flash, but better than sleeping under a tarp.

Once the bike was unloaded and I’d had a couple of cool, refreshing ales, I went over the bike and checked that nothing else had fallen off.  All other bike parts were present and accounted for, however, I did have to tighten 18 bolts …even the windscreen bolts that had been sprayed with Lock Tight had worked their way loose !!!

I knew the road was bad, but I didn’t think it was that bad.  The road once again was the OLYMIC WAY between WAGGA WAGGA and ALBURY.  You might want to avoid it in your travels…I know I will in future!!!

Note 1 :

I discussed the failure with the supplier when I returned home.  He was shocked to see what had happened and between us we workout out the possible causes for the failure:

·         Incorrect mount was supplied – correct mount was supplied without charge;

·         Incorrect fitting – I DIDN’T FOLLOW THE MOUNTING INSTRUCTIONS !!!! If I had I would have realised I had the incorrect mountings.

·         Overloading – I PUT TOO MUCH ON THE RACK !!!!!

Extra Short Ride - Day 2

21/10/2011

After a really bad nights sleep, I wasn’t looking forward to today. If I wanted to get to Tarnagulla today, I was looking at over 900km today. My back was aching and I didn’t sleep very well due to the cold.  According to the caravan park manager, it got down to about 1 degree last night..funny, it was 12 degrees the night before. I slowly got out of bed, stood under a hot shower to ease my back, pack up the bike and hit the road…once again at 8:00am, not the planned 7:00am.  Not my fault this time, I’m blaming Daylight Savings (I forgot to move my clock forward, so my alarm went off an hour later than it should have).

Leaving the caravan park, I headed straight to the local bakery to fuel myself.  Tires and baggage checked, and it’s off to Gilgandra.

Once again, grain crops and scrub to keep me company.  The ride into Gilgandra was uneventful and before I realised it, it was time to fuel the bike and top up my drink supply. It was only 9:00 and already it was getting warm. Back on the road and after a few minutes I pulled over because the bike was making a lot more noise than before I stopped. I gave the bike the once over and everything seems fine. Another 20km later and I pulled over again…it was going to be one of those days. This time it finally dawned on me…I’d left my ear plugs at Gilgandra, no wonder I was hearing things I hadn’t heard before. A quick search through my bags and no spare plugs to be found, I’m sure I packed them. Oh well, too late now, so it’s onwards and southwards.

Cruising into Dubbo, my day was already shot, so todays going to be a tourist day. A quick detour to the Western Plains Zoo for a coffee overlooking the Ring Tailed Lemurs, then back on the road for one of the two things I really wanted to do on this trip – detour to The Dish, north of Parkes.

Dish sighted on my left, turnoff located and it’s a quick five minute ride to the carpark.  While approaching the access road, I crashed through a swarm of bees that decided to hover about 3 feet above the ground.  Lots of bees died that day.  When I arrived at the carpark, I checked myself for stingers and bodies stuck in my clothing. Cleaning done, it’s inside for a quick look, take the mandatory photos and back on the road, slowing down as I approached the bee swarm.

Back onto the Newell, it’s into Parkes for a feed and refuel. My back was really playing up and the heat was starting to get to me. What should have been a 15 minute break stretched into 45 minutes.

Reluctantly, I got back on the bike and for the first time, I started to think this ride was not the best idea I’ve ever had. I’d only done about 250km in over 4 hours and there was no way I was going to do any decent distance today.

I struggled along, passing grey nomads every few minutes – it must be migration season, the roads are full of them.

About 50km from West Wyalong, my vision started playing up. The heat was unbearable and I contemplated removing my riding gear and just riding in jeans and a t-shirt. I pulled over in the shade and lay down, drinking the last of my supply.  Here I was, 50km from a town, out of drinks and feeling the effects of the heat.  After a short while, I crawled back on the bike and slowly made my way to West Wyalong, stopping occasionally to clear my head.  I finally reached West Wyalong at 2:30pm, found the nearest pub and went in for a long, cold drink in the air-conditioning.  It must have been hot, even the locals were complaining about how hot it was (I later found out it was about 35 degrees at midday and got hotter after that.)  That was that, I decided my riding for the day was over. I checked into the local caravan park, set up the tent and headed back to the pub until it cooled down outside. 

Back at the caravan park, I ran into a park resident, George, who’d recently arrived from NZ.  George is a six foot four, 120kg Kiwi, covered in tribal tatts. He recently moved out here to drive B-Double trucks for the local chicken farm. We talked for a while and as he didn’t know anyone in town, we ended up at the pub watching the rugby, me supporting the Aussie, him supporting the Welsh.

A great night was had, and maybe one beer too many and it turns out the day wasn’t a total loss – the Aussie beat the Welsh.

I've been a little busy

Sorry for the lack of content over the past few months..it's been a little hectic.

I hope to have updates out in the next day or so.

Thursty