Monday, May 25, 2015

Braidwood Overnighter



We had an over night ride booked in this weekend. Rowland's was coming down from Brisbane just to be on this ride. He rode through 2 days of torrential rain just to get to the starting line, now that's hardcore. He looks like a drown rat on Friday night when we had a couple of pre-ride drinks. Meeting up at Maccas on Saturday morning the bikes started slow rolling in. Luckily we had nice blue sky's all weekend from this point on but it had turned cold.

Stupid me turning up 20 minutes early when everyone else was about 20 minutes late. Dr Kwok was first to arrive on his immaculately cleaned Aprilla Tuono as per pic on the right. We also had a support vehicle on this trip as Stewies only road going bike was rat shit.

The 9:30 start time allowed us a quick catch up and coffee and get away in a timely fashion by 10:30. First up was a trip up the Bells Line over the Blue Mountains. First stop was in Lithgow where we found we were one rider short. Ah Ant didn't know we were going to Lithgow as did I but I was just following the others. Turns out Ant went over Mt Vic and was racing to catch up whilst we were waiting on the side of the road getting further behind.



 Kicking along we headed out towards Oberon when we came along amongst some slow moving BMW loaded up with panniers negotiating a set of twisties. One of them was motogp styling the corners as we went passed bolt up right at near twice his speed on the bends. Lol. Turning onto Duckmaloi rd was the start of some more fun before we got into Oberon for a sausage roll & pie at the bakery for lunch. That hit the spot just right.


Leaving Oberon after our late lunch we pushed on out through the pine forests along Shooters Hill Road for a bit of fun before joining up with the Taralga road. We stopped to regroup again as we had become spread out, just as Stewie and Scotty roared up in there cars. Continuing on we got into Taralga at the hotel in time to have a beer and a few laughs.

The scene of the famous tank slapping incident





Ant & Mark

It's official, 5 out of 6 bikers prefer red


Ant hooking in
 A nice refreshing ale or two was had whilst shooting the breeze in the warm sun at the Taralga hotel. It was getting late so we had to keep moving as it starts to get cold out after 4pm up in the high lands. It was 3pm by the time we got going from here with about 130kms to get to Braidwood and our digs at the Royal Mail Hotel. We didn't get in until 4:30pm and I was starting to feel the cold after 4. Rooms sorted it was time to hit the bar. Many beers were consumed, a few tequila shots and a bottle of rum before the night ended in debauchery......Stewie ended up with a new nickname out of this one, isn't that right Spewie. I can't recall much after that until the next morning but that's probably for the best.



It was a bitterly cold night with heavy frost and fog greeting us. My head was pounding pretty hard and it felt like my throat had gravel rash. Time to seek out some breakfast. Just up the road from the pub was this swanky little cafe something like you'd find in hipsterville Newton. Make no mistake though the chef here was fantastic. The best bacon & eggs I've ever had. I'll be back here again that's for sure.


The BEST bacon & Eggs I've ever had, EVER!
 We rolled out of Braidwood in the morning dusty but with full stomachs as we headed up the Nerriga Road towards Nowra. Most of the way was in thick fog with 20kms of dirt to negotiate. We pulled up at the Nerriga Hotel and bushpig took one look at me and burst out laughing asking if I'd come off. I looked at myself and my jacket, helmet and jeans were covered in mud. The dust off the road in the fog had turned to mud.


Fueling up in Nowra we turned up towards Kangaroo Valley for some more tasty twisty bits. I think Ant had partied a little too hard the night before and went on straight up the freeway to home. Here Dr Kwok asked if I'd like to ride his Tuono. Would I? Sure I would although I wasn't sure about riding it up through the twisties. A beautiful bike, I had trouble initially trying to get it turned into the bends. You can't ride it like the R1 it handles a whole lot differently. It took me a while to get used to it. But after a bit I was loving it. Thanks Rick. Comfy, plenty of power, sounds good, handles well looks great.




 From here I think most of us had been feeling the effects of the late night before and we just want to get on with it and get home as quick as we could so we slabbed it along the freeway to home, not before Paud gave me a quick spin on the 1098 Duc. Wow what a bike, is was incredible to ride. The handling was sweet as, it was actually more comfortable than my R1, but the seat was slightly harder. The bike was very narrow and it felt like you sat down in it rather than on it. The tank on the R1 was much wider. It didn't go below 4,000rpm but boy did it get up and boogie after that. My first ever taste of a Ducati and I liked every moment of it. Now I know why all the bike mags rave about them, plus it sounded glorious.



15 comments:

  1. What you might consider 'cold', for us, might be just normal ;-) Love the otherworldly fog picture.

    The Aprilia looks very handsome, but I'd still prefer a Triumph Street (or Speed) Triple if I were in the market for a naked bike. But I can appreciate that this Italian beauty will negotiate any twisties you'd throw at her with the appropriate ease.

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    1. Hi Sonja
      Your right it was cold for us, but for you northerners it was probably normal weather.
      The Tuono is a magic bike, i'd expect the trumpy to be fairly similar and I think I'd be happy with either.

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  2. Sounds like you had too much fun, well except for the bangin' headache.

    Watch out when the guys let you try their bikes. That is how Brad traded in his Triumph America for his Tiger. A buddy let him ride his Kawasaki ZZR and he decided no more cruiser.

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    1. Yes thats right we did have too much fun, that what got me into trouble in the first place.
      I'm not ready to trade the R1 in just yet but yes that Ducati was very nice.

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  3. Nice write up. How high are the Highlands? "Best bacon and eggs" is a big call dude!

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    1. Taralga is only 845 m (2,772ft) and braidwood is lower at 643 m (2,110 ft)but we just had a cold front come through. Temps were down to 0°C overnight.

      Mate best ever IS a big call, but I'm standing by it they were great.

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    2. Big call it is, but its gotta be close.

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    3. the 86 s temp gauge said 4 degrees over the top of nerrigah there.

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    4. Yep thought it was pretty bloody cold

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  4. Awesome report Steve. Nothing like a weekend away with trusted mates on some famous biker roads. We've got some biker-friendly country pubs that look just like the Royal Mail hotel too! Err...... I was intrigued by the tank slapper caption on one of the photos - what's the story?

    Well done mate!

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    1. Ah yes, there may or may not have been a high speed tank slapping incident over that crest but that wouldn't be politically correct to report something like that now would it?

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  5. The weather looks disgusting...you fellas don't know winter...

    Very jealous that you got to ride that 'prilla and Duck!

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    1. Besides it being a little chilly in the morning and arvo the weather was fantastic. Both bike were fantastic to ride. The duc was immediately ride-able for me being similar to my R1, it took me a bit to get used to how to make the Tuono turn. I consider myself very lucky they let me ride them. Thanks guys.

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  6. sounds like a great few roads travelled there
    you picked the coldest places to visit but another few weeks and it will be frrzing there i think
    great report

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    1. Yep soon it will be cold enough in that area to snow, glad I won't be there for that

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