Rylstone

After getting my new hoops earlier in the week I was very keen for the coming ride on the weekend. There were 6 of us out on the ride which was the same route we took 6 months ago through Jenolan Caves to Oberon then on through Bathurst to Sofala and on to Rylston for the night. It was great to catch up with the guys again, they are a great bunch of blokes and good sensible riders. I hadn't seen Jason since the 2009 snowy ride so it was good catching up with him. I hadn't laughed so much in a long time.

On the way out to the meeting point I was slowing for some traffic lights and sat upright and let go of both bars. Nothing unusual except that a second or 2 after letting them go the bike went into a tank slapper. That was a bit unusual. And it did it a few more times if I let go the bars. Mmmm. Not sure why. Could be extra weight over the back/new tyre. Not sure.

The ride out across Bells Line was fairly cool and I was glad I had my neck warmer on. It wasn't that cold though as I was feeling OK in my summer gloves. We saw 3-4 Highway patrol cars both marked and unmarked across Bells line. They were having some kind of blitz on. The wind mills at Hampton were in full swing today unlike the other times I've been there. We stopped in at the cafe at Jenolan Caves village. If anyone is thinking of getting a coffee here forget it. They have the worst coffee.

Jenolan Caves Stop

A quick bite to eat was had when we got to Oberon, we weren't that hungry so just stopped for a pie and a drink. It was then onto Bathurst for fuel. It was suggested a lap of Mt Panorama was in order but the interest wasn't there today. I've ridden around there plenty. No need to tempt fate any more than necessary. Then it was out the road to sofala. There is a great set of twisties a few Km's the bathurst side of sofala. It was great fun sitting behind the ZX-10 up here just watching him crank it over knee out. This is what it's all about. Simply Magic.

Roadside stop at Sofala

After a quick stop at Sofala I put the Gopro on for a little while. Here's a short video of the ride out of Sofala.

Not long after we got into Rylston and more importantly the Globe Hotel which was our digs for the night. It was only around 3 by the time we got in and on the first round of beers, it was going to be a long night. Probably not as long as the young punks that set of the fire extinguisher in their room. The cops had a good talking to them. Then they got chucked out. Serve em right. The room was a mess the next day.

It was a slow start on Sunday, I was a little dusty after the nights efforts at the bar. Just after leaving Rylston I noticed the tacho was flicking up and down intermittently, an occasionally a small dip in power then back to normal. Something didn't feel right, but I continued on anyway. Some of the bends on the Bylong Valley way can be pretty hairy. Most are un-sign posted and some have double apex's going down hill which can really catch you out if your unprepared and a little hungover.

April and the Mothership

The plan for the ride home was back down the Putty road and home. As we fueled up in Bulga we heard that there'd been a bike crash on the putty. We also heard of another bike crash on the Old Pacific Hwy that had closed it. It was decided we'd try the putty as it was supposedly just local diversions in place.

As we came down through the fun twisties the bike started to really badly play up, with the tacho and speedo display cutting out completely followed then by the bike cutting out several times. Not good, and not happy. It ruined the run through the best part as the others just started to disappear into the distance. I thought I'd be walking very soon but miraculously it fired up and kept going although spluttering all the way to the Grey Gums where we stopped for lunch.

The burgers at the grey Gum cafe are excellent, I'd recommend them to anyone. Once at the cafe we had heard that there was indeed a bike crash 10km further down the road and much to every one's dismay it was a fatal accident which had closed the road in both directions. I wish the riders family all the best, it must be tough on them right now.

This also meant that we would have to turn around and head back up through the 10 mile of twisties again. Normally I would be cheering but was quite concerned that I wasn't gonna make it. Bushpig suggested we look over the electrics wilst we waited for our lunch to come out. Off came the seat and start poking around then bushpig gives a big laugh. He'd found it in 2 seconds. The bolt on the positive terminal of the battery had come out of the nut and it was only gravity holding the terminal on. That explained the intermittent troubles. Thank god it was a very simple quick fix.

After that I was much relieved and now very keen to ride the 10 mile again. Back on the road the bike run flawlessly. Woo Hoo, I didn't waste any time so I hooked in and gave it a good crack.

We rode back around to broke for fuel and headed down through Wollombi. I hadn't been through here in ages, it is still a rough little one lane road. Not so good on a sportsbike, although a cruiser or a tourer would love it here.  Then it was onto the F3 and home.

All in all a great weekend away with the guys. Great riding, great weather and a top bunch of guys. There's nothing better.