Checking the tyre pressures that morning at the servo and the front was down to 25 psi and rear was on 30 psi, yep it has been awhile hasn't it and filling up since the last ride I put in 15.48 litres for 298km's. Not bad that's 5L/100km and on a sportsbike too!
So today's plan was to do a full day's ride into the hills stopping off at Taralga pub for lunch. Geoff picked me up on his way through and then we picked up Wayne in the Blue mountains on the way out to Oberon. Wayne mentioned that his ducati was running very roughly. We didn't realise it at the time until we pulled into the servo at Oberon 120km later and he put in 13L. Wow that's over 10L/100km. He wasn't joking when he said it wouldn't pull out of a corner or couldn't overtake. So Wayne decided to pull the pin as riding an ill performing machine was no fun at all, it was just plain scary. I think it's time for a new bike Wayne.
The first stop we pulled over to take in some of the scenery just south of Black Springs. The pine forests here had been cut down as far as the eye could see. If the greenies in the city could see this they'd be up in arms writing folk songs on their acoustic guitars! As we stopped here we saw a couple of gold wings and Harley's and a concourse pass by enjoying the day.
The ride through the hills here was fantastic although it can get a little rough in places. The best thing about this road is that it's in the middle of nowhere, it starts nowhere and really ends nowhere but has loads of bends and hills. Some of my regular readers might remember me talking about this road last year and about the notorious bend over the crest of the hill that quickly turns and drops away to the right going from wide double lane to narrow single lane. Looks like it caught out one of the gold wing riders that had passed us earlier when we stopped to take some pics. He went straight off the road and went down in the gully. He had broken mirrors, scratched up fairing and damaged crash bars. Not too bad all things considered.
I took some video of the trip today with the gopro. Here is a snippet of the road where it descends down the gorge and across the Abercrombie river. It starts just before the gorge you can see the Blue gold wing at 0:37 and other bikes and it ends with Geoff rooster tailing it at the bottom of the gorge in the dirt.
We arrived in Taralga just on lunch time. There were a couple of other bikes at the pub having some lunch as well. The bar staff here were great fun and very welcoming, asking all sorts of questions about my gopro and the ride. They do a very nice lunch here too. A little later the group of guys with the gold wings pulled in so we had a chat to them to see if all was ok. The rider said he was fine just a little sore around the ribs.
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| Taralga Hotel |
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| It's all vegan.......cept for the chicken |
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| Bikes at the pub |
After a beaut lunch it was time to head back up the same road on the way home. I decided to put the gopro in picture mode every 5 seconds and see what it came out with. As it turns out I got some nice shots and something a little unexpected.
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| Damn is this thing on...I think it is! |
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| Touring by R1 |
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| Bridge on the Abercrombie River |
I thought I'd pull up at the bend to have a look and see if there was a gold wing mirror laying about. Looks like they must have taken it with them but I found some other interesting things, like a bike mirror and some other plastic bits and pieces. Looks like this bend has claimed a few scalps in its time.
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| Did I lose this? |
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| Geoff stops to inspect the bit and pieces |
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| Is this one mine? |
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| One last look back at that bend, they have put up 45kmh signs on the bend since I last rode down here. It was scary coming into this last year at speed with no warning. It's something you'll never forget that's for sure.
On the way back I saw a couple of eagles flying low over the road, and I saw Geoff looking up at one of them. He had a large wing span with white and brown feathers. Now the picture below I don't remember seeing this until I looked through the pictures later to make this post. What does everyone else think the object above Geoff's head is? It looks like an eagle carrying a rabbit or something to me. You will have to zoom in to see it well.
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We pulled into the servo in Oberon for one last fuel up before the trip back across the Blue Mountains. I noticed the price of petrol here was the highest I've seen anywhere. OUCH!
Another fantastic day out on the bike. Lets hope that the next trip is sooner rather than later.
