2022 Alpine Ride Part 1

DAY 1

This years Alpine ride was going to be similar to the other years with similar route plan. I was thinking of changing it up a bit on the second day by doing something slightly different. But first it was time to put a new front tyre on as the Karoo3 may or may not make the trip. I sourced a Karoo4 as the 3's are now obsolete. 

Karoo4

I dropped by Stu's house and met up with the Sydney crew heading out at 7am. It was fresh at 13°C and only a handful of days out from summer. This would be the theme for the trip so we would find out.

Our first stop was for a coffee and sausage roll at trappers bakery in Goulburn where we picked up a few more riders as we continued south. Dave's new Superduke 1290 looks mighty impressive. Like, will that rear tyre last the trip. 

Day one of this trip is always a bit of a slog as its really a commute day to get down south to ride the good twisty roads. Lunch was had in Nelligen, but I wasn't that hungry so opted for a coffee and Caramel tart instead. It had warmed up to a balmy 20°C.

NSW roads have become a minefield of potholes over the last 12 months with all the rain events we have had. The ride down to Braidwood was an excursion in pothole avoidance. Clyde mountain was filled with cars and some of NSW finest hair dryer operators trying to collect some funds to fix the roads.

Filling the tank in Batemans Bay, it took 15 litres for 330kms or 4.5l/100km. The Old Africa Twin is impressive on the fuel economy I must admit. Next stop was the usual rehydration stop at the Narooma Hotel.

Before making our way to our destination for tonight at the Tathra Hotel and picking up the last of our riders here. A total of 17 this year.

Tathra Hotel has some beautiful views out over the ocean, except it was far too cold and windy out tonight to enjoy them. We managed one beer out of the wind in the small alcove before retreating to the warmth of the pub and a delicious diner. Notice none of the locals were outside, that's how cold it was.

DAY 2

The weather today was a mighty improvement over yesterday, it was still a chilly morning but top temp was going to hit mid twenty's. Hooray for us. First stop was for a bite to eat at the local bakery. When 17 bikers turn up at the same time it can take a while.......

The route today was the same as last years, with us going up Mt Darragh and across to Bombala for a fuel stop before tackling the Bonang Highway. Here the group usually splits into 2, with the more precious riders that don't want to do the 10kms of dirt on the Bonang turn down Cann Valley way and meet at Orbost.

This year I was going to make it a 3 way ride. I bought some extra water and some lunch whilst fueling up in Bombala. Everyone that was interested last night in my alternate route now chickened out. That made me more determined to do it even if I went alone. I told them where I was going incase something went wrong. So when we got to Bonang I turned off the road and onto McKillops Road. Geoff stopped with a look of concern. I could tell he didn't want to ride this road but he also didn't want to let me ride it alone either. Either way I would have done it alone but company is always the prefered option.

So 150kms of dirt riding coming up, the road was in pretty good condition compared with some of the tarred roads we have ridden. The road followed the Deddick River for quite some time. We stopped several times to admire the views.

Plenty of rock faces on one side and big drop offs into the river on the other side. It helps keeping your concentration levels up but the scenery through here was awesome.

It seemed to take quite some time to actually get to McKillops Bridge but it was only 58kms from the turn off, but we stopped several times and were only doing about 60kmh as the road was narrow and twisty.

As we arrived I noticed 4 KTM riders parked up, looked like they were fixing one bike. Speaking to them they were the sweep riders on a 70 rider group heading to Jindabyne tonight. Luckily they were leaving as we were stopping for a bite to eat. I cracked out the sammiches and Geoff had some chocolate so we shared and had a cool drink in the shade whilst admiring the views. The bridge is 255m long and spans the Mighty Snowy River. The original bridge got swept away in a flood the day before it opened in 1934.

The road out of here was a steep and narrow 10km climb out into the vic highlands which meets up at the Barry Way.

It wasn't long before we came upon Little River Falls. A quick stop for a drink as it was thirsty work now it was getting warm. Surprisingly we passed 5 or 6 cars along the road, lots for a minor back road.

Little River Falls

From here it was only a short fun ride to the Barry Way turn off. It looks to be all tarred from the turn off down to Buchan, but we turned north and headed to Limestone Road. I was surprised as there was 8kms of good tar on the Barry Way. I thought it would be all dirt.

I must say the new Karoo4 was handling the dirt better than the Karoo3, I didn't have any front end slides or moments of any kind and I was getting better at braking into corners. Bit more dirt and my confidence is slowly coming along. Only about 80km of dirt to go and then back onto the tar again.

Limestone road had a bit of every type of gravel on it. Good fast compact gravel, slippery new rocky gravel and a fair amount of rutted gravel corners thrown in, but was a good fun ride through some beautiful countryside. We stopped at Native Dog Flat campground for a drink. Geoff then remembered he had a bag of donuts he bought at the bakery this morning, we made quick work of those before heading off again.

It took us about an hour to get to Benambra. As we came down from the hills into the valley to Benambra I was thinking this rich green beautiful area is truly god's country. Amazing. Stopping at the intersection in town we both spied the pub across the road. I asked Geoff if he needed Hydration, it was a dumb question. We settled in for a couple of quick pots, as it was only a short 22km ride into Omeo from here.

The road from Benambra to Omeo is a cracker too, wishing I had my R1 for that bit but we still had fun.

As we arrived in Omeo I notice Dave was here and a couple of the others had just arrived. Impeccable timing. So we all caught up over a few beers. We made sure that the guys that chickened out on the ride heard all about the great ride up over McKillops Bridge really was. They saw the photos and then they wished they had come along. Next year fellas.

Geoff keeping the hydration up, only problem is two hands and only one mouth

Day2 Map Reference

Snowy Mountains Tour 2020 Part II

 DAY 4

Unfortunately for us the road into Cabramurra had been closed and today's trip after a short run to Adelong was going to be back in the same direction, although no one complained about that because these roads up here are awesome.

But first it was to the cafe for a hearty bacon and egg roll and coffee for breakfast then we were off for fuel before tackling the Rosewood raceway. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, beautiful blue skies and perfect riding temps.

Fueled up and on pole position

The January bushfires had swept through the area which has been purposely planted for logging and supply of timber to the local timber mill in Tumut. As the trees were all burned and blackened they cut down all of the tree's leaving the hills completely bare. You could literally see for miles.

Dave

So we rode the 80 odd kms into Adelong before turning around and heading back the same way. This road is very conducive of spirited riding, which may or may not have happened, er I can't confirm or deny anything your honour.

We took a short break to take in the beauty of the area and breath in that fresh country air. Ah that sweet smell of hayfever.....er fresh air. I'm sure Stuart is standing out there alone polluting that air.

From here it was back into Tumbarumba for fuel. A brown kelpie came rushing out of the off coloured dirt on the side of the road almost causing another brown trouser moment, as I didn't see him until the last moment when he nearly went under my wheels.

After fueling up we retraced our route from yesterday to Khancoban where we stopped for lunch.

Khancoban

From Khancoban I lead up into the mountains, today was one of those days when riding, everything was just clicking and riding was a pure joy. That's not to say some of it wasn't hard work but that is its own reward sometimes. Leading the guys down the Alpine way was top fun. The old R1 was still holding its own against the newer weaponry.

A quick stop at the top of Dead Horse Gap to regroup and take in the mountain ambience. It's so beautiful up here and nice and cool at 1570m altitude.

A few other bikes passed by as we chatted. Soon enough we were off down the hill towards thredbo. Stu stopped in briefly to watch some of the mountain bikes coming down the hill.

We remounted one last time for the trip into Jindabyne, by then everyone was pretty much settled into their rooms at the Banjo Paterson Inn. This was a great place to stay if not a little pricey, we could have easily shared here to halve the price. Clean rooms, good food and great beer. They Make Kosciuszko pale ale here also. PUB#7 and brewery number 2.

So after another great days riding we retired to the bar a little earlier than we would normally. The place was quite busy and we sat out the front watching various motorcycles pass by whilst having a ice cold beer. Does it get any better?

DAY5

I was up fairly early today, not sure why but anyway I decided I'd eat the continental breakfast provided in the room. Then the guys decided that they would go down to the bakery for breakfast. Damn. I decided not to have two breakfasts and waited patiently. Looking down I found a packet of nails next to my tire. Oh that was lucky I didn't ride over them.

Once the guys and gals were ready we hit the road out to Dalgety and back across the Snowy River Way. I only stopped to take one photo below of the wind farm half way along. Those things are huge when you get underneath them and you can see them coming in the distance for miles away.

We stopped in Bombala for some morning tea at the cafe. The toasted Ham-Cheese-Tomato samich was ace, washed down with a coffee. We continued on down to the Imlay road. It was 5 years ago since I've been down here. I couldn't remember what it was like to be honest. Jason's Bandit also decided to spew coolant all over the road which it continued doing the following day.

Following along behind the faster riders was a bit of a blast and there may have been a little bit of spirited riding. The road was a little rough in patches but otherwise a fun, continuing down hill set of fast sweepers and straights. It didn't seem to take long to reach the Princes Highway at the other end.

Imlay MotoGP track

From here we made our way into Eden, where we proceeded to head down to the wharf for fish and chips. Except the shops were all closed. Not sure if from Covid or what but not much was open sunday lunch time. So we proceeded to go from place to place looking for somewhere to have lunch before Geoff said 'Fuck it I'm going to the Pub for Lunch'. So that's what we ended up doing in the end. Can't go wrong with pub grub. PUB#8

Eden Wharf

From Eden we took the Nethercote road across to Mt Darragh road. What a great little road this was. Good find Stu. Stunning views through this twisty valley road. Best take it easy if you've never been through here before as corners are blind with big drop offs on either side.

Riding the Mt Darragh road from South to North didn't seem as much fun to me. I think the road flows better in the other direction.

Soon we were holed up at the Bar in Bermagui at our digs for the night, the Bermagui Hotel-Motel. PUB#9. The crankshaft ales were flowing like no tomorrow. That and a late night MOTOGP round Stu cracked out the fireball whiskey. A fitting end to our tour as tomorrow was the trip home up the coast.

DAY 6

We had a fantastic breakfast in the Bermagui beachside cafe next to the Hotel. It was my first bacon and eggs on toast of the trip, not bad seeing as it was the last day. I wandered over to the beach to have a look. Bermagui is a beautiful place alright. 

Bermagui Beach

Beach Views

Bermagui Hotel-Motel

We'd lined the bikes up out the front of the pub for one last all together shot before taking off for the trip home. The monday traffic on the south coast was absolutely dreadful today, it was like school holiday type traffic and throw in the fact that today's temp hit 38°C the ride up the coast was painful. It was too hot for photo taking today.

Another awesome trip away with the boys and girls. We saw everything from Beaches to mountains and everything in between. Thanks for the memories guys. Bring on next years tour. Vic should be open by then.