Snowy Mountains Ride Part 2

Day 3

We hit up yet another bakery but too late, as a group of enduro riders were at the bakery before us and they were now out of pies. Lucky they made a pretty mean Bacon & Egg roll.

We filled up and were looking at doing the loop ride over Hotham and back via Falls Creek. Mr Speedy had looked at the Vic roads and found out that the Hotham road was closed this morning due to a sinkhole forming under the road. So plans changed and we took the Omeo Highway then turned onto the Bogong High Plains road and decided to come back via Mitta Mitta.

As the main road was closed this was one of the only roads in the area you could get through on so we took it extra cautious today. Just as we reached the first set of bends on the Omeo highway we came upon a road train carrying sheep heading the same direction we were going. Pure madness to drive that thing on this narrow twisty road. It took quite some time to safely get past him too. He was doing about 20-30kmh taking up both sides of the road. I was hoping that no bikes would be coming the other way, it could have been nasty.

We stopped at the Blue Duck for the others to catch up and regroup after the truck. It took a while.

From here is was a short ride to the Bogong High Plains road turn off. I stopped to direct the traffic up the hill and take a couple of pics, so I went from first in the group to last.

Mr Speedy

I pulled over as Joby had stopped on the side of the road. Apparently he'd been stung by a wasp that went in his jacket. Thoroughly checking it was gone we continued along. Joby riding the T7 was pointing at the beautiful scenery, when next minute he was riding off the road on a corner into the scenery. Luck for him there wasn't a drop off and it was a flat bit on the end of the corner and he quickly re-entered the road without incident. Still scared the shit outta me as I wasn't expecting it, I bet he needed a change of underwear too.

We were soon in Falls Creek where some big mt Bike event was on. There were busses ferrying loads of bikes up the hill. We saw lots of bikes riding up the hill, too much effort in the heat coming up. It was quite pleasant at Falls Creek but as we dropped down to Mt Beauty the heat quickly rose back up to about 35°C again. All the traffic seemed to be going up the mountain, leaving an empty open road in front with a couple of traffic lights. Was an excellent run down the hill.

I stopped quickly in Mt Beauty to fill my camelbak up with water and we kept going across the back roads and around to Mitta Mitta where we arrive at 1:15pm. The temp out on the plains was up in the mid thirties again so a stop at the Mitta Pub was welcomed. Some of the lads got a bite to eat, they said up to 1.5hr wait time so I just had a couple of lemon squashes down by the river. The food came out in about 30m so it wasn't too bad. People were swimming in the river out the back of the pub. 

There were 2 motorcycle cops sitting under the tree across the road from the pub pulling bikes over. As we were about to leave they left before us and went the opposite direction thankfully.

As we climbed up into the High Country on the Omeo Highway the temperature again plummeted from mid thirties down to 25°C which was quite refreshing after riding in the heat. We fueled up before the only servo closed for the day, not sure if it opens on sunday. A couple hours later Stu & Craig come riding in after their trip on some dirt roads. We stay another night in Omeo at the Golden Age Hotel. As I skipped lunch I splurged tonight on the steak, not cheap at $42.

Day 4

We were looking at going across Limestone road and heading up Barry Way to Jindabyne which is all dirt. Checking the weather radar there was a large band of heavy looking rain coming over that would cross our path at some stage. I was hesitant to go Barry Way if it was going to rain, my rear tyre was nearly shot. I should have replaced it before leaving. Thinking a near worn-out tyre will make it might work but it also changes your mindset of where you can ride also. False economy, I'll have to not do that again.

Stu, Scotty, Zammo & Joby took the Barry Way route while the rest of us went back up Omeo Highway, because it was just awful having to do another 105km of twisty mountain road. We again came across a road train filled with sheep on the exact same section heading up the mountain again. Same as yesterday took awhile to get past safely, I was worried for the bikes coming the opposite direction as he was also using all the road. He shouldn't be driving a semi up this road. It was much cooler today at 18°C. About 2/3rds of the way along we got a couple of spots of rain on the visors but that was it. The rain seemed to be to the south below us and heading east.

We stopped at Mitta Pub again to regroup. As we pulled in under the tree, two police Highway patrol officers asked us for our licenses. Yeah they were 2 different guys than yesterday.

We continue our way to Tallangatta for a refuel and then take the granya gap road again a lot of fun before we take the Murray River Road. I stopped for a quick photo at this lookout, I didn't know there was this cool wedge tail eagle statue here as we've always gone past.

It's another warm 30°C day today, not as bad as the previous two days though. The camelbak is a god send on these rides. Continuing along we pass Tintaldra and then all the way into Khancoban where we stop for a bite to eat.  

Lunch stop in Khancoban

The weather was holding out and appeared to be going far to the south of us. Looks like we could have done the Barry Way without any issues. Oh well, we have had some great riding on some of this country's best motorcycle roads so there's always next time. 

We left via the Alpine Way another great motorcycle road. We came upon a Harley that was taking up the whole road. This sparked something in Joffrey's head and he immediately had to overtake him under any circumstances. He really does hate those harleys. We blew by and took off leaving the harley rider far behind. When we came back up the range to Dead Horse Gap we pulled over to regroup and take a snap. The last leg into Jindabyne is only about 40 minutes, then its beer o'clock.

Our accomodation for the night was the Banjo Paterson Inn. Fantastic food with cooked breakfast, 4 star hotel rooms and it's a nice spot for a beer out the front overlooking the lake. Everyone was enjoying a chat and the icy cold beer. Yep this is what it's all about.

2022 Alpine Ride Part 2

 Day 3

Today was going to be shortened a bit by the weather as it was expected to turn nasty after midday with showers and cold gusty winds of 40-50kmh. But first another country bakery needed saving and a pie and coffee was beckoning. Having fueled up the previous day we were out and about in no time.

We took the Omeo Highway out to the Blue Duck Inn, where we all regrouped.

Impressions of an MT

I noticed that they had cut down the willow tree's at the Blue Duck and you could clearly see the river and bank. The sign said they had been removed as the willows were not native and overtaking the native vegetation and were to be replaced with native tree's.

Today was also going to be broken up into two different rides. Whilst the others decided to ride up to Mitta Mitta, I decided I was going to ride up to Falls Creek and back again as we will be doing the Mitta road tomorrow or would we?

It's been a few years since we have been to Falls Creek, I remember the road surface being quite slippery with small rocks. Seems to be much better now. The last 10kms into Falls Creek has had a fresh batch of hot mix tar put down, and was as smooth as a race track. Good fun. We stopped at a lookout, it was pretty cold up here, it was saying 10°C but felt colder.

We decided to head into Falls Creek and grab a coffee. As we arrived we noticed a helicopter taking off. It was lifting some fence railing up to somewhere far away.

And here this blog post sat for overt a week, due to my daughter giving me Covid. I spent 2 days in bed with headaches, aches & pains but the worst thing was that I could no longer smell or taste anything. Everything I eat has no taste, taking any joy out of eating at all. I then went straight into a 5 day training course.

It was time to get going as it was now midday and was starting to get windy, the bike said it was 10°C, the BOM said it was 6.7°C but feels like -3°C and we could see a big storm approaching. The Falls Creek-Mt Beauty road was blocked by landslip on the road so we went back the way we came. We did stop at one of the snow drifts on the way down for a pic. 

On the way back to Omeo I was following Geoff and Scotty when I watched Geoff run over a stick in the middle of the road, half of the stick spun up in the air and started thrashing around and was biting at Scotty and then Me as we went past. It wasn't a stick at all but what looked like a brown snake(couldn't really tell was moving too quick for that) but I lifted my right leg as I went past, he looked pretty pissed off.

Getting back into Omeo early around 2:30 and Geoff went and rounded up the beers he won the night before in the local raffle and Rick round up the meat tray he won and we headed down to the park and had beers n bbq meat whilst watching countless MTBer's riding through the park. There was a huge event on, the cattlemen 100. Looked like a lot of effort to me. 

Retiring to the bar early was not a great idea, and neither was switching to Wild Turkey and cola cans this early in the afternoon. Looking out from the balcony after diner it was absolutely hammering down with rain, which it continued doing all night, I know that because all that caffeine was stopping my brain from engaging sleep mode........

Vic Alpine Ride - Part 2

Day 3

As we were staying at Omeo for 2 nights, today was to be either a rest day or short ride day and was up to what ever you wanted to do. Being in the middle of the Victorian alps with some of the best motorcycle roads in this country I wasn't about to sit around resting or recovering from a hangover which was Geoff's suggestion.

I love staying at the Golden Age Motel in Omeo, $50 for accommodation with a cooked breakfast, it's pretty hard to beat that. And in a great location too.

Leaving our luggage behind we rode today unencumbered through some of the twistiest roads. The ride up to Hotham Heights was a bit chilly dropping down to just 7°C. The bike didn't seem to want to tip in, I thought maybe the tyre pressure was down, but perhaps it was temperature related or because I didn't have any gear on the back of the bike. Not sure what but after the ride to the top of Hotham it seems to have disappeared. Doug also mentioned the same thing So it wasn't just me.

Hotham Heights

The views from Hotham Heights are quite spectacular on a good day, and today was just that. We couldn't have asked for better weather really and it held up for the entire trip. Perfect 21°C in the highlands today and blue skies. Made for perfect picture taking opportunities.

Picture This

The bikes were lined up for the paparazzi with Face book chimes going off left and right. With that out of the way I made my way to the top of the hill to see if there was some snow still around.

The views from the other side of the road consisted of ski slopes and an empty Ski village. They could be utilizing these villages in the summer for Cyclist, Bikers and hikers etc.

Jumping back on I continue on to the Highest point on the Great Alpine Road, at the Cross which is some 1840m high which is the highest sealed road in Australia. There's only a small snow drift left up here at the moment and looking out at the surrounding hills not much but small patches out there to.

The Cross - Great Alpine Rd Highest Sealed Road in Australia

I continued along the road until Danny's lookout which isn't far from the top. As we came to Danny's lookout, a vista of hills and valleys lay before our feet as far as the eye could see. Incredible.

From here we descended down the mountain into harrietville through 30km of 35kmh bends. Its exhausting stuff riding down hill here, concentration levels are high as you can't afford to make a mistake as you will go sailing off the side of the mountain into the forest below.
There was some cycling event on as there were hundreds of push bikes coming up the mountain.

The ride took us up and over Tawonga Gap between Bright and Mt Beauty, one of my all time favourite bits of road. It was also one of my closest calls yet on a bike. Coming down the hill at the bottom viewing point a car turned across the road in front of me whilst I was in the middle of the turn(blind curve). Can't brake here, lucky for me the car saw me at the last minute and stopped and I escaped on the road verge and didn't hit the car or go off the road. Pucker factor 10++. Stupid me for putting myself in that spot to start with.

We stopped in Mt Beauty for a spot of lunch, I wasn't really hungry but there wasn't going to be much after this for a couple of hours. I had an excellent Chicken salad roll and a flat white.

Discussion here was on the route from back to Omeo. Stu wanted to return the way we had just come from which was a great ride. I however wanted to ride the Bogong High plains road and a few of the others wanted to visit the Blue Duck Inn on the Omeo Highway. So Stu and Jacko were going to ride with us to Falls Creek then turn around and go back the other way to Omeo with the rest taking the High Plains road.

The ride up to Falls Creek is another fantastic ride, twisting up the mountain for 30kms of bends similar to the Hotham Rd. There were groups of cyclists riding up and down the hill here. One particular cyclist came to grief coming down the hill and had crashed into a rock wall. An ambulance was tending to the injured rider who looked in bad shape. Another cyclist waved his arm in anger when Doug went past him. There was no danger and he was on the centre line with the push bike on the far left. Dougs bike has stock exhaust and isnt loud. Some people are just whingers.

It wasn't long before we were at the top and in Falls Creek. There's not much in Falls, just more empty alpine accommodation. Some nice vistas over the mountain tops. We stopped at the helipad and Stu and Jacko went back down the other way, where the rest of us carried on further.

At the top of the hill and just outside Falls Creek is a Dam wall with a huge lake. I stopped for a couple of quick pics here and then continued on. Such a beautiful area up here. I'd like to come down here for a few days with the family.

Rocky Valley Storage Dam

The road makes its way winding around the lake, the water is an amazing deep blue colour which looks inviting but I bet it's freezing cold in there. You wouldn't want to fall in, there would be horrible shrinkage.

The Bogong High Plains road then winds along the top of the hills here for some time before it starts a winding decent down through the tree lines and down to the Omeo Hwy. Up top the road is open treeless and barren with flat rocky grassland terrain.

The road surface is very deceiving it looks like it's covered in gravel and in some spots it is, making it hard to see but mostly it was fairly clear. I didn't have any slips or slides on anything and I was going at a fair clip.

As I'd stopped several times to take photos I got way out behind the group. The group stopped at the highway junction so everyone could catch up and regroup. It was only 11km from here to the Blue Duck Inn. This is a beautiful bit of tarmac following along the Big River. Such stunning country along here.

It was only a few minutes later and we were taking a break at the Blue Duck at Anglers Rest. I'd never been in here before as we keep passing through so a stop for an ice cold beer was an excellent choice. What a top little spot this place is too.

The inside of the pub is small but very well done, clean and tidy with interesting photos on the walls of times long gone by. Out the back is a lush green grass lawn area with the Cobungra river flowing beside the pub. Such crisp clean clear water looks like you could drink straight from the river.

Beers and Nacho's were dispatched in good order as we relaxed under the shade of the verandah out the front. There was another group of bikes here which looked to be from Sydney or central coast and they were doing same as us. We first bumped into them on Mt Hotham going the opposite direction from us. Looks like they were doing a similar loop.

It was only a short 30km ride from Anglers Rest into Omeo but its twisty most of that way but I was taking it easy now, Coming into Omeo there were people and cars everywhere at the showgrounds. Looks like they have a rodeo on today so it going to busy in town tonight.

Stu and Jacko arrived about an hour later. Stu couldn't wait for diner and hooked into a pie from the crazy cow bakery across the road. The pie's there are freakin huge, about half the size of your head.

One of the best day's riding in many years riding through some of this country's best biking roads. There's more to come on tomorrows ride.