Vic Alpine Ride - Part 1

It was that time of year again where a group of mate's get together for our annual Snowy Mountains and Vic Alpine ride. Being in November it's not really that snowy but that's how we like it, dry twisty mountain roads and this year was no exception.

DAY 1

Now with the bike prepped and ready to go and with 4 days off work I was ready and raring to go. We were to meet at Stu's for a 8am start, no problem as he live's 2 mins from my place.

Work? F#ck that, I'm the hell outta here......

Our route out of Sydney was to take in a bit of freeway(D'oh) down to the southern highlands(woohoo) and on into Kangaroo Valley, a good twisty bike road only 1.5 hours south of Sydney. The road surface in Kangaroo valley is superb and it feels like a race track. We stopped in the township for coffee and some had pie. I needed the coffee to wake me from my morning comatosed state that I'm  usually in.

Kangaroo Valley

Fueling up in Nowra we picked up 3 more of our group before heading out and down into the southern ranges to Nerriga and then on into Tarago. We stopped at the Loaded dog pub where we should have picked up a couple more riders. But we soon found out Doug had a puncture in Goulburn and was at the bike shop getting it looked at. They would meet us in Nelligan for lunch.

The loaded Dog Hotel

So on we headed down to Braidwood and down the Kings Hwy also know as Clyde Mountain. Another excellent motorcycle road, however these days it's quite heavily policed but we were in luck and didn't see any today. Doug and Craig meet us in Nelligen just after we finished lunch so we pushed onwards for fuel in Batemans bay. From here it was only a short squirt down the south coast Princes Hwy.

We stopped in at Narooma for a quick beer at Obriens Hotel. It's the hotel with the million dollar views. It was too soon for me so I opted for a Squash instead, I didn't want to end up in a food/beer coma whilst riding, no siree.

It wasn't long before we were back on the road where we turned off down the Bermagui - Tathra road. This is a great scenic ride with a bit of everything thrown in, twisty mountain, forest road, with coast cliff riding and sand beaches. Such a beautiful area. We stopped in at Tathra Pub as it was rumored to be now open after it burned down about 5 years ago.

Indeed it was open and what a great little pub it has now become. There is a huge outdoor seating area around the building. There was a micro brewery in behind the bar area and they have accommodation out the back. looks like a place to stay for next year's trip. They have fantastic views out on the deck area and we all had a relaxing beer on the deck.

From Tathra its only a short 20 minute ride to Merimbula where we stayed in the Sea Spray Motel for tonight. It was a nice comfortable motel with very clean well presented rooms at $75 shared. Highly recommended place to stay and very welcoming to Motorcyclists and they cordoned off an area for the bikes to park in. It was a bit of a hike to the pub for dinner though.

Day 2

It was a rather conservative night out last night and I was feeling good in the morning, not hung over like a skunk. Geoff wasn't here drinking with us.I wonder if that's the reason? It was an 8am start from the Motel and I must say the beds were so comfortable I didn't want to get up. I noticed that the owners were feeding a flock of Grass parrots under one of their tree's. They really took a shining to Scotty. I thought he was going to get shat on but luck for him he didn't.

Scotty attracts all the hot birds

From here we made our way down to the waterfront to one of the local cafe's for breakfast. It can be difficult when a group of 11 lob up for breaky but we put 3 tables together and all was good. Gear and helmets were unloaded to the nearest bench which made an interesting photo. The helmet's and gear is as varied as their owners.

From here we fueled up and hit the road out to Candelo then onto Wyndham. I caught up to Scotty in his 86 along the twisty mountain section through the forest. He wasn't mucking around either and can really drive that 86 well. I large branch flew out from underneath the 86 across my path and I had to swerve onto the other side of the road to avoid it. It's much better to follow a bike than have a car block your view, so I got in front after that so I could see better.

We stopped briefly so everyone could catch up and go the right direction and to make sure everyone got through ok. The Mt Darragh road is quite twisty and I had good fun hammering through there with Brett on the MT-10 hot on my tail. I was to follow him a few days later and the sound of dueling crossplane's is absolutely brilliant.

We arrived in Bombala and there were a few bikes around, they were having the Bombala bike show on this weekend. That could be interesting. A quick fuel stop and we were off to Delegate and down the Bonang road. A few people were Bonang virgins and popped their Bonang cherries today. Needless to say they didn't think they could have that much fun with their clothes on.

Doug enjoying the fresh Bonang air

The scene of Geoff's infamous police bollocking

Bonang Goodness

The Bonang was a little bit rough in places making it hard to set a good pace as you never quite know what to expect around the next corner, but it was mostly in good nick. I really like some sections of the Bonang with its banked curves which really help you hook into a bend. The bottom section was in top shape and we had a blast  along here with Doug and Scotty in the 86. We stopped in Orbost for fuel and lunch at the bakery and waited for everyone to catch up.

From here we took another cracking back road out to Buchan. I lead through here and it wasn't long before a wallaby had jumped out across the road in front of me which wasn't to be unexpected on this narrow forested road. Not long after 2 Galah's few out of the grass at the side of the road. I didn't think about that much until about 20 more flew out after them and all I could see was a wall of white birds. I ducked behind the screen. I didn't hear any birds thudding into me or the bike so continued along at pace. Doug however rode through a cloud of feathers that had come out of one of the birds I'd hit.

Bruthen regroup

There was quite a lot of stopping and regrouping this trip as there was quite a lot of varying ability  levels of riders and machines. From R1's, to Tuono's, MT-10 to a ZRX12 and Bonneville, Vstrom and even a TRX850, I love those Trex's, Yamaha shot at the Ducati marked back in the day.

We topped up our tanks in Bruthen before heading up the Great Alpine road to Swifts Creek. This part of the ride is always enjoyable as the road flows along next to the Tambo river and is a cracking ride with a wide road with pretty good surface which flows really well.

Another stop in Swifts Creek to wait for the other as we were turning off here. When they arrived we kept going, I'm not sure how it happened but only about half of us turned off and the others went straight ahead to Omeo. The back road is more interesting option being much more twisty and scenic.

Technology - The old and the new

It's only a short ride from Swift Creek into Omeo but it is one cracking good bit of tarmac and it wasn't long before we arrived at the Golden Age hotel, which was to be our accommodation for the next 2 nights. There were a few jugs of beer consumed but it didn't take Jacko long before he got stuck into a jug of Captain Morgans. Needless to say we all had a good night, it's been a long time since I've played pool......

Cheers Boys

Today's map. At least 420 kms of twisty bends on today's ride, that's why I love the Victorian High country so much. I wonder if I could move down to Bright or that area to live the slow country lifestyle again. You can ride all day here and it's all bends where as in NSW you can ride all day and only do 50 - 100 kms of bends.

Time for another new Lid?

Quite some time again I wrote about how dirty the inside of my helmet had become and how smelly it had become due to my sweety melon being in it on hot days, you can read that here. Was that really two and a half years ago?

With an upcoming ride I thought I'd remove the internal liner and cheek pads and give them a spruce up in the wash and I wondered how dirty it would be this time around. I was very surprised with what I found.

Bummer the internal crown liner has fallen apart and is now no good. I checked and I got the helmet back here in December 2013 so it's now six years old. It's starting to show a few signs of wear, with a few chips in the surface and the cheek pads are worn and a little loose.

So then, time for a new helmet I thought to myself. Damn I don't need to spend that amount of cash right now just after MOTOGP weekend but nothing else for it. The GT Air has been a superb helmet and I would purchase another one again.

So I go online to check out the new Shoei GT Air II which reportedly has the internal visor drop down another 5mm to cover the gap where light can get in with the Mark I version. Price..... bang, goes my head on the floor as I pick myself up and check that price again. Yep Bang again.

No, I am not going to spend  $1050 clams on a new helmet.

Not when my head is only worth $25. So then whats a tight ass bastid supposed to do when he's a bit skint......
I remember Dave saying recently after he bought a GT Air he was going to get another liner as a spare. What a great idea I thought. I wonder if the liners are $500 shoei clams?

So I checked around and to my surprise the cheek pads and crown liner came in at only $149. Yeah that's some expensive bits of foam but it's $900 cheaper than a new lid. So I ordered some from the new AMX superstore at Auburn which is nice and handy near my work. That was on Monday and by Friday they had arrived.

Busting them open they were duly fitted up and now it's almost like a new helmet, cept for the scratches on the outside. Well the inside is brand spanker's. Now for the sniff test......... mmmm smells like strawberries and cream.......er no, then its smells like VOC gassing me but I likey very much. That new smell, sure beats stank sweat any day.

Wisemans - Putty Ride

After returning from MotoGP two weeks ago, geez has it been that long already and I haven't even put up a post about it yet. Yes I've been slack for sure but I have been rather busy with family, work and photo editing.

I had a few days off after the GP and rang Geoff to see if he wanted to get out for a mid week ride. It didn't take much convincing and Mark came along for the ride too. We hadn't ridden with him for about 4 or 5 years I think.

The general plan was a trip up to Wisemans Ferry, crossing the Hawkesbury River on said Ferry and then around to Spencer and Wollombi.

I dropped around to Geoff's around 9ish and Mark showed up on his new MT-09. I'm quite fond of the MT-09 after the NZ trip 2 years ago, I think it would make a great bike after its suspension get a touch up. We headed out some bake roads around Maralaya and up to the Ferry our first stop point. We were first in line to get on.

Rolling onto the Ferry we were first on board and there were only 2 or 3 cars making for a spacious trip across.

Mark was for hanging for a smoke and we pulled over so he could do that whilst we had did what grown men do in the bush. It was quite hazy out riding today as there was smoke coming down from Port Macquarie due to bush fires that they are having up there. I must be a huge bushfire for the smoke to come all the way down to Sydney some 400km away.

Besides the smoke in the air it was a fantastic day riding as the temperature was right in the sweet spot around 25° making for quite pleasant riding conditions. Continuing on we rode around the river along here. I swear this section of road hasn't been resurfaced for 15 years as its a pretty rough ride. Typical of most NSW back roads now. No wonder adventure bikes are so popular. Why does your car or bike have to have a road worthy certificate when the roads are not car/bike worthy?

Wollombi Tavern

 We stopped in at Wollombi Tavern and it was right on lunch time. Geoff order beers but when I asked about lunch he wasn't game to try eating here again. So we headed toward Broke for fuel and lunch. No I remember the food we had here last time was abysmal. Right on Geoff, you really do only give people one chance.

The ride into broke was a quick one and the road along this section was much improved over the road coming into Wollombi.

A quick refuel in broke and a excellent hamburger washed down with a powerade made for an fantastic lunch. Mark decided to make his way back to Sydney from here where Geoff and I continued around to the Putty road so we could ride the awesome 10 mile of twisties. An what a cracker of a day. There was only 1 truck in that section which I quickly dispatched.

We stopped in at the Grey Gums cafe for a drink and a break. A couple riding back from MotoGP started up a conversation with us and we had a good chat with them. They were on their way back to Brisbane so another 2 days ahead of them yet and also heading straight into the bushfire area.

All up another excellent day out on the bikes, thanks for the company Geoff, and hope to see you on the Alpine ride next week. Fingers crossed.

Road to Nowhere Images - a shameless plug

I decided to make myself an Images page on facebook where I can post up some of the images I've been taking at the track and around the place. I spent ages trying to come up with a name for it, I even emailed back and forth to my older bro for ideas and I must say he had a whole stack of them. Sadly I didn't like any of his suggestions so spent another month or two mulling over my lack of imagination.

So I finally came up with the original name of Road to Nowhere Images as the title of my new facebook page. There is a link now at the top of the page on the right hand side, just click on that and 'bam' you will be viewing pure motorcycle porn.

Here's the link

With the final round of the Australian Super Bike(ASBK) championship coming up at Sydney Motorsport Park(SMSP) on the first weekend in November the championship currently is the closest it's been in years. With 4.5 points separating the top 3 riders the racing is bound to be a spectacle as everything will be on the line. The current standing are as follows.

1. Troy Herfoss - Penrite Honda Racing - 241 Points
2. Wayne Maxwell - Team Suzuki Ecstar - 238 Points
3. Mike Jones - Desmosport Ducati - 236.5 Points
4. Cru Halliday - Yamaha Racing - 222 Points

I visited SMSP on Sunday as there was a ride day on and the ASBK boys were out practising and doing their final bike prep setup before the final round in 3 weeks. Should be a fantastic day of racing. Sadly the ASBK series in Australia has practically no support from the general motorcycle public in this country with only handfuls of people turning up. I'm not sure why that is but the racing is generally fantastic and you can actually get right up to the pit garages. I'm looking forward to getting out there(fingers crossed the missus hasn't double booked us). Hope to see you out there.

Here's a few teaser shots from sundays track day. I bet the A group regulars got a shake up.

Mark Chiodo

Wayne Maxwell

Daniel Falzon

Cru Halliday

Troy Herfoss

Max Croker

Wayne Maxwell

Josh Waters

Alex Phillis