Sunday Ride -AKA SS2000

Martin Little

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#1
What with Christmas etc. I hadn’t been out for any long ride recently so a SS 2000 was in order. Plus I needed some prep ahead of a planned CCC and of course there was the IBR in July.

So with that in mind the Route was determined, starting in Canberra, head to Mildura via Waggaa, Narrandera and Hay. Then turn southward for Keilor on the outskirts of the Melbourne CBD, turn north on the Hume for home via Wagga. ETD was midnight on Saturday 14 Jan. Olaf Moon put his hand up to come and share the fun also.

The ride started late due to moi snoozing longer than planned for, but we got away at 12:20am on a wonderfully cool clear moonlight night.

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Out to the Hume via the Barton Highway. There was a reasonable amount of traffic for that time of the morning. Made good time to the Wagga turnoff where we headed west for the first scheduled fuel stop. There was some excitement when I came upon a Kangaroo sitting in the middle of my lane on a sweeping corner but with his back to me looking the other way, he was impossible to see until he moved his head to look around at the approaching bike then it was on the brakes big time. The roo made the right decision and stayed still until I rode quietly past, then took off much to Olaf’s consternation who was behind me. No harm done and all three of us continued on our way.

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The ride to Narrandera was uneventful, just cruising enjoying the starlight night and listening to the ABC. Very relaxing. Taking my time, no rush and of course wanting to leave plenty of space for any nocturnal visitors who may want to share the road. The other side of Narrandera heading out onto the Hay Plain the night came alive, with the Clearwaters showing lots of moving wildlife ahead and on the sides. Kept the pace suitable to the occasion. Stopped for a few photos of the approaching dawn. I won’t get a job as a professional photographer.

Tagged a B Double heading west who was happy to have 2 bikes following him and we followed him into Hay for the next fuel stop.

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Continued westwards, and stopped at the obligatory point on this journey, not a bad morning to be out riding.

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Pulled into Mildura for coffee and breakfast at Stefanos, always good there!


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Collected a corner docket and then headed south to Keilor in Melbourne. Uneventful ride down to the big smoke, the temperature was warming up and I was listening to the cricket on ABC. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

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Traffic in Melbourne was what was expected, collected the corner docket at Keilor then back onto the Ring Road for the Hume Highway and 12 kms later we turned northwards for the run home. Temperatures were now in the low 30’s warm but I’ve had worse. Felt like a nap so pulled into Wallend and grabbed a booth in the food court and napped for 15 minutes which was very refreshing. Back out on the road it was more of the same in the afternoon sun, took the Olympic Highway to Wagga which was a nice respite from the Hume, riding through the dusty countryside with the sun setting to the west. Fuelled bikes and riders in the Wagga and rolled out of there right on dusk for the short section to the Hume. Truck traffic was exceptionally heavy on the Hume.


Pulled back into the servo in Canberra at 11:02pm, with an hour and quarter up our sleeve. Not a bad day’s ride!

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Martin Little

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#17
Late to see this one Martin, but congratulations to you both on the SS2000k. You make it sound easy ........
Hi Tele,

It was a good ride with things generally going as planned. There were a few issues to deal with but that's what one expects when out riding.