“I'd like to submit, for your consideration, a ride that I've been sporadically planning for a long time but for which I've run out of motivation (at least temporarily) to pursue further with IBA.
The Tour of Tasmania (ToT) 2000.
Visit the following towns, at the end of sealed roads at the extreme edges of Tasmania, in any order within 24 hours. Add any start and end point to make it up to over 2000 km.
Southport - Strathgordon - Strahan - Marrawah - Lowhead - Gladstone - Coles Bay - Port Arthur.
Given the roads and relevant speed limits, I'd class it as an extreme ride - with preparation and timing on a par with Drain's 3000Not yet been ridden or attempted.”Quote from Peter (Mild_Thing) Cremasco.
And so the seed was planted some time ago for quite an adventurous ride.
After having completed 2 x SS1600’s just over a week ago on two of my bikes, the Kawasaki Vulcan 2.0ltr & the Yamaha Super Tenere (S10), and after receiving much feedback from many quarters I decided that an SS2000 was in order. But just like my last SS1600, I wanted to mix it up a little, hence I chose to have a go at the Extremely Insane ride Mild_Thing had put forward.
Knowing Peter and his meticulous planning and detail this ride was not just pulled out of thin air, it would have been thought through and even though Google Maps said 27hours, hey, isn’t that what we are all about, A Challenge???
But??? How do you do this ride to IBA receipt standards when it is nigh on impossible to reach the ends of these roads, find somewhere that is open or able to give you a time/date stamped receipt, and do all of this during business trading hours in remote Tasmanian locations……..more on this later.
I decided that I would utilise all that was available to me other than time/date stamped receipts. GPS, Spot in particular SpotWalla and a time/date stamped photograph would have to suffice. One thing I did do was to change the usual OK symbol in SpotWalla from the green flag to a large green DOT, this made it more visible when viewing the map amongst all the orange flags from the tracking……success, it works much better.
My ride plan was – Launceston, Marrawah, Smithton, Strahan, Hamilton, Strathgordon, Huonville, Southport, Port Arthur, Triabunna, Coles Bay, St Helens, Gladstone, Low Head, Launceston….1996kms, 27 hours according to Google.
Launceston – Marrawah (Tot-1) – Smithton
Well it was off into Launnie BP for the usual start docket and fuel. The guy’s working there are now very familiar with signing witness forms and this time even had the bonus of a local Ambo who volunteered to sign as well. The run up to Burnie was the usual boring run, with a few more wildlife apparent around the Hazel Bros. quarry to Parramatta Creek rest stop, some close calls. Then again between Burnie and Smithton as always they was everywhere and as a consequence this time around I got 3 of the little skippy’s and 2 possums…..no damage, bit unsettling, but with the balance and suspension on the S10 I seem to be able to ride through these with no real problems.
On out to Marrawah….. and this is where arose the first issue concerning verification….oh well, photo of shop sign, press OK on Spot, take photo of GPS “Where am I” screen and save location to favourites to show up on trip download later……best I could come up with at 04:53am in remote Marrawah.
Setting back off to Smithton for fuel I had noticed on the way out a lot of dairy cattle gathering by gates getting ready to cross the road to the milking sheds. My only hope now was that they had not started to go as yet otherwise this ride could be done and dusted on the first leg. Got through with only 1 farmer present and about to start but waved me through, you beauty. Into Smithton at 05:42am for refuelling…..waisted too much time putting on the wet weather gear at Marrawah ready for the run down the West Coast, but still in time.
Smithton – Strahan
I had a great run through Hellyer’s Gorge the other day with dry roads and no traffic. Was a bit later today and the sun was playing havoc with my line of sight, even with the Sunax insert, and the roads were moist shall we say….any more water and this route would be a no go, gets way too slippery especially towards the end where the logging trucks run in and out with mud all over the road.
Further down the west coast and the roads are getting wetter…I had thought I might have beaten the forecasted wet but it beat me….still a good run on the S10 with good tyres but not as quick as the other day. Into Strahan, no feed this time, fuel, drink and away.
Strahan – Hamilton
Coming up out of Strahan is full of delightful twisty road, but it can be your undoing if it’s too wet or got traffic, virtually only 3 passing opportunities the entire length….all good, bit wet and slippery in places made it challenging and only a couple of cars, including 1 Audi A4 that tried to out pace me, finally I got around him and then he tried to keep with me, something about “I got an Audi A4 AWD and an attitude” but after 3 mere corners, no match for the S10 on a mission.
Struck more traffic on the stretch after Queenstown and across to Hamilton, but not too much delay…..and the slippery roads at Tullaleah were still slippery, just could not avoid it. Arrived at Hamilton at 11:40am and it was here that I decided in my head that this was either going to be a full 24 hour ride with no margin or I might end up going over time.
Hamilton – Strathgordon
Yes there is another way through before here, but much of a muchness time wise and I needed the mileage. This is truly one of the best roads in Tasmania out to the end and back, but it is also through one the wettest places and windiest places in Tasmania, and neither failed to disappoint. Enjoyable ride, downsided by wind gusts trying to take out the front end and rain coming down in all the wrong places…dry straights, lean into bend, wet, moss covered and slippery.
Strathgordon – Huonville – Southport – Port Arthur
Needed to stop here for fuel and some rehydration. The run down this way is laborious to say the least, speed limits down here are 90km/h max and the run down to Southport is interspaced with tiny little hamlets that reduce your speed back to 70km/h all the time. Mind you though, Carsten & TJ, you guys have some explaining to do……this must be one of Tasmania best kept secrets for motorcycle roads, 45km/h twisty with dips in series and better…..definitely a day out riding road….OX34 would never ride the Oxley again after 1 (read several) rides up and down this road….sensational.
After doing the turnaround down at Southport, it was time to head up back through Hobart and out to Port Arthur. Did I happen to mention I need to do some tweeking with my planning??? Getting across Hobart, Taste of Tasmania Festival, Sydney-Hobart Yacht race finish line…get the picture, BUSY, snails pace BUSY. Finally through that and then out to Sorell. Again, tweek planning, Falls Festival at marion Bay starting tomorrow…..red and blue lighted vehicles everywhere, RBT, random Licence checks, remember no camping…does it look like I got camping gear? Oh and the strict 90km/h maximum speed limit for the 70km run in to and back out of Port Arthur.
It is here and now that I know I will not make the 24 hour window, but I came out here to do this ride and I want to see how much over I go so that I can plan for next time…better routing, better fuel stop management etc etc.
Port Arthur – Triabunna (And the end)
Well it was out of Port Arthur and with no traffic up the East Coast at this time of night a nice run up through to Triabunna for the swipe and go BP 24 hour. Took it a little easy on 2 counts, 1 was knowing this was now just a ride for research, and 2 remembering in Mild_Things ride report of the other day about getting loose on some mid corner gravel…so easy peasy japaneesee!!!
I pull into Triabunna and there is only 1 overhead light working, not above the pumps…go to the touch screen, insert card, go to select account, no light on the keypad…back to bike out with torch start again….all good….start pumping petrol, glasses are fogging up so I take them off and sit on seat, go to look down into tank to make sure get fuel all the way up the neck, bump the nozzle slightly and whooshka!!! Face full of petrol, straight into my eyes, soaking my balaclava, spilling all over the helmet on the seat……OUCH!!!
Quickly finished fuelling looked around, no tap to be seen anywhere….out with remaining 200ml in bottle of water from top box…this is really burning…..light on and voices coming from house across the street, go over ask the guy if I can borrow his tap..looks at me dumbfounded, too late, got the hose and running water into my eyes trying to flush out the fuel…..next 15-20 minutes spent doing this.
Finally feeling as if this is as good as I can get it I wander back to the bike. Take a deep breathe and think…..One good eye, one eye still not fully focussing, time blown, East Coast run at night…..NOPE, not this time, time to head for home at a slow pace and call it a day.
Thoughts pass as I head home, do I get a docket at Launnie and claim a SS1600? And then I remember what Bazz once said about an aborted ride of his, yes well within the rules, but not within the spirit of the ride…..my personal choice and I am happy to say that I attempted this ride, but will need another day to complete it.
Home safe n sound at around 00:15am on Saturday 29-12-12. All up just over 1700kms in 22hrs15mins, not a bad days ride considering I covered most of Tassie……and Gags, yeah all the roads are good for you mate, just watch the run up out of Tarruleah, bit slippery.
So the Analysis of this ride……….
Is this ride achievable? YES, but like I said, tweeking of my ride plan needs to ocurr, and I previously said, you need everything to go your way, traffic, weather, road conditions etc. Level would be more than the Extreme thought of by Mild_Thing, this would be truly of the Insane level of ride.
Auxillary Fuel Tank….big difference? Hell Yeah, this ride would be only an Extreme level ride if you made use of an Auxillary Fuel Tank, remoteness of fuel stops can play a lot into your time on this ride.
Time frame for this ride? IMHO, I cannot see myself, auxillary fuel and all, completing this ride in anything under 23 hours….lower speed limits, roads of great lengths of twisty sections, little hamlets to slow you down…..the only 110km/h section I got was Launceston-Burnie and even that’s only about 60% of that distance.
How to verify each destination? This one needs a lot more research….Port Arthur in particular and Southport/Strathgordon would be questionable as to obtaining some sort of printed receipt…..Marrawah, can be done, with hassle, and only in normal daylight trading hours, or a bit later at the pub. This one is really something that needs to be fully sorted before attempting this ride…you may achieve it, but you may not have sufficient “evidence” to have it verified.
There are probably many more questions and observations about this ride…PLEASE, post all comments as this is how I learn because I cannot see everything in a ride and every little bit of info helps.
To Peter Mild_Thing Cremasco….a BIG THANK YOU for the inspiration to push to a new level the art of Safe LD Motorcycling in the motorcycle nirvana that is Tasmania with such a creative and challenging ride. Oh, and OX34 and Cuddles, you want some IBR practice, come have a go at this one….
The Tour of Tasmania (ToT) 2000.
Visit the following towns, at the end of sealed roads at the extreme edges of Tasmania, in any order within 24 hours. Add any start and end point to make it up to over 2000 km.
Southport - Strathgordon - Strahan - Marrawah - Lowhead - Gladstone - Coles Bay - Port Arthur.
Given the roads and relevant speed limits, I'd class it as an extreme ride - with preparation and timing on a par with Drain's 3000Not yet been ridden or attempted.”Quote from Peter (Mild_Thing) Cremasco.
And so the seed was planted some time ago for quite an adventurous ride.
After having completed 2 x SS1600’s just over a week ago on two of my bikes, the Kawasaki Vulcan 2.0ltr & the Yamaha Super Tenere (S10), and after receiving much feedback from many quarters I decided that an SS2000 was in order. But just like my last SS1600, I wanted to mix it up a little, hence I chose to have a go at the Extremely Insane ride Mild_Thing had put forward.
Knowing Peter and his meticulous planning and detail this ride was not just pulled out of thin air, it would have been thought through and even though Google Maps said 27hours, hey, isn’t that what we are all about, A Challenge???
But??? How do you do this ride to IBA receipt standards when it is nigh on impossible to reach the ends of these roads, find somewhere that is open or able to give you a time/date stamped receipt, and do all of this during business trading hours in remote Tasmanian locations……..more on this later.
I decided that I would utilise all that was available to me other than time/date stamped receipts. GPS, Spot in particular SpotWalla and a time/date stamped photograph would have to suffice. One thing I did do was to change the usual OK symbol in SpotWalla from the green flag to a large green DOT, this made it more visible when viewing the map amongst all the orange flags from the tracking……success, it works much better.
My ride plan was – Launceston, Marrawah, Smithton, Strahan, Hamilton, Strathgordon, Huonville, Southport, Port Arthur, Triabunna, Coles Bay, St Helens, Gladstone, Low Head, Launceston….1996kms, 27 hours according to Google.
Launceston – Marrawah (Tot-1) – Smithton
Well it was off into Launnie BP for the usual start docket and fuel. The guy’s working there are now very familiar with signing witness forms and this time even had the bonus of a local Ambo who volunteered to sign as well. The run up to Burnie was the usual boring run, with a few more wildlife apparent around the Hazel Bros. quarry to Parramatta Creek rest stop, some close calls. Then again between Burnie and Smithton as always they was everywhere and as a consequence this time around I got 3 of the little skippy’s and 2 possums…..no damage, bit unsettling, but with the balance and suspension on the S10 I seem to be able to ride through these with no real problems.
On out to Marrawah….. and this is where arose the first issue concerning verification….oh well, photo of shop sign, press OK on Spot, take photo of GPS “Where am I” screen and save location to favourites to show up on trip download later……best I could come up with at 04:53am in remote Marrawah.
Setting back off to Smithton for fuel I had noticed on the way out a lot of dairy cattle gathering by gates getting ready to cross the road to the milking sheds. My only hope now was that they had not started to go as yet otherwise this ride could be done and dusted on the first leg. Got through with only 1 farmer present and about to start but waved me through, you beauty. Into Smithton at 05:42am for refuelling…..waisted too much time putting on the wet weather gear at Marrawah ready for the run down the West Coast, but still in time.
Smithton – Strahan
I had a great run through Hellyer’s Gorge the other day with dry roads and no traffic. Was a bit later today and the sun was playing havoc with my line of sight, even with the Sunax insert, and the roads were moist shall we say….any more water and this route would be a no go, gets way too slippery especially towards the end where the logging trucks run in and out with mud all over the road.
Further down the west coast and the roads are getting wetter…I had thought I might have beaten the forecasted wet but it beat me….still a good run on the S10 with good tyres but not as quick as the other day. Into Strahan, no feed this time, fuel, drink and away.
Strahan – Hamilton
Coming up out of Strahan is full of delightful twisty road, but it can be your undoing if it’s too wet or got traffic, virtually only 3 passing opportunities the entire length….all good, bit wet and slippery in places made it challenging and only a couple of cars, including 1 Audi A4 that tried to out pace me, finally I got around him and then he tried to keep with me, something about “I got an Audi A4 AWD and an attitude” but after 3 mere corners, no match for the S10 on a mission.
Struck more traffic on the stretch after Queenstown and across to Hamilton, but not too much delay…..and the slippery roads at Tullaleah were still slippery, just could not avoid it. Arrived at Hamilton at 11:40am and it was here that I decided in my head that this was either going to be a full 24 hour ride with no margin or I might end up going over time.
Hamilton – Strathgordon
Yes there is another way through before here, but much of a muchness time wise and I needed the mileage. This is truly one of the best roads in Tasmania out to the end and back, but it is also through one the wettest places and windiest places in Tasmania, and neither failed to disappoint. Enjoyable ride, downsided by wind gusts trying to take out the front end and rain coming down in all the wrong places…dry straights, lean into bend, wet, moss covered and slippery.
Strathgordon – Huonville – Southport – Port Arthur
Needed to stop here for fuel and some rehydration. The run down this way is laborious to say the least, speed limits down here are 90km/h max and the run down to Southport is interspaced with tiny little hamlets that reduce your speed back to 70km/h all the time. Mind you though, Carsten & TJ, you guys have some explaining to do……this must be one of Tasmania best kept secrets for motorcycle roads, 45km/h twisty with dips in series and better…..definitely a day out riding road….OX34 would never ride the Oxley again after 1 (read several) rides up and down this road….sensational.
After doing the turnaround down at Southport, it was time to head up back through Hobart and out to Port Arthur. Did I happen to mention I need to do some tweeking with my planning??? Getting across Hobart, Taste of Tasmania Festival, Sydney-Hobart Yacht race finish line…get the picture, BUSY, snails pace BUSY. Finally through that and then out to Sorell. Again, tweek planning, Falls Festival at marion Bay starting tomorrow…..red and blue lighted vehicles everywhere, RBT, random Licence checks, remember no camping…does it look like I got camping gear? Oh and the strict 90km/h maximum speed limit for the 70km run in to and back out of Port Arthur.
It is here and now that I know I will not make the 24 hour window, but I came out here to do this ride and I want to see how much over I go so that I can plan for next time…better routing, better fuel stop management etc etc.
Port Arthur – Triabunna (And the end)
Well it was out of Port Arthur and with no traffic up the East Coast at this time of night a nice run up through to Triabunna for the swipe and go BP 24 hour. Took it a little easy on 2 counts, 1 was knowing this was now just a ride for research, and 2 remembering in Mild_Things ride report of the other day about getting loose on some mid corner gravel…so easy peasy japaneesee!!!
I pull into Triabunna and there is only 1 overhead light working, not above the pumps…go to the touch screen, insert card, go to select account, no light on the keypad…back to bike out with torch start again….all good….start pumping petrol, glasses are fogging up so I take them off and sit on seat, go to look down into tank to make sure get fuel all the way up the neck, bump the nozzle slightly and whooshka!!! Face full of petrol, straight into my eyes, soaking my balaclava, spilling all over the helmet on the seat……OUCH!!!
Quickly finished fuelling looked around, no tap to be seen anywhere….out with remaining 200ml in bottle of water from top box…this is really burning…..light on and voices coming from house across the street, go over ask the guy if I can borrow his tap..looks at me dumbfounded, too late, got the hose and running water into my eyes trying to flush out the fuel…..next 15-20 minutes spent doing this.
Finally feeling as if this is as good as I can get it I wander back to the bike. Take a deep breathe and think…..One good eye, one eye still not fully focussing, time blown, East Coast run at night…..NOPE, not this time, time to head for home at a slow pace and call it a day.
Thoughts pass as I head home, do I get a docket at Launnie and claim a SS1600? And then I remember what Bazz once said about an aborted ride of his, yes well within the rules, but not within the spirit of the ride…..my personal choice and I am happy to say that I attempted this ride, but will need another day to complete it.
Home safe n sound at around 00:15am on Saturday 29-12-12. All up just over 1700kms in 22hrs15mins, not a bad days ride considering I covered most of Tassie……and Gags, yeah all the roads are good for you mate, just watch the run up out of Tarruleah, bit slippery.
So the Analysis of this ride……….
Is this ride achievable? YES, but like I said, tweeking of my ride plan needs to ocurr, and I previously said, you need everything to go your way, traffic, weather, road conditions etc. Level would be more than the Extreme thought of by Mild_Thing, this would be truly of the Insane level of ride.
Auxillary Fuel Tank….big difference? Hell Yeah, this ride would be only an Extreme level ride if you made use of an Auxillary Fuel Tank, remoteness of fuel stops can play a lot into your time on this ride.
Time frame for this ride? IMHO, I cannot see myself, auxillary fuel and all, completing this ride in anything under 23 hours….lower speed limits, roads of great lengths of twisty sections, little hamlets to slow you down…..the only 110km/h section I got was Launceston-Burnie and even that’s only about 60% of that distance.
How to verify each destination? This one needs a lot more research….Port Arthur in particular and Southport/Strathgordon would be questionable as to obtaining some sort of printed receipt…..Marrawah, can be done, with hassle, and only in normal daylight trading hours, or a bit later at the pub. This one is really something that needs to be fully sorted before attempting this ride…you may achieve it, but you may not have sufficient “evidence” to have it verified.
There are probably many more questions and observations about this ride…PLEASE, post all comments as this is how I learn because I cannot see everything in a ride and every little bit of info helps.
To Peter Mild_Thing Cremasco….a BIG THANK YOU for the inspiration to push to a new level the art of Safe LD Motorcycling in the motorcycle nirvana that is Tasmania with such a creative and challenging ride. Oh, and OX34 and Cuddles, you want some IBR practice, come have a go at this one….