Time for another rally practise ride, this one was focused on using my two GPS’s on the fly plus I decided to make this ride a “motorcycle” ride, aka lots of corners, lots of them. A route was knocked out in Basecamp, one that would test the settings on the GPS of “shortest distance” and I went to bed early to get some zzzzz’s ahead of starting out.
I woke before the alarm at 2:30am, (this is becoming a bad habit) so no point in hanging around. Finalised things, got rugged up in full Rally Riding kit, and wheeled the GSA out of the garage onto the road before firing it up t0 trundle the 500 metres down the road to collect a starting docket. Docket collected, Ride Log written up, reread the instructions for the first Bonus Point and headed east for the coast.
Starting Docket
It’s a relatively warm night, overcast with no moonlight. Heading out towards Bungendore past the Captains Flat turn off, the wildlife comes out to play, roos and lots of them. I eventually had to stop for one near the Kowen Forest cutting (known for it’s mobs of Roos). The poor fella had started crossing the road in front of me and slipped over on the damp road surface and couldn’t regain his footing. The Roo was thrashing around on its side in both lanes trying to get upright! After a couple of minutes of watching this I gingerly rode past well out of reach and continued on my way, watching the silhouettes of roos bounding around and across in front of me. Past Bungendore things went quiet at last, no traffic, no wildlife just the hum of the bike engine and the occasional twinkle of a star through the clouds.
Braidwood, and nothing is moving at 4:30am. As I accelerate away from the town limits another Roo comes bursting out the trees on my left and joins me in my lane, just in front of the GSA heading the same way. This Roo is happy to keep going and eventually I stop to allow him to hop off the road. Well things certainly aren’t boring on this ride! It’s a quiet trip down The Clyde to Batemans Bay Soldiers Club, my first Bonus Point. Photo taken and log written up, I programme in the next BP into the GPS that I use for point to point times and point the bike northwards towards Sydney.
The towns and villages roll by as the dawn struggles to break through the cloud cover, I stop for coffee at Berry and then continue on past Kiama before taking the Picton Road off ramp to head up hill to Wilton.
Milton Theatre.
Berry. Coffee time.
More corners and now one of my GPS’s wants me to take a different route, supposedly shorter, but I know it will take longer so I ignore it. This is why I’m riding this route. As I take the on ramp onto the Hume the GPS recalibrates itself and gives me a new (quicker) arrival time at the next BP, which now matches exactly the other GPS. Through Western Sydney and onto the M4 I head west into the Blue Mountains. Mother’s Day traffic is now heavy and it’s a slow ride up the hill. I refuel in Glenbrook where I get quizzed by the servo attendant about my bike, my riding kit, my Bluetooth comms etc. Back on the Highway I continue on to Medlow for BP # 2. The suns out momentarily which makes for a great photo!
On westward over the mountains and I take the turn off to Duckmaloi heading for Oberon. This is one of the reasons I chose the route, it’s been a while since I’ve been up around this area and the road does not disappoint for the next 2 hours as I make my way through Oberon, down to Abercrombie River, on to Taralga and Crookwell.
Bonus Point – Oberon RSL
Abercrombie River Crossing
Bonus Point - Crookwell RSL/CSL
I feel like a snack but everything is super busy in Crookwell so I continue west on the road to Boorowa until I find some space to pull over to munch on a muesli bar and down some water. A farmer and his wife (on their home after Mother’s Day Lunch) stop to check I’m OK, a quick chat and they’re on their way as am I. Pulling away from this stop as I accelerate another Roo bursts out from the tress on my left crosses about 10 metres in front of me, attempts to bound the roadside fence but misjudges the height and gets caught, somersaulting head over heels into the paddock before standing up and looking around in bewilderment! It must be a full moon or whatever the roo equivalent is!
Onwards to Boorowa, and this another sublime piece of country road I haven’t ridden for a while, enjoy it I do, even in a brief thunderstorm before idling into Boorowa to collect the last Bonus Point of this ride.
Bonus Point – Boorowa Hotel
Gravel Surfing Time! Just as well I brought the GSA on this ride
I finish up at Binalong, where I make my way back to the Hume to point the bike towards home. The GPS has been going berserk with rerouting instructions, all of which I’ve quietly ignored, as I know these roads well enough. The Barton Highway Off-ramp comes up soon enough and before too long I’m back in Canberra collecting my finishing docket.
Job done, just under 1,000kms for the day, with a 1,000 corners and what felt like a 1,000 Roos. The GPS settings will need relooking at as the “shorter distance” in all cases would not have resulted in a quicker/faster time.
I woke before the alarm at 2:30am, (this is becoming a bad habit) so no point in hanging around. Finalised things, got rugged up in full Rally Riding kit, and wheeled the GSA out of the garage onto the road before firing it up t0 trundle the 500 metres down the road to collect a starting docket. Docket collected, Ride Log written up, reread the instructions for the first Bonus Point and headed east for the coast.
Starting Docket
It’s a relatively warm night, overcast with no moonlight. Heading out towards Bungendore past the Captains Flat turn off, the wildlife comes out to play, roos and lots of them. I eventually had to stop for one near the Kowen Forest cutting (known for it’s mobs of Roos). The poor fella had started crossing the road in front of me and slipped over on the damp road surface and couldn’t regain his footing. The Roo was thrashing around on its side in both lanes trying to get upright! After a couple of minutes of watching this I gingerly rode past well out of reach and continued on my way, watching the silhouettes of roos bounding around and across in front of me. Past Bungendore things went quiet at last, no traffic, no wildlife just the hum of the bike engine and the occasional twinkle of a star through the clouds.
Braidwood, and nothing is moving at 4:30am. As I accelerate away from the town limits another Roo comes bursting out the trees on my left and joins me in my lane, just in front of the GSA heading the same way. This Roo is happy to keep going and eventually I stop to allow him to hop off the road. Well things certainly aren’t boring on this ride! It’s a quiet trip down The Clyde to Batemans Bay Soldiers Club, my first Bonus Point. Photo taken and log written up, I programme in the next BP into the GPS that I use for point to point times and point the bike northwards towards Sydney.
The towns and villages roll by as the dawn struggles to break through the cloud cover, I stop for coffee at Berry and then continue on past Kiama before taking the Picton Road off ramp to head up hill to Wilton.
Milton Theatre.
Berry. Coffee time.
More corners and now one of my GPS’s wants me to take a different route, supposedly shorter, but I know it will take longer so I ignore it. This is why I’m riding this route. As I take the on ramp onto the Hume the GPS recalibrates itself and gives me a new (quicker) arrival time at the next BP, which now matches exactly the other GPS. Through Western Sydney and onto the M4 I head west into the Blue Mountains. Mother’s Day traffic is now heavy and it’s a slow ride up the hill. I refuel in Glenbrook where I get quizzed by the servo attendant about my bike, my riding kit, my Bluetooth comms etc. Back on the Highway I continue on to Medlow for BP # 2. The suns out momentarily which makes for a great photo!
On westward over the mountains and I take the turn off to Duckmaloi heading for Oberon. This is one of the reasons I chose the route, it’s been a while since I’ve been up around this area and the road does not disappoint for the next 2 hours as I make my way through Oberon, down to Abercrombie River, on to Taralga and Crookwell.
Bonus Point – Oberon RSL
Abercrombie River Crossing
Bonus Point - Crookwell RSL/CSL
I feel like a snack but everything is super busy in Crookwell so I continue west on the road to Boorowa until I find some space to pull over to munch on a muesli bar and down some water. A farmer and his wife (on their home after Mother’s Day Lunch) stop to check I’m OK, a quick chat and they’re on their way as am I. Pulling away from this stop as I accelerate another Roo bursts out from the tress on my left crosses about 10 metres in front of me, attempts to bound the roadside fence but misjudges the height and gets caught, somersaulting head over heels into the paddock before standing up and looking around in bewilderment! It must be a full moon or whatever the roo equivalent is!
Onwards to Boorowa, and this another sublime piece of country road I haven’t ridden for a while, enjoy it I do, even in a brief thunderstorm before idling into Boorowa to collect the last Bonus Point of this ride.
Bonus Point – Boorowa Hotel
Gravel Surfing Time! Just as well I brought the GSA on this ride
I finish up at Binalong, where I make my way back to the Hume to point the bike towards home. The GPS has been going berserk with rerouting instructions, all of which I’ve quietly ignored, as I know these roads well enough. The Barton Highway Off-ramp comes up soon enough and before too long I’m back in Canberra collecting my finishing docket.
Job done, just under 1,000kms for the day, with a 1,000 corners and what felt like a 1,000 Roos. The GPS settings will need relooking at as the “shorter distance” in all cases would not have resulted in a quicker/faster time.