Well it was a beautiful spring day today, so I thought I'd use the great weather to do a few laps of the Mount (Mt Panorama) and see how the preparations are going for this year's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. Over the past two weeks crews have been working on constructing the spectator seating, erecting numerous marquees, repainting the signage and advertsing on the various concrete walls around the circuit, readying the camping areas, renewing various road surfaces, re-sewing the track edges and grooming the track's run-off areas. With two weeks to go, the track is starting to look good for the race weekend from the 9 - 12 October.
I rode the track a few times in both directions. Hope you enjoy the view :)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The Kangaroo Valley Bounce
This past weekend (6 -7 September) saw me head down to Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands for a camping weekend with other riders from the TwoWheels Motorcycle Forum. The trip had been planned for a couple of months, with riders planning to meet up at Robertson (on the Illawarra Highway) at lunch time on Saturday and then camp in the Morton National Park, Bundanoon on Saturday night.
This is a map of the route taken:
Anyway, as Mr. Murphy would have it and being the first weekend of Spring, of course it was going to rain - and rain it did on the Saturday. It had, in fact been raining fairly steadily for getting close to 48 hours when I met up with another local forum member, Bubba, at our local Macdonalds carpark on Saturday morning at 8.00am. I had packed my bike the night before and it was loaded down with Ventura bag full of clothes and wine (fortification against the expected evening chill), two panniers with my camping gear and my sleeping bag and tent strapped onto the rack. All were suitable wrapped in plastic to protect from the rain. I was wearing two layers of wet weather clothing and my thermal long johns and feeling decidedly warm and snug.
We made our way south via Oberon, Black Springs, Abercrombie River, Taralga to our refuel stop at Goulburn. The weather was constant rain and strong S/SE winds all the way down. A few parts of the trip were a tad "hairy" in that the wind combined with the slippery road conditions made our bikes very skittish. Bubba rides a similar bike to mine (Suzuki GS500) and although it does not have the fairing that mine has (which acts like a sail and catches the wind), we were both having an interesting trip, leaning our bikes into the wind as we passed through exposed parts of the road. We took it in turns to ride lead and came across a variety of wildlife sharing the road with us on the trip. Bubba nearly had an altercation with some ducks taking refuge on the road and I was sadly being overtaken by a couple of kangaroo climbing out of the Abercrombie River gorge.
We got to Goulburn at 10.30am and located a Caltex Service Station, refuelled the two bikes and then headed north towards the Hume Highway to find a Macdonalds for a warming cup of coffee. Funnily enough the Maccas we found didn't have a McCafe and their espresso machine was being cleaned, so we had to settle for a large drip filter coffee each - blaaaahhhh :( Cross that Maccas off the list of places to stop at ! Strange that on the return journey, the adverts for Maccas were for the second newer one on the southern side of town that had all the comforts of home ..... and a McCafe ! Hmmmm :(
Having both warmed up a little and dripped over the Macdonalds floor we headed back out into the rain and wind. The next stop being Robertson on the Illawarra Highway, where we were scheduled to meet a group of forum riders from Sydney, Canberra and the South Coast at the famous Pie Shop for lunch. The ride between Goulburn and Robertson followed the dual carriageway Hume Highway and then onto the single lane Illawarra Highway. The rain continued, although the wind did ease a little. We finally arrived at Robertson and pulled into the Pie Shop car park at 12.30, the rain still coming down and the cloud base dropping, covering the area in mist and fog. Four other riders were already there - Tag on his Bandit from the South Coast, Casper on his VFR and Luke on his R1 from Canberra and BigD on his BMW (the Bavarian Road Block as he affectionately refers to it) from Blackheath. The four travelled to the area the day before and stayed in a Hotel at Bundanoon the night before. We parked the bikes and headed inside to await the others who were riding down from Sydney via the Princes Highway, Illawarra Highway and Macquarie Pass. The weather would make the Mac Pass part of the trip an interesting one. Whilst waiting for the Sydney group, we partook of some of the pies on offer at the shop. The steak, bacon and cheese pie is one to go back for :)
About 1.00pm the group from Sydney arrived. A couple of riders had pulled out that morning because of weather or other commitments, but six eventually made the trip:
Beast on his new toy, the BMW K1200R
Sydney on her ZZR250
DrEvil on his GS500E
JPugz on her GS500F
Taradiddle on her SV1000S
Wolf on his Speedtriple
After everyone had suitable refreshed with pies, coffee, tea, soft drinks, we decided that it would be better to get to Bundanoon as soon as we could, just in case the weather didn't break, thus giving us more time to set up camp in the rotten weather.
JPugz, Luke and Big D preparing to head off from Robertson
JPugs, Luke and Sydney preparing to head off
Some of the bikes lined up in the rain and cloud at Robertson
Beast and Casper standing behind the BMW K1200R warming their hands on its exhaust
The ride back to Bundanoon was uneventful, although the weather did ease a tad and as we pulled into the campgrounds at Bundanoon, the rain was starting to ease to a slight drizzle.
Some of the bikes lined up at Bundanoon
The camping area with our tents erected - mine is the silver dome tent in the middle right with its back to the rest. When i got it up I realised it was facing the wrong way, but couldn't be bothered turning it around, so left it facing the wrong way :)
The camping area itself was quite well appointed. There was a toilet/shower block with hot showers and a campers barbeque/picnic shed with electric lights, four electric BBQs and four picnic benches. This area became our "campfire", as open fires were not permitted in the National Park. So for the rest of the evening we stood around the four BBQs keeping their green buttons pushed so we had some warmth. A supply run was made into town and we then got comfortable for the night, enjoying the ambience of the "campfire" and the damp removing properties of red wine, Jack Daniels, Bundaberg Rum and beer - just to name a few of the libations on offer :) After much procrastinating about what we were going to do for dinner, given the weather and also the condition of some of the campers, we decided that pizza was the go and Sydney and Wolf headed up into town with a pocket full of cash and a huge bag to obtain dinner.
Around 7.00pm about six mega gourmet pizzas arrived - Yumm - and our "campfire" turned into a pizza warmer as we scoffed them all, washing them down with our warming drinks :)
The evening became a little hazy as the enjoyment and fun continued. Many world problems were solved, many tall stories were told and many photos and videos were taken. For dessert, Taradiddle produced two containers containing Mars Bar slice and Cherry Ripe slice which were both to die for :) I think I eventually hit the sleeping bag around 11pm, but I can't be certain, however i do know that the last revellers made it to bed at 1.30am because the wished everyone a loud "goodnight" !!! :)
Standing around the "campfire" at the start of the evening
Mmmmmmm Pizza and beer (Sydney and Wolf) - check out the bottles bottom left !! :)
On Sunday morning, following a night filled with the loudest snoring I have heard in ages, we were woken up at 6.30am by Beast heading up into town to see what time breakfast shops opened. it was a glorious clear morning, the sun was out, blue skies and no rain thank goodness !! I staggered across to the "campfire" in my bright green long johns, much to the chagrin of those that were up - LOL, and brewed a coffee before hoeing into a bowl of cereal and skim milk (note to self - dump the skim milk!!). Bubba by this time had also arisen and was starting to pack up. He had made arrangements to be home by 1.00pm so we decided to head out earlier than the others. Why is it that packing up takes longer than unpacking??? I eventually got all the gear onto the bike, in much the same places it was on the way down, put all my riding gear on and we bade farewell to our friends and headed off, back towards Goulburn. My gloves were still wet through and my fingers were feeling very cold as the wind made my gloves into little refrigerators.
We refulled again in Goulburn and then headed back up the Tablelands Way towards Taralga. At Taralga I lost sight of Bubba as he opened up his bike and I didn't see him for the rest of the trip. I arrived back home at about 1.00pm having had a brilliant weekend with some wonderful people and having ridden in the worst conditions of my riding life to date on the Saturday.
What a great weekend :) Roll on the next as soon as possible :)
This is a map of the route taken:
Anyway, as Mr. Murphy would have it and being the first weekend of Spring, of course it was going to rain - and rain it did on the Saturday. It had, in fact been raining fairly steadily for getting close to 48 hours when I met up with another local forum member, Bubba, at our local Macdonalds carpark on Saturday morning at 8.00am. I had packed my bike the night before and it was loaded down with Ventura bag full of clothes and wine (fortification against the expected evening chill), two panniers with my camping gear and my sleeping bag and tent strapped onto the rack. All were suitable wrapped in plastic to protect from the rain. I was wearing two layers of wet weather clothing and my thermal long johns and feeling decidedly warm and snug.
We made our way south via Oberon, Black Springs, Abercrombie River, Taralga to our refuel stop at Goulburn. The weather was constant rain and strong S/SE winds all the way down. A few parts of the trip were a tad "hairy" in that the wind combined with the slippery road conditions made our bikes very skittish. Bubba rides a similar bike to mine (Suzuki GS500) and although it does not have the fairing that mine has (which acts like a sail and catches the wind), we were both having an interesting trip, leaning our bikes into the wind as we passed through exposed parts of the road. We took it in turns to ride lead and came across a variety of wildlife sharing the road with us on the trip. Bubba nearly had an altercation with some ducks taking refuge on the road and I was sadly being overtaken by a couple of kangaroo climbing out of the Abercrombie River gorge.
We got to Goulburn at 10.30am and located a Caltex Service Station, refuelled the two bikes and then headed north towards the Hume Highway to find a Macdonalds for a warming cup of coffee. Funnily enough the Maccas we found didn't have a McCafe and their espresso machine was being cleaned, so we had to settle for a large drip filter coffee each - blaaaahhhh :( Cross that Maccas off the list of places to stop at ! Strange that on the return journey, the adverts for Maccas were for the second newer one on the southern side of town that had all the comforts of home ..... and a McCafe ! Hmmmm :(
Having both warmed up a little and dripped over the Macdonalds floor we headed back out into the rain and wind. The next stop being Robertson on the Illawarra Highway, where we were scheduled to meet a group of forum riders from Sydney, Canberra and the South Coast at the famous Pie Shop for lunch. The ride between Goulburn and Robertson followed the dual carriageway Hume Highway and then onto the single lane Illawarra Highway. The rain continued, although the wind did ease a little. We finally arrived at Robertson and pulled into the Pie Shop car park at 12.30, the rain still coming down and the cloud base dropping, covering the area in mist and fog. Four other riders were already there - Tag on his Bandit from the South Coast, Casper on his VFR and Luke on his R1 from Canberra and BigD on his BMW (the Bavarian Road Block as he affectionately refers to it) from Blackheath. The four travelled to the area the day before and stayed in a Hotel at Bundanoon the night before. We parked the bikes and headed inside to await the others who were riding down from Sydney via the Princes Highway, Illawarra Highway and Macquarie Pass. The weather would make the Mac Pass part of the trip an interesting one. Whilst waiting for the Sydney group, we partook of some of the pies on offer at the shop. The steak, bacon and cheese pie is one to go back for :)
About 1.00pm the group from Sydney arrived. A couple of riders had pulled out that morning because of weather or other commitments, but six eventually made the trip:
Beast on his new toy, the BMW K1200R
Sydney on her ZZR250
DrEvil on his GS500E
JPugz on her GS500F
Taradiddle on her SV1000S
Wolf on his Speedtriple
After everyone had suitable refreshed with pies, coffee, tea, soft drinks, we decided that it would be better to get to Bundanoon as soon as we could, just in case the weather didn't break, thus giving us more time to set up camp in the rotten weather.
JPugz, Luke and Big D preparing to head off from Robertson
JPugs, Luke and Sydney preparing to head off
Some of the bikes lined up in the rain and cloud at Robertson
Beast and Casper standing behind the BMW K1200R warming their hands on its exhaust
The ride back to Bundanoon was uneventful, although the weather did ease a tad and as we pulled into the campgrounds at Bundanoon, the rain was starting to ease to a slight drizzle.
Some of the bikes lined up at Bundanoon
The camping area with our tents erected - mine is the silver dome tent in the middle right with its back to the rest. When i got it up I realised it was facing the wrong way, but couldn't be bothered turning it around, so left it facing the wrong way :)
The camping area itself was quite well appointed. There was a toilet/shower block with hot showers and a campers barbeque/picnic shed with electric lights, four electric BBQs and four picnic benches. This area became our "campfire", as open fires were not permitted in the National Park. So for the rest of the evening we stood around the four BBQs keeping their green buttons pushed so we had some warmth. A supply run was made into town and we then got comfortable for the night, enjoying the ambience of the "campfire" and the damp removing properties of red wine, Jack Daniels, Bundaberg Rum and beer - just to name a few of the libations on offer :) After much procrastinating about what we were going to do for dinner, given the weather and also the condition of some of the campers, we decided that pizza was the go and Sydney and Wolf headed up into town with a pocket full of cash and a huge bag to obtain dinner.
Around 7.00pm about six mega gourmet pizzas arrived - Yumm - and our "campfire" turned into a pizza warmer as we scoffed them all, washing them down with our warming drinks :)
The evening became a little hazy as the enjoyment and fun continued. Many world problems were solved, many tall stories were told and many photos and videos were taken. For dessert, Taradiddle produced two containers containing Mars Bar slice and Cherry Ripe slice which were both to die for :) I think I eventually hit the sleeping bag around 11pm, but I can't be certain, however i do know that the last revellers made it to bed at 1.30am because the wished everyone a loud "goodnight" !!! :)
Standing around the "campfire" at the start of the evening
Mmmmmmm Pizza and beer (Sydney and Wolf) - check out the bottles bottom left !! :)
On Sunday morning, following a night filled with the loudest snoring I have heard in ages, we were woken up at 6.30am by Beast heading up into town to see what time breakfast shops opened. it was a glorious clear morning, the sun was out, blue skies and no rain thank goodness !! I staggered across to the "campfire" in my bright green long johns, much to the chagrin of those that were up - LOL, and brewed a coffee before hoeing into a bowl of cereal and skim milk (note to self - dump the skim milk!!). Bubba by this time had also arisen and was starting to pack up. He had made arrangements to be home by 1.00pm so we decided to head out earlier than the others. Why is it that packing up takes longer than unpacking??? I eventually got all the gear onto the bike, in much the same places it was on the way down, put all my riding gear on and we bade farewell to our friends and headed off, back towards Goulburn. My gloves were still wet through and my fingers were feeling very cold as the wind made my gloves into little refrigerators.
We refulled again in Goulburn and then headed back up the Tablelands Way towards Taralga. At Taralga I lost sight of Bubba as he opened up his bike and I didn't see him for the rest of the trip. I arrived back home at about 1.00pm having had a brilliant weekend with some wonderful people and having ridden in the worst conditions of my riding life to date on the Saturday.
What a great weekend :) Roll on the next as soon as possible :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
