I stopped at Lithgow for the required morning coffee at the Maccas McCafe. Of note was the lack of other motorcycles today. After filling up at the Caltex Service Station I then headed up Mort Street to join the Bells Line of Road. The climb out of Lithgow is always a nice start to the ride and I was wary of the possibility that there may be Police presence on the road as it has recently gonme through speed zone changes. Passing the ZigZag Railway terminus at Clarence saw a diesel rail car getting ready to take the passengers on the late morning trip down to Lithgow. No police in sight, but still maintining the 80kph. I'm a good boy :)
It was an uneventful ride to Bell with a selection of tunes pumping through the iPod and making the mornin ride a smile provoker. At Bell there is an RTA havey vehicle weighing station and I assume there has been a major oil/petrol/diesel spill there recently as the road is covered in sand for about 50 m either side of the station. I'm not sure what is worse, the diesel or the sand that they throw around to soak it all up !!! Anyway, just after the weigh station there is the only 100kph section of road left on the Bells Line of Road. This section goes for a few kilometres until just before the Mt Wilson turn off, where it becomes a new 80kph zone. This zone then continues through to Bilpin where it becomes 60kph. The speed limits alternate between 80kph and 60kph for the rest of the road into Richmond.
I must say that the changes in the speed limits have made the ride faily ordinary now. The only real reason for travelling the Bell's Line compared with the Great Western Highway would have to be the scenery and the fact that the road is not as heavily used at the GWH nor is there as much urban build up on the road sides. I question the reasoning of the RTA when they made the speed limit between Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens and Mt Wilson 80kph when it contains a fairly lengthy stretch of overtaking lane and is very very similar in its makeup to the remaining 100kph zoned stretch of road. Mind you, the fact that the road between Mt. Tomah and Bilpin is decidedly mediocre in its repair, with very ordinary repaired patches of road that provide a not so smooth ride - perhaps provides the reasoning for the speed reduction to 80 and 60kph. Could it be that instead of repairing the road appropriately the powers that be simply reduced the speed limit because the road has not been maintained adequately??? Hmmmm
Anyway, enough grumbles. I passed quite a few fellow motorcyclists heading westwards, nodded or waved to all and receive a fair few nods and waves in return. Quite a few dual sport machines out today - particularly the big BMW GSs.
I took the required photo of my bike at the foot of the Mt Tomah hill ......
........ and then continued down past Bells Hill and Kurajong to Richmond and then Windsor. There was little activity at RAAF Richmond as I passed by, with a numb er of C130s parked outside on the ramp with a P3 Orion also there. There was also a couple of gliders using the field.
In to Windsor, where I parked near the Market and had a wander through it before having a bite of lunch (Pie and Coffee, what else???) and then heading back the way I had come. The ride home was uneventful, the traffic very light and again, no police seen until the GWH between Lithgow and Bathurst when two HWP cars went past in the space of a few Kms. I'm sure they do that on purpose to catch the unwary driver or rider. I tend to look for the second one these days and more often than not, there he is a few Kms behind the first. Sneaky buggers :)
Anyway, another brilliant day on the bike, just over 250kms travelled, so not a long ride, but any ride is a good ride :) I now have eleven days before my big trip down to Merimbula and Harrietville for the TW Forum Christmas Party - so I expect that will be my next report. Till then, ride safe :)
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