Ever had one of those great days .....

Ever had one of those great days......

Well this morning, with the rest of the family getting over their Relay for Life aches and pains, I decided to head downtown for a coffee at 10.00 and then go for a blat around the Mount, seeing as it was such a beautiful day.

So, after coffee I headed up the Mount, joined by a large number of people in cars and on bikes with a similar intention. I can still hear a friend on his Triumph Speed Triple heading up Mountain Straight and the climbing turns onto the top of the Mount at a Rally last year :)

Just a few pics to give those who haven't seen Mount Panorama before a little taste :)


Bottom of Conrod into The Chase


GMC Bridge with the Resort on the right. When will they open that???


Pit entrance road looking up to the top of the Mount

Anyway, having gone around the Mountain a couple of times (as one does), I decided that maybe I should go home via one of my motorcycle riding mate's backroad to his village, Eglinton, which branches off the Sofala Road. I got to the Eglinton turnoff and it was such a great day .. oh what the hell, I'll head out towards Sofala to Wiagdon and do the twisties out there ... :)


The road leaving Peel, big right hand sweeper :)


Couldn't resist this shot, nothing like Central West kangaroos !! :)

Got to Wiagdon, down to third and second and I hit the twisties climbing up to the top. What the hell, Sofala isn't far. How much fuel do I have? Should be OK to get back... and away I go :)


Main Street, Sofala

There were about 10 bikes in Sofala, all Harley's with their riders (and most had pillions as well), sipping coffee at the cafes.

Damn its a great day, maybe I should continue on to Ilford, I mean it is such a great day :)
About 10kms out of Ilford, the road crosses the ridgeline and between the trees is this great view of the hills and mountains over towards Kandos. I had to turn around to go back and take the shot (hence why the bike is facing the wrong way :)).


So on to Ilford with the Odometer reading 250kms when I got there and its 70kms to Lithgow. Ah what the hell, why not. A nice leisurely cruise down the road to Lithgow, through Capertee, the Bullens (Ben and Cullen), and past the power stations at Portland and Walerawang. Heading into one of the Bullens I was passed quite vigourously by a Randy Mamola replica BMW R1100S (very nice) and a BMW R1200GS. They turned off towards Portland and I'm sure it was the owner of a local Music shop here in Bathurst. He has a small collection of Beemers including a Randy Mamola replica. Past a group of bikes outside the pub, including a nice silver Sprint ST (drool), a wave to their riders awaiting lunch on the verandah and I'm off towards Lithgow.

I arrived at Lithgow with 320Kms on the odo and decided it was best to fill up first before thinking about lunch. Damn my bike is good. It only needed 14 litres and I still had 6 litres in the tank - another 130 Kms. Not to forget that the first 160kms or so travelled was in and around Bathurst over the past week ......... not too bad :) I think I'm going to notice the change in economy when I eventually upgrade from the GS500.

Anyway, by this stage its just gone 1.30pm and its lunch time, so I grab a sandwich and a coffee before heading along the highway back to Bathurst, finally getting home at 3.00pm with one very big grin on my face :)

I'll have to have a coffee and blat around the Mountain again ... soon !!

Ever had one of those great days .........

Yogi's Bucko Ride 2009

Well, today was the day that the Sydney riders from the TwoWheels Forum were going to have a ride to remember our departed young legend Bucko, who tragically left us just over a year ago. I couldn't get down to Sydney for the ride, but finding myself with an unexpected short "ticket of leave" for an hour or so, I decided to head out on my own mini rememberance ride on a few of my own favourite motorcycling roads in the local area.

Here's a map of my route, leaving Bathurst on the red route and returning on the pruple one.


I left Bathurst, heading south down the Perthville, following the old Vale circuit for half of its length, via orton Park then on to Lagoon and O'Connell. From O'Connell I headed to Tarana. I love that part of the road where it follows the river about 5kms from O'Connell. I can see myself on the banks of the river there, flicking my fly rod over the ponds. On towards Tarana, down a lovely straight decsnding piece of road over a substantial concrete bridge crossing a small river then climbing up over a disused railway crossing. Again, this is a memorable piece of road, especially when travelling the other way back towards O'Connell. In this direction, the road bears right and then runs down hill towards the creek crossing the railway. For the unwary this can be an interesting crossing as the railway crossing is on a bit of a brow and taken at speed can result in some air time for the unwary rider. I refer to this rail crossing as Beast's Leap, after a fellow TWF member's experience here a few rides ago :)

Here are a couple of shots of Beast's Leap :)

Looking towards O'Connell just before the rail crossing


At the rail crossing looking towards O'Connel and the river and bridge in the middle distance


Anyway, back to the ride. From Beast's Leap it was on to Tarana, where there were 10 or so bikes outside the pub, their riders enjoying lunch in the beer garden. From Tarana it was on to Sodwalls, through the Rydal road crossroads and on to Lake Lyell and then South Bowenfels in Lithgow. A short detour here into Lithgow to grab some lunch and a drink before heading back to Hampton where I turned onto the Jenolan Caves Road at Hartley.

I love this road, especially the first part as I can get into a graceful sweeping ride through the corners at the start of this road. On through the locales of Wolgan Valley, Lowther and Hampton past the wind generators to the turn off for Oberon on the Duckmaloi Road.

I follow the Duckmaloi Road through its many climbing and descending stretches, twisties and sweepers into Oberon, which was again very popular today with riders enjoying lunch at the pub and the bakery next door. From Oberon it was back towards Bathurst along the O'Connell Road, this time passing through O'Connell and Brewongle on to Bathurst, with a final lap of Mount Panorama to end the ride.

The weather was fantastic for riding, dry, not too hot, a few clouds overhead to shade the sun at times and added to that some good music on the ipod made for a great couple of hours.

In memory of Bucko.