I suppose that, when leading six riders over 600 km, something unexpected is likely to happen. In today’s case, that was an unplanned diversion and two dropped motorcycles.
The ride began smoothly enough. The heavy rain of the previous day had gone, the sun came out as we passed Yass, conditions for riding were glorious as we made our coffee stop at Jugiong, and they remained so for the rest of the day. We made our planned fuel stop at Tumut, then about 17 km later encountered a roadblock; as I was at the front of the group, I was told that a fatal collision had occurred near Batlow, and that our planned road would remain closed for the rest of the day. I pulled in to a gravel lay-by to inform the team and plan our next move. Then, with a dozen things on my mind, I dropped the BMW; a salutary lesson in applying one’s cognitive abilities to riding first, and worrying about peripheral things later.
There was an alternative route through Greenhills State Forest, but we had no information on the state of the road; the group decision was taken to continue that way, and if conditions became unsuitable we would return to Tumut. In the event, the road was fine; it was 20-odd kilometres of sweeping bends through what would normally be Radiata forest, but it had all been burned out and was now almost completely devoid of vegetation.
Thus we made it to lunch on time. The Tumbarumba Pub is an unpretentious country pub with generous portions of the usual pub fare. It was over lunch that we found out that the fatal collision which had caused our diversion had claimed the life of a motorcyclist. With that sobering news to digest, we continued to Khancoban, and on a long sweeping bend encountered police attending the scene of yet another motorcyclist who had departed the road.
These two incidents were rather pointed reminders that riding motorcycles has its risks. As ride leader, it focussed my mind on what I could do to make the ride as safe as possible, and I found myself backing off the speed a bit, thinking ahead even more than normal, and making sure that the group stayed together.
The Alpine Way from Khancoban to Thredbo was, as expected, a magnificent ride; 75 km of winding turns through eucalyptus forest on a dry road, in sunshine, with hardly any wind. We had discussed the possibility of wildlife on this section, but all we encountered was a large brown snake casually crossing the road. However, a couple of corners had been washed out in recent rain and were covered in gravel; it was on one of these corners that another one of the group dropped his bike. Yet another salutary lesson; this time that even experienced riders can be caught out by the unexpected.
The ride left me with plenty to think about, but all in all it was a successful day out. Two bikes had scratches and two riders had bruised egos but were otherwise unharmed, and I believe that all six of us had an enjoyable time.
Scott
Participants:
- Chris Dietzel Kawasaki 1400GTR
- Bill Henshaw Triumph Tiger Explorer
- Dave Jones Yamaha XT1200Z
- Kevin Sherman Indian Scout
- Hartmut Vehm BMW R1250GS
- Scott England BMW R1250RT
