Club Ride To Cootamundra 6 March 2016

We left Caltex Nichols in warm sunny weather for a direct incident free run to Harden Murrumburrah for morning tea.

As everyone knew how to get to Harden Murrumburrah, corner markers were not required for this part of the ride. It was agreed everyone ride at there own pace and we regroup at the Terracotta cafe for morning tea.

After morning tea we set out for Cootamundra and as there would be a lot of turns it was necessary to use corner markers and a tail end Charle. David Dawson very kindly under took tail end Charlie duties - a big thank you to David.

The trip to Cootamundra was to be via Harden Jugiong Road, Cullinga Mines Road, Beggan Beggan Road, Rosehill Road, Old Gundagai Road and Olympic Hwy.

I thought I missed the Cullinga Mines Road and needed to turn the group back only to find I had not missed the turn and another U turn was needed to get us back on track.

While I turned right, back onto Harden Jugiong Road, the group turned left so I did another U turn, caught up to the group, and stopped the group from going the wrong way. Some then went back to Harden Murrumburrah and onto Cootamundra while the rest of us did another U turn to go the planned route to Cootamundra.

After everyone had a chance to practice their U turn skills, it was onto Cootamundra via the roads listed above.

The country side around the Cootamundra area was very different since the last time we road through this area, as it has chanced from green coutryside to very brown and dry coutryside, with lots of stock huddled under trees to escape the sun. 

After an enjoyable ride to Cootamundra we all meet at the Globe Hotel for an delicious lunch. The Globe's staff took very good care of us and had ice cold water waiting on our booked table. The water was greatly appreciated as the temperature was getting very warm by lunch time.

With lunch completed some rode over to the nearest servo to refuel their bikes, while others headed directly home.

After refueling we road directly to Harden Murrumburrah and stopped at the Harden Honey House for a few kilos of delicious honey.

The next part of our ride took those that remained in the group to Bowning for a refeshing afternoon tea at the Mayfield Mews. After a refeshing cold drink and a look around the Mews we said our good byes and headed home.


Garry.

The ride group was:

GARRY MCCURLEY and NATALIE TEBAY  - HONDA VFR1200,
DAVID DAWSON - BMW 1200 GS,
LORRAINE DAWSON - KAWASAKI VULCAN S,
MICK and KIPPER - VICTORY XC,
TERRY MILLS - HONDA SHADOW 750,
MARK MOREY - TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE,
STEVE ALFORD - MOTO GUZZI V7,
TREVOR MCLEOD - YAMAHA FJR1300,
ANDREW CAMPBELL - YAMAHA FJR1300. 

Decide and Ride - 28th February 2016

I arrived some 15 minutes early to meet up with those few not going to Tassie.  With blue skies and a forecast max of 34 degrees most of the day would be very pleasant.

It took some convincing but eventually all in attendance agreed that a run out to Crookwell would be the cooler and more interesting option.  After a quick briefing and an explanation of corner markers and tail end charlie, we set off down the Federal Highway until Shingle Hill Way, Sutton Road and into Gunning for a morning tea stop at the Merino cafe.  

It appeared as though everyone there had also gone on holidays as there was no one sitting inside and service was prompt and the stop enjoyable.

We then headed out for Crookwell via the Range Road and Kialla Roads and into another very quiet town with few people.  After quick refreshments,  loo break and a quick discussion it was agreed to by all that we try out the Gurrundah Road on the way back to Gunning.

On the return trip, and as to whether it was the heat I do not know, but all discipline went out the window and I guess that was my fault.  As tail end charlie I got impatient with the pace thinking the numpty up front was
spoiling the day and I decided to round up everyone.  I realised as I was overtaking those who were going to be corner markers that this would cause a world of confusion and I found I was quite beside myself as I kept rounding up each one.  Then after going past the ride leader .... well what can I say ..... you guessed it... I got ahead of myself ... ah well so be it and I just enjoyed the ride, leaving the others to fathom things out for themselves.


The run down the Gurrundah Road was a mix of very wide freshly sealed road where wind farm construction trucks needed more width to access the sites and the rest were the old country lane style in various quality and width.  

It was good to find a fresh road and we enjoyed the run into Breadalbane.  From there it was another good run into Gunning for a final Coffee and chat before leaving.

I am not sure why other customers were so intrigued at our table. Yes, we were
having an interesting and somewhat heated discussion about the ride and my
behaviour, but in the end we got it all sorted and I, myself and me made up.   

We all returned home somewhat weary and hot but with smiles on our faces, and no ill feelings about the behaviour on the day.

Cheers
from all of us
(aka Trevor McLeod - aided and abetted by the  multiple personality gambit)

AGM 2016 - News

Not much has emerged from the punters off at the 2016 AGM in Tassie.
(the old "what happens at the AGM stays at the AGM" no doubt)
We will probably have to make do with mysterious hints and obscure references to shared disgracefulness - however a snippet has dropped out of the ether - it seems Ian's pie obsession has become a shared passion.

Derek Titheradge and Ron Tito.

 

Club Ride to Tathra/Pambula – 21 Feb 2016

The first news re this ride was that it wasn't going to Tathra due to roadworks on Brown Mountain, with Jindabyne the southern alternative - but there's nothing like a ride leader who needs to breath some coastal air!

Mr Dietzel provides us with a tale of the ride to Pambula! 

Incriminating evidence supplied by Andrew C

I had a call from my daughter on Saturday ‘Hey dad, are you going for a ride tomorrow – I want to come’. This is the first time for Cherita since last Feb (when we rode to Moruya to take a tandem skydive jump). After a quick check of the weather forecast – ‘Yes! Let me get the bike back together first’.

Arrived at Caltex Hume a little late (8.25, should have been there at 8.15) to the sight of quite a number of riders (19 including myself). So 20 of us for lunch at Tathra. Andrew explained the route we will take, and also that it’s not Tathra we are going to, it’s the Commercial Hotel at Pambula for lunch. Morning coffee stop at Nimmitabel (via Polo Flat road), with the only disappointment for the day being that boring run along the Monaro Highway. No tail end Charlie necessary until departing from the coffee stop, and that role was played by Ian on the ‘Wing. 

Andrew made up for the Monaro bit though: “On leaving Nimmitabel, we’ll continue on the Monaro Hwy through Bombala, and then we’ll swing off through Cathcart and Wyndham, coming into Pambula from the south. After lunch, we’ll head north and turn off for Candelo at Wolumla, through Bemboka and up the Brown”.  Yes! – what a lovely stretch of road (Neil G advised us that there are only a few potholes on the Cathcart road, but - note - they are there!). The price that we do have to pay for that run is... the Monaro again later in the day – but the rest of the ride made it worthwhile.

Awesome road, with some very spirited riding happening when the circumstances would allow it (lucky I saw the Highway Patrol car coming our way just outside of Nimmitabel – hard on the brakes to wash off some speed and still he gave me a second glance!). A few of us had morning tea at the Cafe on the left (not to the usual Bakery on the right). That was a win – no long queue to wait for coffee, and yes Ian, they do have pies!  I had a ‘Cowboy Pie’ full of bacon, baked beans, steak and egg, and it was really good. 

Lunch at the Commercial in Pambula was pleasant, although Cherita and I thought they’d forgotten us, as everybody had pretty much finished theirs before our lunch arrived. Must say the disappointment at Pambula was the service station (should have filled up before the big rush after lunch). The Shell (I think it was before – or was it a Caltex?) is now a United, and only one pump with 98 (the 95 is Ethanol mix). I ended up filling up with 91 ‘just as a one-time affair’. Tip – it didn’t do a lot for my fuel economy – by the time we got back to Canberra I was on reserve again – Only 300km therefore on a tank. 

Had a rest stop at the Caltex in Polo Flat, where some gave their bikes a bit of a drink “Quick, let’s get a photo for the ride report”. Cherita and I said our farewells and left the group, arriving home at about 4PM.
A great ride Andrew, thank you, with a group of like-minded on a very pleasant Sunday.

Chris

List of Riders:   

• Andrew Campbell – FJR1300 (Ride leader)    
• Steve Alford – Motoguzzi V7
• Chris (and Cherita) Dietzel – GTR1400    
• Trevor McLeod – FJR1300
• Gary McCurley – VFR1200    
• John Storn – FJR1300
• Ian Paterson – GL1800    
• Steve Hayes – DL650
• Mark Dunn – XL1100    
• Manfred Halton – R1200R
• Gary Thomas – VStrom    
• Sandy Fisk – Triumph Speedmaster
• Darryl Harrington – ST1100    
• Suzy Arnold – F700GS
• Neil Goldfinch  - CBR1100XX    
• Les Robinson – 1150GS
• Darryl Cullen – 1250 Bandit    
• Kris Jirasek – GSXR1300
• Graham Williams – VT750   

Club Ride to Crookwell 7 February 2016.

Mother nature looked after us and gave us beautiful, sunny, windless warm weather to go for a ride.

The ride route was partly chosen to give us a look at the newly tarred road between Taralga and Crookwell.

If you like to ride in weather as described above and explore new roads you would have throughly enjoyed the ride, as this newly tarred road can only be described as a fantastic ride with picuturesque sceney, fagrant  pine trees great corners and road surface.

Like all country roads you do need to be alert to kangaroos. We did encounter a small mob who found it hard to get off the road corridor due to the new style of fencing used along the road. Possibly this new style of fence is designed to help keep roos off the road, however, it appears to also unfortunatley trap roos who find their way into the road corridor. 

We arrived in Crookwell and had an enjoyable lunch at the Crookwell Hotel Bisto.

After lunch we rode over to Gunning for an enjoyable afternoon tea in the garden area of the Merino cafe.

On the way to Gunning, Andrew and myself encountered an cute echidna wondering around the road. Luckily by the time the rest of the group went through the echidna with a  little help was persuaded to wonder off the road.

On completing an enjoyable afternoon tea we said our goodbyes and everyone made their way home.

 Garry.

The ride route was:

BP Watson - Bungendore - Currawang Road - regroup bus stop at intersection of Braidwood Road and Currawang Road - Goulburn for morning tea and fuel - Taralga - Laggon - Crookwell for lunch - Gunning for afternoon tea, good byes and home.

The riders were:

GARRY MCCURLEY HONDA VFR1200
MARK MOREY TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE
DAVID DAWSON BMW
STEVE HAYES DL650
KIM MOOREY BMW F700GS
DARRYL PALIN HONDA GOLDWING GL1800
NEIL GOLDFINCH HONDA BLACKBIRD CBR1100 XX
ROBERT MCNEILLY MV AUGUSTA 675
LES ROBINSON BMW R1150 GS
ANDREW CAMPBELL KAWASAKI ZX14R
MICK & KIPPER VICTORY XC
RICK GOSTAN DUCATI ST4S
STEVE ALFORD GUZZI V7
JOHN STORN YAMAHA FJR1300
CHRIS DIETZEL KAWASAKI GTR1400
GARY THOMAS DL650.

Ride Report Crookwell-Taralga 2nd February 2016

The road between Crookwell and Taralga, a natural for round trips and short cuts, has finally been sealed and marked. The Ulysses Club Canberra Branch sent Al and me to investigate, and here is what we found.
Because of road works on Nanima Road and the Sutton-Gundaroo road we decided to ride up the Barton Highway, along Yass Valley Way and via the Hume to Gunning. We met up at the Hall layby but our clever strategy came to nought only 100 metres further on, when we got caught in a huge traffic jam caused by the highway being resealed. Once past this, however, it was fairly smooth sailing to Gunning for coffee. Unfortunately, the Merino Café doesn’t sell meat pies but if I keep asking every time I go in they might see what a popular idea it is and get a few in.

The weather had been perfect up into now and it only got perfecter and perfecter as we rode via Grabben Gullen to Crookwell. Low 20s, bright sunshine and not a breath of wind. Al needed fuel at Crookwell but imagine our surprise when we went to the Mobil servo on the northern outskirts of town to find it in a state of extreme flux behind huge steel security fences. The word is it’s being renovated and will reopen at some stage but in the meantime there is only one servo still operating in Crookwell – the small one near the bottom (north)end of the main street. So in a town the size and remoteness of Crookwell there is one 91 bowser, one 95 bowser and one diesel bowser.

Full of juice, we wended our way through yet more roadworks at the turnoff to Laggan and Taralga and headed out of town on our mission of discovery.
This 37 kilometres of winding bitumen, dubbed Laggan Road and then Laggan Taralga Road on Google Maps, is really called Main Road 248 East, a title that conjures up visions at once exotic, erotic and romantic, especially with all the sheep to be seen in adjacent paddocks. The first leg, to Laggan, hasn’t changed because it has been sealed for years, but once we resisted the siren call of the Laggan pub and broke east towards Taralga a new world opened up.
A few kilometres out of town the road became wide and smooth, with not only centreline markings but also sideline markings that continued to within five km of Taralga. The surface was smooth and pothole-free, the curves were sensuously linked with no tight bends or hairpins to disrupt the rhythm, and the views were extensive and beautiful. The last section to be sealed, between Commissioners Creek and Wowagin (don’t bother looking for it, there’s nothing there), was realigned and reconstructed before being sealed so is especially good. 

 The advisory speed signs were reliable and consistent – mostly 80 km/h with a few 70 km/h – so we kept a steady, exuberant pace as we smoothly swept left, right, left (or right, left, right if coming in the opposite direction) for mile after mile after mile. It was a real joy!

We arrived in Taralga at 12:30 pm and, as true explorers do, rewarded ourselves with a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, baked beans and toast at a beaut little café towards the north end of town. We returned to Canberra via Goulburn, Breadalbane, Gunning and the Sutton Road, which still has 1.6 km of greasy gravel just south of Gunning. The good news is it looks like it’s almost ready to seal.

In summary, the Crookwell-Taralga road is a great ride in its own right but also provided a great new round trip and an alternative way to get onto Tablelands Way to Oberon, Bathurst and Cape York.

Ian Paterson

• Ian Paterson    GL1800
• Al Munday    FJR1300

The views from the Crookwell-Taralga road are spectacular.

The café in Taralga has al fresco dining.

* From these images there are some concerns that Ian and Al have discovered a space time portal on the Crookwell-Taralga Road which transports travellers too and from a sunny Europe out of step with the current season - evidence may be apparent in an unseasonal tan, youthful visage and the aroma of fresh coffee. (or you could just try the new road yourself - the trick will be to work out which way is widdershins?)

Ride Report for Snowy Mountains Loop 24th January 2016

With the weeks weather forecast looking rather gloomy it was nice to see that Sunday eventually looked like things would favour us for a good ride. 13 riders gathered at Nichols for the adventure with another two, Ian Paterson and Andrew Campbell meeting the crew at Tumut.

After a short brief from Chas our ride leader for the day informing us about our route and stops for morning tea and lunch etc (Plus double demerit points were active) off we set down the Barton Highway for the first short wee break  and regroup at Jugiong. Just the usual boring bit traveling down this part of concrete.

Leaving Jujiong Chas asked for a volunteer to act as Tail End Charlie, Thanks very much Trevor McLeod offering to undertake this. Also corner markers were required and Chas gave a demo to those not familiar with this task as to what was required for the smooth operation and welfare of the group of riders.

Further down the concrete and at Coolac we departed from the Highway and headed out to Darbarala which meant crossing the Murrumbidgee River at Crowes Road and we were pleasantly surprised to see that a brand new bridge had been built to cross the river.

This stretch of road albiet a typical rural road had no fences containing the said animals and yes we did come across the normal gathering of dumb sheep smack in the middle of the road however caution followed and we were soon past this little obstacle. This stretch along the river down to Brungle and Tumut was an interesting ride. Some short little twisties, the odd Cattle Grid and of course the Farmer with his wide tractor/machinery taking up most of what little road we had;needless to say all was good. Along this stretch of road Darryl spotted a Bison on the ridge line.

Tumut saw Ian waiting for us at the café arriving ahead of us. The crew sat down to the assorted coffee, tea and cakes and the chatter of times ago and a few stories to enlighten the day. Peter and Trevor partook of the usual delights and poor Mick was aghast at the size of these fat fixes as the pictures show. Ian was so disappointed that the café had no Pies. Oh well maybe at the next stop we can get Ian one.

Some of the crew departed here and headed back to Canberra as prior commitments did not allow for the full journey to be undertaken. So off we head down the Snowy Mountains Highway towards Talbingo it began with little traffic but that soon came to an end with double white lines (no crossing) and a clapped out old 4 wheel drive fully loaded to the brim towing of course the nice expensive speed boat with all the trimmings. Needless to say we were down to 30/40 kph going up the hills. Blowering dam obviously his destination was not that far away so all was good.

Talbingo then saw us climbing up to the escarpment top with lots of lovely twisties and great fine weather to accompany us. Mr Plod was out and about which was good to see not that this was any obstacle to the careful riders in the crew. The following road conditions all the way to Kiandra and Adamindaby were fantastic for a great days riding.  At the top we also saw two lots of Brumbies and a few horse floats and trailers presumably an organised muster. Thank god no brumbies came careering across our path.

Upon arrival at Adamindaby for the lunch break it was intended to refuel at the Shell Servo. Not so out of the 12 available pumps 11 had the NOT IN OPERATION sign attached to them.  One local farmer occupied the available pump with another group of about eight to ten riders waiting in line. Cooma was only 53 k’s away so it was decided to refuel there. Lunch at the local café in Adaminaby was enjoyed by all along with a considerable number of locals and tourists.

Departure from Adaminaby saw Mr Plod in his 4x4 head out in front of us to Cooma keeping a watchful eye on the ride leader to ensure he stayed the correct distance behind him. Arrival in Cooma and a refuel and the obligatory ice cream (Hey Trevor you missed out. Garry McCurley had this fabulous Mint Gay Time it looked so good) Garry mentioned that the sign in the servo said two for $5.00. He politely asked how much for one. The proprietor replied $2.50. You gotta love the country folk.

Here it was farewells and we all made our way home from there. I would like to thank the crew below who came along for a great day, great riding, great company, lots of laughs and stories to boot.

Safe riding to all

Cheers Chas

The Great Crew

• David Formica                  ZX14R
• David Dawson                  1200GS
• Steve Smith                     KLR
• Neal White                      Goldwing
• Don Shepherd                  R1200GSA
• Garry McCurley                 VFR1200
• Darryl Cullen                    1250 Bandit
• Trevor McLeod                  FJR1300
• Steven Hausfeld               BMW K1300S
• Jan Hausfeld                    BMW K1300R
• Peter Arday                      Honda ST1300
• Mick Winters                    Triumph Trophy
• Ian Paterson                    Goldwing GL1800
• Andrew Campbell              FJR1300
• Chas Towie                      Honda ST1300