I rang the first hotel on the list of those I put in the flyer (Titania Motel) to find that the film crew won’t be checking in until the evening of the 27 Jan, so we’re safe (but the wedding is still on, so the advice is still ‘book early’). Into December’s Branch meeting, still no takers, I’m getting a little nervous that it’s too close to Christmas and people are out of cash, holidays and energy, and it will be just The Boss and I. Boss is also a bit put off, because the 27th January is the day of our sons’ 16th birthday.
With the OK from him to have the weekend away, we’re in..... But it wasn’t until the week before (Ian’s ride to Jugiong) where I find out that Kim Moorey and Ron Tito, introduced at last months’ Social meeting, said they’ll be coming. I also had Shane & Kerry Anderson on the list, but at the last minute, Shane was crook and they pulled out.
On the day, the four of us met at Caltex EPIC before the appointed time of 0900. The place was pandemonium – The markets are on at EPIC, and there’s long weekend traffic everywhere. Not to worry – a ride brief, the handout of the route printed off Google Maps, and my phone number & email address (not that this will be useful – I’m with Optus, forget coverage where we’re going). The weather is great – clear skies and 24C.
The route – Easy ride through Yass and the Lachlan Valley Way to Boorowa. In the usual bakery at Boorowa for coffee (and pies, of course!), I find that Kim has the same GPS as mine, so we share the planned route through transferring onto hers via the MicroUSB card. We hit the road again, travelling on the Rugby Road and turn north onto Frogmore Road (the road that is signposted to Wyangala Dam). After a few lefts and rights on some very back roads, we find ourselves approaching Woodstock. It was at this point we took a left turn where a couple of local boys with their Hilux’s were gasbagging about everything & nothing. A strange place to stop, but why? It turns out a rather large herd of cows (and startled bulls!) were on the road between paddocks. Kim’s a little nervy as we slowly thread our way through the herd, keeping eyes on some young stragglers in our blind spot that might do a dumb runner into our path. So, we did the job for the local boys and got them all back into the top paddock.
Further on, we had a pub lunch in Mandurama, where a country Bucks’ Do was in full swing. The boys were rowdy and it was only 1:30! After skirting to the south of Bathurst from Blayney and heading into Oberon along Trunkey Road, arriving just after 4PM. Kim & Ron were staying at a different place (the Highway Inn) so we agreed to meet at the pub at 6. Maream and I had a 2km walk into town, so by the time we joined up I’d already had a couple of ales. A bit of chat about the Caves the next day, and before we knew it, it was 8PM and the town was closing (we just managed to squeeze in getting some woodfired pizza and take it back to Kim & Ron’s to eat with a few beers).
We agreed to meet at 0830 on the Sunday morning. Too early! The town was still asleep, and we were forced to have coffee & pies from the bakery on a pavement bench (no chairs at the bakery & nowhere else open). Ron and Kim came armed with some Australia flags for this the 26 Jan 2014. So, with flags taped to the bikes we headed down into Jenolan Caves via Edith. It was cold today, with low clouds and the temperature was down to 7C on the ride into the Caves. The road is narrow, winding and steep, and proved to be a bit of a challenge for Kim, who took it all into her stride and came up trumps.
Note for future rides (and lovers of classical music!) – They hold a ‘Concert in the Caves’ every month (except this month), so it may be worthwhile looking into this for a future ride. Book at TicketMaster. Anyway, for today, we decided to do a caves tour at $32 per person – I have to say, with only a few of us, it was easy to decide to do the Lucas Cave, which is 860m in length and has (only) 910 steps. It has the highest and largest chambers of all the Caves, and is where the Concert is run.
Our tour guide (Craig) was great – informative and engaging, we found out he rides bikes too; when finding out that we are Ulysses members, he said he was once looking at becoming a member, but found he was not ‘tough enough’. So he said he was thinking of starting his own Branch – the YouSissies Club. Funny bugger! Anyway, he explained about how not to touch any of the rock through the Caves, and why not (it turns black under the oil on fingers and just general pollution from years of oil candles), and how in the early days people used to pinch pieces of it only to drop them on the long arduous walk out of the valley ‘my girlfriend doesn’t need it, and I don’t like her that much anyway!’).
Apparently the Caves had electric lights before the people of Sydney did! – as it was recognised way back then (late 1800’s) the importance of not using oil lamps anymore so as to preserve the site. Craig gave us a sample of what pitch black is really like inside the Caves when he turned off the lights, and then turned on the Stereo system giving a small taste of what classical music during the concert would be like. It’s on the agenda for the future...
We rode out of the Caves through the tunnel/cutting on Jenolan Caves Road, via some more (but easier and spectacular scenery) twists and turns, turning onto the Great Western Hwy towards Sydney via Blackheath, lunching in an Italian cafe in Katoomba. After lunch we had a look at the Three Sisters near Echo Point, and then rode back to Oberon the same way (after making an error using the Cox’s River Road near Mt Victoria, to go through Little Hartley, where the road became dirt). Not knowing how far the dirt went, we turned back to get onto the Great Western again, to head back to Oberon via Jenolan Caves Road and Duckmaloi Road.
Maream and I stayed in town while Ron & Kim dropped their bikes at their hotel. We had a quick feed at the ‘other’ pub in town (the Royal) where we found they also have accommodations (note to self!), and agreed to meet at 0900 on Monday at one of the Cafes for breakfast before the ride home. The ride home took us on the Abercrombie Road to Goulburn. A nice and leisurely ride, we stopped at Taralga for refreshments. From there we routed through Goulburn and Lake Bathurst, having our final stop for refreshments and goodbyes at the Loaded Dog, Tarago.
An awesome weekend, with great company.
Chris
Riders/Cavers:
- Chris Dietzel – GTR1400 – with Maream Dietzel (The Boss) as pillion.
- Ron Tito – Honda NT700 Deauville.
- Kim Moorey – BMW F700GS.
