Ride report: Crookwell - 3rd May

I must have forgotten to set the alarm because when I awoke the sun was already high in the sky (well, a bit) and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get to Nicholls by 9:15am for the pre-ride briefing. Rather than turn up at 9:30 and set a bad example (there’s nothing I hate worse than being a bad example) I decided to set out on my own and catch up to the pack at Boorowa.

It was a beautiful morning for a ride – sunny, slight breeze, not too chilly – and I made good time, catching up to the tail end of the mob just as they were entering Boorowa. On the way, on the Hume near Yass, I was listening to “Turning Japanese” on my iPod when in the next lane I spotted a Honda car being driven by a bloke who looked very Japanese. Not only that, but he turned off into the Yass service centre. A real turning Japanese. Spooky.

Fortified by pies and coffees and led by Andrew on the indefatigable ZX14R, we set a brisk pace out of Boorowa through Rugby to Crookwell. Apart from a few corners with misleading advisory speed signs, this is a fantastic road that took us through hilly cattle and sheep country, lots of hilly bush, and more hilly cattle and sheep country, with plenty of hilly S-bends, sweeping corners and a few long straights. And, as an added bonus, hardly any traffic.

Of course, Crookwell being Crookwell – hillier, higher and colder than almost anywhere else on the Southern Tablelands – the bright sunshine gave way to heavy cloud, the temperature dropped to around 10C and it started gently mizzling as we cruised down the last winding downhill run into town. Ah, the bistro at the pub felt so good!

With lunch over and the problems of the world solved, we posed for a succession of group photos, discovering after each one that someone else hadn’t been included. I think Chas and Possum were the only ones missed out of the final group pic but we managed to cajole a reluctant Possum into posing for a shot of the two of them near their ST1300.

Ian "cajoles" Possum

By now the mizzling had stopped and it was just cold and overcast as we headed out of Crookwell towards Grabben Gullen. It wasn’t long, however, before the sun broke through again and the rest of the ride home (via Gunning) was fair and pleasant. 

Thanks to Andrew for leading the ride and to Kerry for being Tail-end Charlie.

Ian Paterson

The riders were:

• Kris Terebessy & Helen Dawson        BMW K1200LT
• Derek & Margaret Titheradge         Can Am Spyder ST
• Daryl Palin                    Honda GL1800
• Sandy Fisk                    Honda NT650
• Steve Alford                    Moto Guzzi V7
• Julie Hyland                    Honda CBR500
• Chris Dietzel                     Kawasaki GTR1400
• Chas Towie & Jen (Possum) Towie        Honda ST1300
• Trevor McLeod                Yamaha FJR1300
• Ian Paterson                    Honda GL1800