Ride Report to Cootamundra 23 July 2017

Hi Everyone

I drew the lucky dip prize today to write up the ride report – yay! Anyway back to the conversation. We all met up at the Nicholls petrol station with a cold but bright sunny day. Andrew gave us the ride plan to get to Cootamundra and off we went. On the way near Yass, Carolyn and Shaun were so impressed by the group as we went passed, on our way to our first stop Boorowa, that they caught a ride on our slip stream and stayed with us.
 
We had a welcome, defrosting morning tea in Boorowa and then headed back out of town to explore Cunningar Road on our way towards Harden. From there we headed onto Jugiong Road and then onward bound to Cootamundra. From Boorowa though, Trevor had decided to go off on another tangent and met us back in Coota for the lunch feast. I suspect he went looking for his personal GPS which his doctors misplaced when they were giving him some medical treatment.

We arrived at Coota for lunch and most of us had an enjoyable Sunday roast which came with a complimentary dessert of rice pudding. One of the topics that came up at lunch was memory and it apparently changes with age. Does that mean we are all heading towards a fresh new start with each other? Will we get to an age that when we meet up for a ride, it will be like meeting up with a new group of friends each time? Will the corner-markers remember what they are waiting for and will tail-end Charlie remember why he is there? 

A smiling crew at Cootamundra

We finished our lunches, discussed who wanted to stop for fuel and where and then blasted back out into the country side to head home. Sorry, we left at the speed limit.
 
I had and enjoyable day out and assume everyone else did, but unlike some, it’s back to work for me on Monday. Heavy sigh….. Until the next ride, see you all later.

Kris J


The Riders were:

• Andrew Campbell FJR 1300
• Alan Munday FJR 1300
• Michael Winters Triumph
• Garry McCurley Honda VFR 1200
• Chas Towie Honda ST 1300
• Rod Horne BMW R1200 GSA
• Trevor McLeod FJR 1300
• Kris Jirasek Suzuki GSXR 1300
• Carolyn Hutton Ducati 899 Panigale
• Shaun Bennetts VStrom 650
• Marilyn Starick Multistrada 1200
• Ian Paterson GL 1800
• Gary McDonald BMW R100S

Isle Of Man TT 2018 Trip - vacancy available

Alan and Lyn Munday are planning a trip with a friend to the Isle Of Man in 2018 for the The Isle of Man TT which is a major annual cross-country motorcycle race around the island. 

As the trip arrangements are twin share a vacancy exists and an opportunity for anyone interested.

Alan writes:



Hello Everyone

Lyn and I are going to the Isle of Man for the TT in 2018.

It is a 5 day package leaving from Liverpool in England.

We have a friend that wants to come also but the single person supplement is an extra $1500. The cost of twin share is $2599 per person and he needs someone to share the room to save costs.

If anyone is interested I can be contacted on 6255 1166 or 0438 510 137.

I will take the itinerary to the meeting on Tuesday night for anyone that is interested.

Alan Munday



The itinerary can be found here -
 https://sportsnetholidays.com/events/motorsport/isle-of-man-tt-2018/package-1/

 And a little more background reading here https://www.iomtt.com/

Chomp & Chat to Moonrock Café, Tidbinbilla 16 July 2017

Imagine our shock when we arrived at the servo in Hume to find that our ride leader was in the shit. Yep, poor Ron Tito must have really pissed someone off at the office because he had been sentenced to work over the weekend at the Molonglo turd treatment plant.

With Ron up to his elbows in excrement, a dapper young(ish) gentleman named Mark Mitchell volunteered to be Ron’s number two. And a great number two he was too, taking the time to explain to us several times where we were going to go on the ride (well, we weren’t all listening at the same time). And then he did it twice more for the latecomers.

Hiding any exasperation beneath his customary consummate calmness and his carefully crafted wing-commander moustache, Mark led us out of the servo and onto the Monaro Highway and onwards towards Tharwa. For us northerners, though, the journey through Canberra’s nether extremities was like a scene from the 1981 movie “Fort Apache The Bronx” in which South Bronx's main police precinct was nicknamed Fort Apache by its cops, who felt like troopers surrounded by hostiles in an isolated wild west outpost.

But Mark obviously knew the right people and the right routes because we made it all the way to Tharwa unmolested. By now the temperature was pushing +6° degrees after a –7° dawn, and the sun was shining brightly but weakly on this small band of adventurers. We turned right onto Tidbinbilla Road and headed into the hills, arriving at the Tidbinbilla Tracking Station just in time to take a couple of photos and head to the Moonrock Café for lunch.

Imagine our shock when we got inside the café to find that they no longer had meat pies on the menu! The checkout chick said it was because they had had endless complaints about how bad the pies were so they decided to ditch them. “They were so hard you could have thrown one at the window and it would have smashed its way through,” she explained, taking the ditching thing a bit too literally. 

Grateful to be spared such a diabolical dinner, we ordered quiche Lorraines, sausage rolls, lasagnes, ham & cheese croissants – anything but pies – all of which were served with several cubic metres of chips and weak lukewarm coffee. 

My end of the table had a reasoned discussion about whether unemployed single mums should be given guns to bump off age pensioners or if the pensioners should be given guns as well, to make the whole exercise a bit more sporting. All in the name of reducing  the federal welfare bill, of course.

We failed to reach a consensus but, well fortified with chips and weighing a couple of kilos more than we did before lunch, we clambered back onto our bikes and made our way home. 

Chas and I rode via Uriarra Crossing and Coppins Crossing Road, which is now being ruined from the northern end as the ACT’s all-knowing, all-wise Big Brother works to transform it into a sweeping divided highway with no fun bends at all.

The riders:

• Mark Mitchell           Ducati Scrambler Full Throttle
• Neil McRitchie          Kawasaki GTR1400
• Andrew Campbell    Yamaha FJR1300
• Mike Kelly               BMW R1200RT
• Chad Towie             Honda ST1300
• Ian Paterson           Honda GL1800
• Genelle Mills           BMW F700GS
• Gary McDonald       BMW R100S
• George Attard         Triumph Sprint ST1050

Ian Paterson

Xmas in July 2017 - UPDATE - Final Call

El President'e Ian has written " This is probably the final call for Xmas in July. We have a limit on numbers at the restaurant and there are only a few spots left.

Put it in your calendar, book your accommodation and let Andrea know you’re coming (andrea.johnston1@westnet.com.au). If you don’t let Andrea know, you won’t get in!! And don’t forget to bring a ‘Secret Santa’ gift up to the value of $15. It can be useful, funny or both — but you might end up with it, so buy something you wouldn’t mind taking home yourself (i.e. no crap!)."

Time: 6pm
Date Saturday 29th July 2017
Location: Ewe ‘n Me Restaurant, Yass

Please notify the Social Secretary via Facebook Invite or by emailing: andrea.johnston1@westnet.com.au asap
Cost: $55 per head – payable to hotel on the night

Accommodation can be made at Thunderbird Motel, Yass
http://www.thunderbirdmotel.com.au

The menu is >> here << *

*Also - Can anyone with and dietary requirements please contact Andrea asap either via Messenger, Text (0421 901 960) or email andrea.lanagan@icloud.com.

Info for the Peak Hill Ride 22-25 September

Open cut gold mine at Peak Hill

Darryl and Caroline have sent through some info for those planning to go on the Peak Hill Ride in September. 

Its always good to consider and book your accommodation  early to avoid disappointment.

You can download the flyer here!

Batemans Bay Ride Sunday 25th June

Sunshine everywhere as the eager riders gathered at BP Watson for a great days ride down the Clyde to the beautiful Batemans Bay for fish n chips. Apart from some indecision about the departure time due to conflicting info we all agreed it was 0930. A few anecdotes before departure gave some laughter to all gathered. Chas gave a ride brief and then we set off.

Travelled the usual Macs Reef road and met up at Bungendore with Rod Horne from Bywong and  Carolyn Hutton from Yass before setting out to Braidwood for the morning break and a hot drink. The Albion Café at Braidwood welcomed us with the warm beverages and a few stories true or false were told. 

As it was mentioned that some road works on the kings Highway would be encountered especially the Water Tanker it brought back memories of Slip Sliding away behind these nasty beasts. However the ride down saw the tanker asleep (WHEW) and going in the opposite direction on the way back, blessed again.

Leaving Braidwood individually gave all riders the opportunity to slip down the mountain at their own pace and having such fine weather with little traffic was a bonus. We had a regroup at Nelligen prior to heading into BB for our F n C. At the suggestion from Sandy we all rode our bikes up to the front door of Innes Boatshed and parked on the pavement alleviating parking problems around that area.
 

The  local fresh fish n chips n salad was delectable, we all managed to sit on the verandah overlooking the Bay waters and enjoyed a great lunch.

Our return trip was once again back up the mountain with a short stop back in Braidwood to re encounter the ride and bid farewell to the great company of riders.

It was great to have very little traffic for the ride up and back and most of all sharing the day and ride with such nice friends. Thanks to the crew that came along. Looking forward to the next adventure.

Cheers Chas

The Crew Were:

• Neil McRitchie GTR1400
• Mike Kelly BMW 1200RT
• Michael Winters Triumph
• Sandy Fisk Triumph Speedmaster
• Neil Goldfinch GSX1300RA
• John Sankey GSX S1000
• Craig Fraser Honda
• Allan Grimes Street Bob
• Chris Dietzel GTR1400
• Vidas Sodouskas  Street Glide
• Carolyn Hutton Vstrom
• Rod Honre R1200GSA
• Chas Towie Honda ST1300