This road starts near Uriarra (which is a very vague location, depending on if you’re talking about Uriarra Road, Uriarra Station, Uriarra Crossing, Uriarra Forest or any of the many other Uriarra thingys in the area) and takes you to Yass via The Mullion and, eventually, Wee Jasper Road.
I’ve ridden it and driven it many times in the past, when there was a fairly long and loose gravel section between Fairlight Station and the fertile superfine wool pastures of The Mullion, but this was my first trip on it since it was sealed a couple of years ago. It was brilliant!
Some 24 of us on 21 bikes set off from McDonald’s at Weston Creek and followed Ron as he gingerly picked his way through the gleaming new apartment ghettos of Molonglo in search of Uriarra Road. This was the most taxing navigation of the entire trip; it used to be easy but now there are mysterious turnoffs, roundabouts and roadblocks that are designed to confuse the uninitiated.
I’m not sure if Ron was initiated or not, as he seemed a bit hesitant at times, but we eventually found ourselves on Uriarra Road and, keeping Mt Stromlo on our left and the sun on our right, made our way to Uriarra Crossing. The Murrumbidgee was flowing at its usual low summer level.
Crossing the crossing, we kept right on Fairlight Road and wound our way up out of the valley and across farmlands to the T-junction at Fairlight Station, where we turned right onto Mountain Creek Road itself and headed north. The next 26km was pure sedated joy. Sedated because Ron kept a very sensible pace (what else can you do when you’ve got 20 little ducklings following behind you?) and joy because even with the big crowd it was a shitload of fun. And pure? Well, it was a Sunday and I was feeling kind of holy.
Mountain Creek Road is full of twisties, some hot and sweeping, some cool and tight, some warm and just right. The surface is for the most part in excellent condition and the scenery varies from farmland to forest, with sweeping views from exposed ridge-tops and steep, winding climbs out of valleys. If it had snowed today (and it looked like it could have at one stage if the temperature had dropped 30 degrees and snow clouds had gathered) we would have called it a winter wonderland!
We reached the T-junction with Wee Jasper Road, turned right (a left turn would have taken us to – yes – Wee Jasper) and followed it back across the Murrumbidgee on the Bloody Long and Incredibly Sturdy Big Iron Bridge that spans the upper reaches of Lake Burrinjuck when it’s full as a tick, and on into Yass.
Lunch was at The Yass Hotel, which had plenty of room for our vast mob in their outdoor area. Al and Lyn’s steak and schnitty were the first to make it to the table – in fact, they had nearly finished eating by the time the next meals arrived (bill tampering is suspected and an inquiry is pending). Bafflingly, the lamb salads took so long we thought they must have been out searching for roadkill.
Then someone said, “Look at the time, I have to go,” precipitating an unruly stampede to the parking lot, as if a wildebeest had whispered “Lions!”. There were a few new and nearly-new Ulysses riders with us and we took great care that they didn’t get trampled in the rush. Hopefully they enjoyed the excursion and got home safely.
Thanks to Mr Tito for leading the ride and to Mrs Tito for going tail-end Charlie. It was a real family affair.
Ian Paterson
13 January 2019
- Ron Tito R1200GS
- Kim Tito F700GS
- Alan & Lyn Munday FJR1300
- Garry McCurley VFR1200
- Mike Kelly Thunderbird 1600
- Peter Thomas F800GS
- Allan Grimes Harley Heritage
- Natalie Evans F700GS
- Karen Curley Africa Twin
- Desley Allwright CBR300
- Neil McRitchie GTR1400
- Andrew Campbell FJR1300
- Chris Dietzel GTR1400
- Mark Mitchell Tiger 800XC
- Genelle Mills F700GS
- George Attard Tiger XRT
- Robert Apps R1200GSA
- Heike Apps R1200GS
- Ian & Sally Paterson GL1800
- Damon & Jen Hatchett R850R
- Mark Sayer Z900RS
