I’m still puzzling about the low turn-out for the ride to Carcoar, when a warm Spring day and exciting corners were beckoning. Only four riders turned up to tackle this interesting motorcycle route. Yes four!
Were people at church?? Later, as we rode away, I tried to imagine a whole bunch of Canberra Ulysses members praying and singing hymns. No. I just couldn’t match that image with the people I know. I guess there must have been a lot of better offers on this particular Sunday.
This was the first disappointment of the day.
We took the usual route through Gundaroo and Gunning. The Grabben Gullen Road to Crookwell provided enjoyable riding conditions, with very little traffic and prime rural scenery.
Crookwell town was as dead as the proverbial old dodo. As far as we could tell there was only one place open for coffee – Paul’s fish n' chippie. So much for all my efforts to encourage Crookwell to stay open and capitalise on the weekend motorcycle trade.
We headed out of Crookwell on the Binda Road towards the rustic gold mining village of Tuena. After cruising through open farming country the road started to climb into the rough hilly terrain which surrounds the Abercrombie River.
This is where the real motorcycle riding craft began for the day, as we tackled dozens of hilly sweeping corners and tight, tricky bends. Many of these were downhill corners, requiring deft braking and precise calculation of entry speed on the big bikes.
On this route most riders will be tempted to break concentration and look up from the road to take in the scenery of the Abercrombie River area. The road takes riders across two historic bridges, including the beautiful Abercrombie Bridge, a significant example of a heritage timber truss road bridge.
This hilly winding road continues after passing through the quaint, sleepy hamlet of Tuena towards Trunkey Creek, a slightly larger village which was surprisingly busy on the day. Trunkey Creek is home to one of Australia’s many Black Stump hotels.
Out into the open countryside again, enjoying the great riding conditions and pastoral scenery. Beyond Trunkey Creek we took Hobbys Yards Road towards Blayney. The farming country along this road is superb; flourishing in its post-drought conditions, with chest-high grass in the paddocks (head-high in Kevin’s case).
After another 30 km of enjoyable cruising we arrived at Blayney and turned left to head to Carcoar. I pulled over to check if anyone needed fuel, bearing in mind that the fuel tank on someone’s Indian only holds 12.5 litres. ‘No’! It was all good. No-one needed fuel.
NOTE TO SELF: If I do this route again, make sure to top up fuel in Blayney.
Historic Carcoar was looking its absolute best as we pulled up in front of the Royal Hotel for lunch. Staff members were reasonably friendly, and the pub food wasn't bad. That said, Chris’s chicken Kiev was missing the Kiev.
This was the second disappointment of the day.
The third disappointment of the day came shortly after.
Of COURSE, there was no fuel available at Carcoar. Also, the little servo at Mandurama, the next little town on the route, was closed. Oops.
This required a change of plan. Our intention had been to turn off the Mid Western Highway and return home via Woodstock, Wyangala and Frogmore. Sadly we had to abandon this more interesting route and ride straight to Cowra to get fuel.
I must confess that I had been slightly anxious about the weather forecast for this ride. As late as Thursday the Bureau was still forecasting 37 degrees at Cowra. The planned route was just shy of 500km so it had the potential to be a long, hot day.
No such problem. The overcast conditions moderated the temperature considerably and made riding a pleasure. The forecast showers arrived briefly as we rode towards Cowra, depositing just 196 raindrops on my visor (I counted them).
So, going via Cowra was no great hardship. Even following the cattle trucks slowly down the own's main street was made entertaining by the little cattle dog who poked his head out the side of the truck and barked angrily at our bikes.
After fuelling up at Cowra, the ride home through Boorowa was uneventful. Scott and Kevin peeled off at Yass and returned home via Wee Jasper Road and Mountain Creek Road.
So, if the opportunity to do the Tuena-Carcoar ride ever eventuates again and you have a choice between sitting through a Sunday sermon or riding your motorcycle, I recommend you take the ride. I promise the motorcycle ride will be more existentially meaningful.
John
- Kevin Sherman Indian Scout
- Scott England BMW R1250RT
- Chris Dietzel Kawasaki 1400GTR
- John Grace Triumph Tiger 1200 XC
