The December RO2 is out now!

 Seasons Greetings Canberra Branch!

Here is your December RO2

for those quiet moments of contemplation

Joy indeed!

 To download click the image above or >>here<<.

Ride to Young, 12 December

 Steve B has sent us through a novel ride report, which has a very nice fit with the festive season. Given our old friend covid is still hanging about , a festive treat is very welcome!

Thanks Steve!

 

Ride Report - Following the Sun on 05 Dec 2021

There was no Ride Leader for this ride, it was a ‘TBD on the day’ as unfortunately we couldn’t fill the spot at short notice and I couldn’t guarantee that I would turn up due to current sciatica issues, scheduled to be seen to Monday afternoon with two spinal injections. However, as it turned out, at 6am that morning I woke up feeling great so decided to give it a shot noting the vibration of the bike was therapeutic anyway. I managed to arrive early at about 0900 at the casually kept Caltex on Monaro Hwy. The traffic was unusually heavy for that time with obviously many heading south towards the Snowy region and beyond to escape Canberra for a day or even longer noting a few caravans in the mix. Our destination for the day believe it or not was actually Jindabyne, hmm it was looking more like we might be forming a queue for some of the journey.

It wasn’t till about 0925-30 that someone turned up namely Dave on his gold R1250RS, looking good as usual. After some discussion on the day ahead we looked at the weather forecast for the whole region. For the Snowys it was heavily overcast, dull, 90 percent humidity, chance of a little rain and top of only 12, yet out west, there were clear skies, sunny and top of 19-21. We thought a little more. Hmm, the dilemma of what to do? Chance of a suntan or no tan?

Normally there would be no issue or doubt on the route for the day as the Snowy region usually attracts more interest amongst Ulysses riders. However, with recent lockdowns now over, Christmas looming, and people catching up with life it appeared everyone had other important demands - naturally. Also, we knew three of our regulars for such a ride were still returning from an exhilarating days StayUpright Course in Sydney, so they wouldn’t be along. So noting it was just the two of us, we decided on the latter, a Sunday of warm sunny skies and a relaxed ride in the country with coffee stops maybe at Sutton and Jugiong before finding lunch somewhere else on the road. See after two, three weeks away from riding, both of us just wanted a ride anywhere reasonably dry, sunny and definitely enjoyable.

So we headed towards Sutton direction, but as it turned out, Sutton Bakery was busy and not worth forming an english queue this early just for a coffee. It was also way too early to have one of their famous Chilly Pies - it would be just so dangerous at the start of our ride.

The stretch between Sutton and Murrumbateman was pot holed in many areas with some temporary repairs made but other areas severely damaged and potentially dangerous for those unprepared on two or four wheels. Murrumbateman to Jugiong was pleasant enough in the morning sun and the Long Track Pantry turned out to be not too busy however sitting outside the coffee and salted caramel slice were exceptional.

 

The Long Track Pantry

 

The ride up along the Jugiong road to Murrumburrah area was excellent with the road as usual in a very fine state. As Jackson’s bakery in nearby Harden, a preferred watering hole, was unfortunately closed on weekends now we opted to fuel and then lunched at the Terracotta cafe down in Murrumburrah. For lunch we decided to try their home made beef and moroccan pies. The old Irish owner was a real character suggesting the pies were better with a large ale. Much to his annoyance we both decided on a sugar free coke. I think he now has a different opinion of the Ulysses slogan: ‘grow old disgracefully’ - sorry all.

 

 the Bikes outside Terracotta Cafe

Major General Kenneth Mackay

 

Statue of Major General Kenneth Mackay in the towns Memorial park next to the cafe.The pride of the region, MajGen Mackay was born in Wallendbeen not far from Murrumburrah in Jun 1859. A military man and later a politician, he founded the 1st Australian Volunteer Horse Regiment in 1897, served in the Boer War between 1900-01 and mentioned in despatches. Later after managing the planning of Army Reserves support during WWI he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. He died in Nov 1935. (Sourced: from the Web)

After lunch I checked out the Memorial alongside the cafe and the bronze statue of MajGen Mackay. What an incredible life this man had.  Anyway, once we remounted, a decision was made to make our way back towards Canberra and home via Burley Griffen Way and Barton Hwy. At Murrumbateman we took a right to avoid the slow traffic queue and headed towards Sutton road and finally on to the Federal Hwy and outskirts of Canberra. Here we parted ways on the move under the Eagles Nest 100km speed detectors and registration plate recorders. We were officially logged back into the ACT.

Overall the day was just what the doctor ordered, at times an interesting obstacle course in areas with washed out sides and interesting pot holes yet other times well kept sections with some beautiful sweepers and green countryside as far as the eye could see.

Next time hopefully we will have improved road conditions and more riders keen for a days adventure out across this beautiful region of NSW. 

Warren R

The weather for the day: Top 19-20 degrees.
Overall distance: 335 kms

Riders:

• Dave Mossman        BMW 1250RS    Gold Matt
• Warren Richer         BMW 900XR      Gold Gloss

Ride report – Grenfell, 28 November 2021

"The journey of the pothole-dodgers"

Five riders set out from Nicholls to tackle the entertaining backroads route to Grenfell. Post-lock-down family commitments prevented a few other regulars from riding on this particular Sunday.

The weather at the Canberra end was overcast and cool as the (now usual) gaggle of BMWs and Triumphs headed off down the Barton Highway. Much of the Barton has 80kph construction speed limits which makes it even more tedious than usual. Still; mustn't grumble. We are going to end up with lovely new dual carriageway one year in the not-too-distant future (2023, 2024?).
Inexplicably, the speed limit drops to 60kph in some places as we approach Yass, with not a road-worker in sight. The highway patrol is out though, looking to catch motorists who dare to disobey this apparently unjustifiable speed limit.
Onto the Lachlan Valley Way and the highway patrol is similarly diligent this weekend. Fortunately, we have moderated our pace to a range that doesn't attract too much attention.

Boorowa is its usual hive of Sunday activity as we pull up at the Superb Café – a choice related more to its provision of decent toilets than its food or coffee. The clouds had blown away by now and the day had turned sunny and mildly warm. Some other motorcycle riders were sunning themselves outside the café, studiously ignoring us (they must have been way cooler than our Ulysses crew).
An RBT copper was on duty as we head out of Boorowa but he waved us through. This might be an act of motorcyclist solidarity, or perhaps he couldn't be bothered working his way through a group of five motorcycle riders.

The back-roads route we took to Grenfell was, to say the least, a little convoluted, and deliberately so. The goal was to ride on roads that are not typically chosen by most travellers. If there are no other motorcycles and very few cars, then our goal is achieved.

Instead of taking the main route through Young, we crossed over to Henry Lawson Way by riding along the road that threads its way between the looming hills of Murringo Gap. Like many of the roads on our route, Murringo Gap Road is a service road for local farms - a narrow strip of thin bitumen laid on top of an old dirt track. The pavement is broken and pot-holed from months of intermittent rainfall. It leaves little room for error on a big motorcycle.

After Murringo we followed more backroads through sleepy hamlets and farming communities such as Bendick Murrell, Wirrimah and Greenthorpe (Iandra Castle). These once-thriving places are, perhaps, past their peaks as centres of local economic activity but they still possess a lot of rural charm. 

The roads on this route are occasionally tricky to navigate, with quite a few poorly-marked 90 degree turns and loads of pot-holes to regularly test the reflexes of the riders. Our experienced crew handled these conditions calmly and competently – even coping with a couple of split-second changes of direction by the ride leader (me).

We arrived at our scheduled time in Grenfell and checked out the hospitality at the Criterion Hotel. After the experience of the previous Ulysses ride to Grenfell we were a little wary about the limited lunchtime fare on offer at the local establishments. 

The Criterion Hotel actually has a full pub lunch menu, so at least we had a few choices. The meals were much as you might expect at most country pubs these days. This pub certainly seems to be a popular venue for local families. The friendly locals also gave us advice about the road to Young.

 

 

We had the usual varied range of conversations during our stops. Topics ranged between the cost of plumbing services, motorcycles (of course), motorcycle helmets, superannuation (of course), COVID-19 (of course - including the new word of the week 'Omicron'), climate change, regenerative farming and the state of US politics and society.

We decided to take a slight detour on the first stage of our return journey, opting to ride on Mary Gilmore Way and the Old Forbes Road. This alternative route to the first part of Henry Lawson Way has a reasonably good road surface and attractive pastoral scenery, including some magnificent old federation farmhouses.
Throughout the trip it was obvious that wet winter and spring has made a huge difference to pastures. Whether or not the late rain has been good for canola, wheat and oat crops is another matter. However, the countryside is looking magnificent.

The trip back to Canberra was uneventful. We stopped for a cuppa at the Rollon-Inn at Bowning and then headed home through the tedious weekend traffic. It was all worth it though. The Grenfell ride is always worth the effort. 

John Grace

Riders:
George Attard            Triumph Tiger 800 XRT
Andrew Campbell        BMW R1250 RS
John Grace                 Triumph Tiger 1200 XC
Paul Healey                BMW R1200 RT
Kevin Sherman           BMW R1250 RS

Ride to Tumut, Sunday 21 November 2021

I’ll be honest - being an unapologetic fair weather rider, if I wasn’t the Ride Leader (and a virgin one at that) I wouldn’t have gone.  The forecast was for solid rain all day, with freshening winds.

Still, needs must, and when I arrived at Nicholls, Scott and Kevin were already there champing at the bit.  Damon and Aeron arrived shortly after.  Consulting the radar app showed that the rain shouldn’t last long with the worst passing north of our intended track, so we decided to chance it.  I did modify the route to avoid the Brungle Road as I’d passed that way a couple of weeks before and it was in very poor shape.

The rain did indeed stop a bit north of Murrumbateman, and soon afterwards the raindrops dried off my glasses and the inside of the visor and I could actually see the road! A pleasant ride to Harden / Murrumburrah and a stop at Barnes Store for a coffee.  (Despite me having reminded everyone that proof of double vax was needed to get into any café in NSW, they didn’t actually check!).

Kevin obviously decided his bike didn’t like associating with the others, as he parked on the other side of the road. 

He did the same at lunch too.  It’s not even as if it’s a BMW thing, as the majority of bikes on the ride at all times were BMWs!

The weather was staying fine, even with patches of sun, so we decided to continue, but Damon and Aeron said they would be heading for home at Jugiong.  And the weather did stay good over to Tumut, with the wind picking up to “annoying” (Scott’s assessment) but not too bad.

A very firm Vax check, and masks to be worn while moving around edict greeted us at Tumut River Brewing Co. as three of us fronted for a lunch of two pizzas and a salad (oh well, there’s one in every crowd).  I thought their “back by popular demand” Kransky and Pineapple Pizza looked interesting and it turned out to be excellent.

Then came the ride back.  We headed off broadly together but strung out, and I didn’t see the others again after they got past a couple of cars just before a long section with no passing opportunities.  I trust they had a good ride, but I had huge problems with the wind on the Hume – right down to dodging trucks and swerving SUVs, and random lane changes in the crosswinds.  After I got home, I checked Ventusky for the record of the winds along the Hume at the time we were travelling there – generally 30kph with gusts over 60kph.  No wonder it was difficult!

Mostly a good ride and, as ever, great company.  But the weather needs improvement for next time!

• Neil McRitchie                 Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro (Leader & Scribe)
• Scott England                   BMW R1250RT
• Kevin Sherman                 BMW R1250RS
• Aeron Johnson                 Suzuki SV650
• Damon Hatchett               BMW R1250R

A Days Ride up the Ranges to Taralga, Wednesday 17th Nov 22

It was a great morning as I left home and rode to the departure point. It was even better after I arrived to see nine riders streaming into the BP garage to join us for the day. After welcomes and discussions on the various bike models before us, we decided it was time to get this ride on the move. Weather prediction was for a slightly cloudy day with a top of 22 degrees over Taralga - great!

Having been on this route three weeks before, my brief emphasised the poor state of these country roads after 18 months of COVID restrictions and lock downs. So there was an emphasis on ample spacing between riders to ensure they could see these craters in time and take action accordingly. A couple of points here for the RTA is that you just can’t shut down ongoing road maintenance and repairs during lockdowns and expect to bring them back up to scratch quickly, though I expect sufficient government funding for such extensive work will be an issue for some time in the future.   

Apart from the above issues, the ride was magnificent, though Canberra to Gunning was the worse route with a number of chopped up areas and pot holes or recent soft fill covering some really bad pot holes. As we made our way from Gunning up the Lachlan Range along Grabben Gullen the road was as usual just exhilarating sweeping up those 50 and 75km bends. On this section, we came across one area under repair with an RTA gang, which caused a minor delay and then the down hill entry into Crookwell which was badly chopped up in parts. Leaving Crookwell along the Laggan road towards Taralga was brilliant as ever with great sweepers for any bike though there was some minor road damage between Crookwell and Laggan. Note, not once through the whole road trip did we get delayed due to slow country road traffic - it was absolutely brilliant! See, Wednesday rides might be worth the odd sick day or two. 

 

Lunch at the Taralga Hotel turned out to be a very busy event, as when we arrived there was the local community club booked in for lunch plus two bike groups which included ourselves. We managed to get a quiet seating space out the back under the veranda. Half of us received lunch within the first 30 minutes but the remaining members languished around for what seemed another 40 minutes before they got served. Staff were very apologetic about the usual circumstances for a Wednesday. To kill time we discussed great rides and the usual prohibited topics such as COVID politics and religion while Marilyn read a ‘Little Miss Smiley’ book given to her by a three year old girl with her parents. Isn’t it amazing the interest such a quiet unassuming ‘Growing Old Disgracefully’ bunch of riders receive when they turn up at these venues for a lunch.

For the return route, Andrew opted to try out new pot holes between Taralga and Goulburn, while the remaining eight members returned back down the way we had come. A couple of members stopped at Crookwell for a quick top up while the remainder continued towards Gunning. The intent being to all meet up at the Merino Cafe for final coffee and chat before making our own way home. 

At Gunning, Chas obviously bored, decided to show us how to completely disassemble a pannier lock while attempting to open it. Noting the obvious situation he was in, he quickly applied his skills to the task visiting the Gunning hardware store opposite to purchase some duct tape in order to secure the left hand pannier so he could get home with both still attached to the bike. Well done Chas, and hope once he got home he remembered how to reassemble the barrel lock.

Overall it was a great ride with I think everyone enjoying the company, the laughs and the panoramic view of the countryside which we had the luxury of enjoying throughout the day.


The Team Members

• Peter Ongley            Ducati Monster
• Kevin Sherman        BMW 1250RS
• David Pitt                Harley Davidson
• Chas Towie              Honda ST1200
• Ken McLean             Yamaha YZF-R3
• Andrew Campbell     BMW 1250RS
• Tony Henderson       Triumph Tiger800
• Marilyn Starick         R1200R
• Warren Richer          BMW 900XR

Chomp & Chat - Araluen; Sunday, 14th November

A tale of two riders, potholes and the usual weather saga.

After emptying 54mm of precipitation out of my rain gauge over the previous few days, it was comforting to wake up to sunshine for a change. Primed and ready to lead the club ride to Araluen, confident my reputed rain making jinx had been defeated on this occasion, the illusion lasted about an hour as the heavy overcast skies soon returned to threaten more bad weather. As I set off from home, I couldn’t believe that it was late spring, with just a little over two more weeks remaining until the summer. The ambient temperature was hovering around a chilly 12ºC, the strengthening westerly wind was beginning to add significantly to the chill factor, and my helmet visor was fogging up worse than on a mid-winter ride.

I was the first to arrive at the BP service station in Watson as the overhead clouds seemed to thicken. While I topped up the fuel tank on my little Ducati Monster (ULP98 now available) I was approached by a fellow who seemed very excited to see me and from the numerous double thumbs-up gestures, I think he liked my bike too. “Nice bike,” he enthused. “Can you spare us some cash?” I didn’t quite know how to tell him that pensioners who are addicted to motorcycles are never flush with cash.

A short while later, just when I was thinking I might be embarking on a solo ride, I was joined by Kevin Sherman on his shiny black BMW R1250RS. We chatted for a while in the hope that others might join us, but alas, that was not to be. Either the threatening weather or my reputation as a foul weather ride leader the probable reason for the lack of riders. I stepped away briefly to phone the Araluen Pub and let them know that the optimistic group booking I had made earlier in the week needed to be downgraded to just two. When I returned there was another fellow chatting to Kevin. I didn’t hear the conversation, but I guessed it was similar to the one I had heard earlier, “Nice bike mate. Can you spare us some cash?”…. Once I started the ride briefing, he lost interest and wandered off.

Our planned route was north on the Federal Highway to Bywong, then along Macs Reef Road to Bungendore, a quick run north to Tarago, before turning south to the Kings Highway then Braidwood, before the final run down to the Araluen Valley. I shared my observations from my reconnaissance run earlier in the week. This included the likelihood of numerous large pot holes; land slips; water, sand and gravel across the road; fallen trees and branches; narrow, wooden planked bridges; the steep, narrow and twisting descent down into the Araluen Valley and a few tricky off-camber corners. I figured that since we had experienced significant rain and storms since that trip, the road conditions were probably going to be worse, not better.

The ride ended up being pretty much as briefed with lots of standing water in roadside puddles, property owners out with chainsaws removing fallen trees and branches from fence lines, and at times, Kevin and I looking like a pair of downhill slalom skiers dodging the potholes. As one Araluen resident quipped, the number of potholes is in direct proportion to the distance from the council roadworks depot. Most of the outward journey was under overcast skies with occasional patches of pleasant sunshine bursting through along the way. The ambient temperature fluctuated between 9º-12ºC which meant the heated grips got turned on to the first notch. The main cause for concern was the increasing strength of the westerly cross-wind that was buffeting us on our predominantly north-south route. Of course there were some really great sections of road as well, but we just had to be constantly alert to spot the hazards early.

We encountered a brief shower of rain between Tarago and the Kings Highway turn-off. It was fascinating to be riding in full sunshine at the time whilst looking at the road through raindrops on the visor. We also came across one of those drivers we all love to hate in a little red Hyundai Getz, happy to keep a train of vehicles behind them whilst travelling 20kph below the speed limit, then alway speeding up when somebody attempted to overtake. Both Kevin and I had issues when we tried to get past, with our little Getz doing 115kph in the overtaking lane ahead of us before merging back in front and dropping back to their previous 80kph doddle.

 

Being a “Chomp & Chat” ride, lunch at the Araluen Valley Hotel was typical pub fare, but they did have a very tasty lamb roast blackboard special. The publican was friendly and on for a chat and was keen to promote the pub and its accommodation as a possible overnight Ulysses outing.

With a forecast predicting afternoon thunderstorms and strengthening winds in Canberra, we both decided to make an early start to the return journey. We departed Araluen in bright sunshine and a pleasant 18º showing on the temperature gauge. By the time we reached Braidwood where I refuelled, the temperature had dropped back to 12º and the clouds had gathered overhead once more. The showers started shortly after we left Braidwood and became steadily heavier as we did battle with a very stiff headwind. As the road took a more westerly turn towards Bungendore, the scenery ahead through the showers of rain was a solid wall of dense, angry black cloud filling the horizon.

The heavy rain started at Bungendore and just got heavier the closer we got to Canberra. The temperature dropped to just 8º with the chill factor hovering somewhere closer to zero. Fortunately for us, the worse of what looked to be some very nasty weather had drifted away to our left as we entered the ACT. We continued to ride through heavy showers and strong, gusty winds until our paths parted at Hume. I am certain that both Kevin and I arrived back home in a similar state, soaked to the skin and freezing cold. If nothing else, this outing prompted me to renew all the waterproofing on my jacket, boots and gloves. With my reputation as a bringer of storms and flooding rain restored, I thank Kevin for his bravery and good company.

Riders:

• Peter Ongley - Ducati Monster 659
• Kevin Sherman - BMW R1250RS

"Let’s go to Gunning" , 31st October 21

Let’s go to Moruya.  Hang on, there’s something better at Cowra.  Let’s go a see the Red Radials perform.  Sorry, no can do, Cowra is a no go zone.  OK, so what will we do?  Let’s go to Gunning.

So Gunning it was.  There were 6 takers who met at the Ampol at Gold Creek.  Jenny Carlin came along to wish us a pleasant ride.  

The intrepid crew were:
•    Kevin on a BMW RS
•    Warren on a BMW XR
•    Neil on a Triumph Tiger
•    Dieter on a Ducati Multistrada
•    Dave on a BMW RS
•    Dion Harley Tri-Glide

After a quick brief, we headed off for Boorowa via Binalong.  I’d never been along that road, but the guys at the brief said that it was a good ride.  So I trusted their guidance and headed off that way.  The road across from Binalong to Boorowa was cut up quite a bit with the amount of rain that had been had and the lack of maintenance done during the COVID-19 period.

After we negotiated the road across, we pulled up at Boorowa at the Superb Bakery for what I would have to say are some of the finest Lamingtons that I have even tasted.  After everyone had their fill, we were off to Gunning via Crookwell, again, another road that I had never travelled.

What a great start to this leg as we headed down towards the turnoff at the monument in the middle of the road only to come across a Road Closed sign.  Maybe we should have taken this as a sign.  I turned the group around and let me GPS plot another way for us to get back on to the desired road.  Well, if we thought that the road from Binalong to Boorowa was in a state of some needed maintenance, well the road from Boorowa to Crookwell was well overdue.

As we delicately made our way through the minefield that was potholes, we come across a small bridge just before Rugby.  Now this little bridge was having some work done to it and had all the necessary warning signs prior to arriving at it.  As we descended down to the bridge it was quickly apparent that this was going to be a little daunting.  Across the entire width and length of the bridge was about 10-15cms of loose marble sized gravel.  There were more than a few nervous riders who tackled that bridge that day.  Thankfully there was no incidents.  Once we got through that little hurdle, the rest of the ride was quite good through to Crookwell.  Still a lot of dodgy roads, but after tackling the bridge, I don’t think that anyone would have had any issues with the rest of the road.

 I’d booked us in at the Merino Café in Gunning where I would have to say, they make the best Lamb Burgers within 300km’s of Canberra.  The group chatted away, told a few stories and expressed our gratitude of being able to get out and about and looking forward to more riding in the coming months.

After lunch, the group headed back to Canberra via Gundaroo and Sutton.  Overall, I’d like to think that everyone had a great day.

Dion

The November RO2 is now available!

 Happy November!

How to celebrate?

Why, read this months RO2 of course!

get it >> Here <<

Ride Report; Gerringong, 3 November 21

Wednesday 3 November was an almost perfect day for a long motorcycle ride. Almost, because the section from Gerringong to Kiama was in a strong and gusty sea breeze; still, the rest of the ride was in fine conditions and a temperature in the low 20’s. Given those conditions, seven bikes made up the group. Three German, two British, and one each from North America and Japan.

The first leg was from Bungendore through Tarago to Nerriga for a coffee. This road, like so many in the area at the moment, is in poor condition with thousands of potholes; most, fortuitously, are along the left edge of the road so it’s not too hard to find a good line for a motorcycle. The Nerriga pub provided coffee for those so inclined.

The next section of the ride took us to Nowra. The eucalypt forest on this road was severely burned at the end of 2019, but with good rain for the past year, it has regenerated very well. The ride through Nowra is tedious, with numerous roadworks and lane closures, but all seven riders regrouped at the Ampol before continuing to Gerringong for lunch. Once again we had to contend with roadworks on the highway past Berry; one wonders if this highway will ever be complete. Lunch was taken at the Sea Vista Cafe, on a deck overlooking the Tasman Sea but with a stiff sea breeze blowing.

After lunch was the fun part of the ride -  the climb to Robertson on Jamberoo Mountain Road. For those who haven’t tackled this road, it’s narrow with an awful lot of very tight turns, as well as a steep climb. There’s a 15 km/h steep uphill left-hander; each time I ride the road I know it’s coming, I set up for it carefully, and it still gives me heart palpitations. 285 kg of touring bike is really not ideal for such a road; still, I didn’t overrun the centre line, so maybe I’m getting the hang of it! In any case, the conditions were perfect and there was very little other traffic. On weekends, it’s a popular motorcycling road.

I offered the group the choice of taking the highway home from Robertson, or a scenic tour through the Southern Highlands; everybody agreed with the latter so we made the journey through Fitzroy Falls, Exeter and Bundanoon. Our final stop was at Marulan for fuel, a short break, goodbyes then straight down the highway home.

The group:

•     George Attard       Triumph Tiger 800 XRT
•     Chris Dietzel         Kawasaki 1400GTR
•     Bill Henshaw         Triumph Tiger Explorer
•     Dave Mossman      BMW R1250RS
•     David Pitt              Harley-Davidson Softail Slim
•     Kevin Sherman      BMW R1250RS
•     Scott England        BMW R1250RT - Ride Leader and scribe

BBQ Volunteers Needed

 

The Branch is calling for more Volunteers to help cook and serve at Bunnings Belconnen.

The next fundraiser BBQ will held on Saturday 6th November  and we are short a few helpers on the day.  

Please support the Branch with a helping hand for a couple of hours.  Simply phone or text BBQ Co-Ordinator, Tony Henderson on mobile number 0408451220. 

Tony is also putting together a roster of volunteers for other dates, so if you are not able to help at the next one you will have a chance to  put your name down to help in December. 

Proceeds will go towards a donation to our charity of choice - UCARF - Ulysses Club Arthritis Research Fund.

Snowy Mountains Loop 24/10/21

This year’s 600 km Snowy Mountains Loop was on a fine but unseasonably cool day. Four riders departed Nicholls in sunshine and about 9 degrees. By the time we reached Yass it was overcast and only 8 degrees; Chris decided he wasn’t suitably equipped for the conditions so he turned for home. Three riders stopped for coffee at Jugiong, where the sun came out again and riding conditions were glorious for the rest of the day.

At this time of year, the Hume Highway usually has great fields of yellow or purple, but neither the canola nor Salvation Jane were in flower yet, so the hills were just relentlessly green. Joe caught up with us around Batlow, and the group was four again for lunch at the Tumbarumba Hotel. From Tumbarumba to Khancoban, the road traverses the upper Murray Valley, were the fields were, if anything, even greener and the cows were knee-deep in grass.

The Alpine way from Khancoban to Thredbo is a magnificent motorcycling road these days, though regrettably the speed limit is 60 km/h for the majority of it. We had perfect conditions; windless, sunny and cool - only about 8 degrees again in the higher parts of the road. A stop was made at Scammel’s Lookout at Geehi, where the views of the higher alps, which were still covered in plenty of snow, were wonderful. We encountered very little other traffic, and thankfully no wildlife with poor road-sense.

After a fuel stop at Jindabyne, we made the final leg home. The Monaro Highway is not very interesting, but at least it has quite a few passing lanes these days and, in any case, the traffic was not heavy. The last hour of boredom is a small price to pay for the joy of riding the Alpine Way.

Today’s riders were:

•     Steven Bardwell    Moto Guzzi California
•     Chris Dietzel         Kawasaki 1400GTR
•     Joe Luxford          Kawasaki Z900RS
•     Kevein Sherman   BMW R1250RS, and
•     Scott England       BMW R1250RT, ride leader and scribe

 

Two’s Company…Ride Report: Boorowa - Young - Galong - Yass (Wednesday 20-10-21)

So, this was our second official Canberra branch ride after lockdown, you know the one, where the people are allowed out of their homes again, but all the shops are still closed?!

In typical fashion whenever I am the designated ride leader, I woke early and climbed out of my warm bed in the far flung southern suburb of Banks, to greet a typical Canberra Spring morning; cold, wet, windy and thick fog obscuring the surrounding hills and mountains. I was temped to return to the comfort of my bed.  For some strange reason, I have become somewhat averse to getting cold and wet in my dotage after decades of riding long distances in all weathers. I think my percentage of  bad weather days as ride leader is running at about 75% at the moment. Have I mentioned before that even my own family refuses to go camping with me due to a long track record of it coinciding with heavy rain, local flooding, gale force winds and the occasional locust plague? The only glimmer of hope was a very thin band of blue sky to the North.

By the time I set off from home, the misty rain had momentarily stopped, and as I headed towards the far off patch of blue sky, I hoped my optimistic decision to not put on my wet weather gear would not cause me too much grief. The scattered rain drops on the visor finally stopped as I traversed the deadly chaos of the Glenloch Interchange, bound for the Barton Highway and the meeting point at the Ampol Service Station at Nichols. The en-route presence of two revenue raising mobile speed cameras was another indication that lockdown was over and the business of running government was back to normal.

Within moments of arriving at the meeting point, I was joined by our esteemed ride coordinator, Warren, riding his very impressive new BMW900XR. We filled our bikes and waited for all the other enthusiastic Ulysseans, eager to get back on the road after lockdown,  to join us. Our waiting was sadly in vain. Apparently, there are others like myself, averse to riding in threatening bad weather. As I looked up at the heavy overcast and the gusty wind stirring the trees, I couldn’t blame them.

The planned ride for the day was a clockwise loop through Binalong, Boorowa,
Crookwell and Gunning. Warren had already contacted me the night before with a heads-up about the weather forecast for the Crookwell portion of the ride. The BoM was predicting an 80-90% chance of heavy rain. A quick check of the weather radar confirmed widespread rain falling over the eastern half of our proposed ride, with lots more moving in from the South-East. The forecast and radar image to the west of Boorowa looked much more encouraging, so we exercised our discretion and changed the route. After all, there was only the two of us to please on this occasion.

The new route would take us on an anti-clockwise loop, west to Binalong, then north along the Hughstonia Road to Boorowa for a coffee stop at the Superb Bakery. Then, instead of turning east towards Crookwell, it was west on the Murringo Road to Young for lunch at the Wilders Bakery, before returning East along the Moppity Road and Kalangan Road to Galong and a stop at Kaffeine 2582 in Yass for a final injection of caffeine, then home.

Having given other members an additional five minutes to present themselves, Warren and I mounted up, armed with our post-pandemic travel essentials; face masks, Covid-19 vaccination certificates and a couple of check-in apps installed on our phones. As I glanced across at Warren when he started up his lovely new BMW, it was like watching a Top Gun pilot strapping into the latest glass cockpit of a modern fighter jet; lots of lovely, brightly coloured, flashing touch screen buttons to play with. I looked down at the miserable grey-on-grey LCD display on my 7 year old Ducati with some envy. Even at its brightest illumination setting, the only way you can read the speedo during daylight hours is if the sun is shining directly on it, at least that’s my excuse, officer. I must also admit to some secret delight that it was me waiting for another rider to get ready to ride. Usually, everyone has to wait for me to get organised on my bike.

 The ride to Binalong under clearing blue skies was uneventful, with the gusty wind mostly behind us, except for the short cross-wind section of the Hume Highway around Yass. The first few kilometres as we left the ACT past the Barton Highway upgrade works, was slow in accordance with roadworks speed limits, but free flowing. At one point along the Hume, Warren rode past me gesticulating feverishly. After first checking that my bike wasn’t on fire, it didn’t take too long to figure out that he was giving me helpful feedback about how my wildly inaccurate speedo (reading 8% too high according to my owners manual) compared to the GPS speed he was getting from one of his cruise-controlled, well-lit, functional glass screens. I have to admit that I was struggling to figure out how fast I should be riding when it comes down to calculating an 8% error on the fly.

At Binalong, we turned north onto Hughstonia Road, and I was curious about what road surface conditions we would encounter on this lovely 30km section of sweeping bends through undulating pasture land. The last time I had ridden this road, it was heavily pot-holed with broken edges and scattered loose debris. The first few kilometres out of Binalong were very pleasant but quiet bumpy, lulling us into a false sense of security. Before long the pot holes started to appear, often lurking in the deep shadows of roadside trees. The closer to Boorowa we got, the worse the road became, the potholes now congregating together like a well laid out minefield. It certainly kept our concentration levels up as well ducked and dodged some quite deep hole in the road. Unfortunately, this was a recurrent theme on most of the secondary roads we travelled on this outing. Apparently, all road works and repairs in the region had also been put on lockdown for most of this year.

By the time we reached the bakery at Boorowa after about 80 minutes in the saddle, I was ready to have a break, stretch the legs and have a good cup of coffee. You know that you’ve been away from riding for too long when the backside starts complaining after just 50 minutes riding. The ‘iron butt’ of my past long distance travels was well and truly missing in action. Our entry into the Superb Bakery involved face masks, vaccination certificate checks and, for me, a first time use of the Service NSW check-in app. Five minutes later, after receiving several email messages and prompts and entering various six digit verification coded that in turn needed verifying, I finally got to join Warren indoors. As an aside, the NSW app differs from the ACT one in that there is a check-in AND a check-out time procedure, which would definitely give contact tracers a much better idea of how long you were in any one location, but only if you remember to actually check-out. Fortunately this can be done retrospectively.

Warren and I settled down to a pleasant chat over coffee. It was here that we discovered that the bacon and egg roll that Warren had ordered as a “light snack” was actually big enough to feed two people. With just the two of us, I got lucky, thanks Warren! Another check of the weather radar confirmed continuing steady rainfall to the east over Crookwell and Gunning, so our alternative westward journey to Young continued.

Murringo Road through to Young was another pleasant 45km run under increasingly overcast skies. Generally a good surface with sweeping bends that took us through the Canola crops just coming into flower. Some fields were a sea of bright yellow flowers, whilst others were showing just a light scattering of colour. This area in the coming weeks will look amazing, especially with everything so green from recent good rainfall. I had to modify my uncharitable thoughts about local roadworks when we encountered a road crew doing repairs, tearing up the random blobs of hot mix that had been shovelled into the pot holes and replacing it with large sections of properly dug out and relaid surface.
 

A pleasant hour was spent sitting on the upstairs balcony of the Wilders Bakery in Young enjoying their usual good quality fare. The only point of concern was the increasingly dark, threatening clouds forming overhead and to the east where we planned to return. A few scattered raindrop fell as we refuelled the bikes, then it was onto the Moppity Road on our way to Galong and the Burley Griffin Way. There were a couple of short, heavier showers of rain as we approached Galong and then on the Burley Griffin Way around Binalong as we made our way back to Yass. Not enough moisture to cause us any discomfort, but just enough to clear the smattering of squashed bugs from our visors.

Our final stop, for yet another shot of coffee, was at Kaffeine 2582 in Yass, where we were pleasantly served by fellow Ulysses club member and Kawasaki/Ducati rider, Carolyn. We watched another shower of rain pass by as we sipped our coffee, then struck out for home down the Barton Highway, which also happened to be a surprisingly traffic free, uninterrupted ride. Overall, a pleasant 380km ride for me after too long out of the saddle. Thanks to Warren for his good company and a share of his egg and bacon roll. It was a great day out on the bikes despite my early misgivings about the weather. It just goes to show that when it comes to Canberra weather, there can be heavy rain falling in one suburb and bright sunshine in another not too far away. Hopefully we can see a few more riders along for our next ride.

Riders:

Peter Ongley - Ducati Monster 659
Warren Richer - BMW900XR

Change to Sunday Ride on 31st October!

 

As you will all be aware, there are loads of COVID19 "always changing" travel rules.  

Lucky for us our Ride Co-Ordinator, Warren, is no top of it! 

Unfortunately, this time the scheduled ride to Cowra falls outside the approved postcode area.

All is not lost - Dion will lead a ride on Sunday 31st as follows:

Date:                      Sunday 31st October

Destination:          SR -  Boorowa – Crookwell Loop 

Distance:               240+ km 

Leave:                    Ampol Nicholls

Time:                      Briefing 8:50am, departure 9:00am

Brunch:                  Superb Bakery, Boorowa

Coffee/Refresh:     Gunning Cafe tbc

Leader:                   Dion Kosch 0413010444

Route notes:     

Out via Binalong to Boorowa (brunch). Back via Crookwell, Gunning (coffee), Gundaroo & Mulligans Flat Rd

Remember to keep checking https://www.covid19.act.gov.au/ for updates about travel restrictions and general other interesting info.

AND

Don't forget to send the ride report to the RO2 Editor!

Joe Rider Rides!!!!

 Just in from our friendly Road Safety Officer just over the border in Queanbeyan:

"Council* is again running the popular motorcycle safety campaign Joe Rider this week for 2021.  Evidence shows that being aware of motorcycle riders on the road is a key factor in ensuring their safety.

With COVID restrictions opening up and the weather warming up, we are seeing increased traffic and more local riders getting out on the roads to commute back to work or take a leisure ride especially on weekends.

Council has partnered with rider training centre Stay Upright, Australia Post and other local riders who will be wearing high-vis Joe Rider vests while riding the roads this week to increase awareness of motorcycle riders. 

If you notice a motorcyclist while you’re driving, whether they were wearing a ‘Joe Rider’ vest or not, report your sighting once you’ve reached your destination, by going to www.qprc.nsw.gov.au/joe-rider and go into the draw to win fuel vouchers.

There are five $50 fuel vouchers to be won and one $150 fuel voucher to win for the person that reports the most sightings. 

We can all help keep motorcyclists safe by checking twice for bikes. 

Again thank you for your past support of our motorcycle safety campaign 

Kind regards

Jo

Joanne Wilson Ridley
Road Safety Officer

Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council*
Tel: (02) 6285 6196 Mob: 0481 007 010
Web: www.qprc.nsw.gov.au
Mail: PO Box 90 Queanbeyan NSW 2620 "

Yass - lockdown lifted!! 17th Oct, Chomp 'n Chat

With great excitement I dusted off my riding gear and headed of to the meeting point after months of lockdown

I arrived to find that everyone was there already and were preparing to appoint someone new as ride leader as they thought I had got lost. No such luck peoples I'm afraid.

Ride briefing quickly followed and i had ridden the route the day before i decided due to the state of the road to Yass we would change the route to  the Barton Hwy to avoid potholes .

I noticed with some interest that Bardy had abandoned his Italian mistress and had brought his Enfield. Neil had arrived with his shiny new Triumph and on closer inspection found that the tft screen was almost the size of an ipad. Most impressive!

So off we set up the GDE to the Barton Hwy for a rather uneventful ride to Yass
Seems The Yass Hotel no longer exists so we moved slightly further down the road for the festivities.

 

After sorting the problems of the world we took the scenic tour home through Jerrewa, Dalton, Gunning and Gundaroo.

 Hopefully a good day was had by all even Bardy who assumed Tail End  Charlie duties on the Enfield

Kevin


                    Riders

• Kevin Sherman       BMW R1250 RS
• Andrew Campbell    BMW R1250 RS
• George Attard        Triumph Tiger XRT
• Steven Bardwell      Royal Enfield 500 Classic
• Neil McRItchie        Triumph Tiger GT Pro
• Tony Henderson     Triumph Tiger 800
• Warren Richer        BMW F900XR
• Jenny Carlin           Ryken600

Branch BBQ Fundraiser - Reminder!

 

The Canberra Branch is looking forward to holding the last two BBQ fundraisers for 2021 in November and December.   

Everyone who had previously volunteed are not off the hook just yet!  

Please contact our BBQ Coordinator Tony Henderson to confirm your attendance or to put your name on the roster for a morning or an afternoon shift.

The first BBQ at Bunnings Belconnen is set for Saturday the 6th of November. The second is scheduled for Saturday 18th of December.   

All helpers will also be contacted by Tony closer to the date.

The October Riding On 2 is now available.

More good news!

The October RO2 is now available.

Click >>here<< or on the image to download the mag.

ACT has lifted travel restrictions to Regional NSW - Tomorrows Ride is ON!

 

 

Good News:  COVID19 restrictions have been relaxed a little to allow ACT residents with a double-vax status free movement into regional NSW.
 
** Please make sure that you are able to prove this.** 

 The rides as advertised will NOW go ahead.


NOTE: The ACT Covid announcement can be found >> here <<.

The September RO2 is now available.

 There may be a stay at home requirement 

but the September RO2 is just a click away!

Click  >> here<<  

or the image below for the September magazine!

 

A word from The Editor…   

Hi Riding On Too readers

So here we are in lockdown again! With no (or little) riding happening – certainly nothing social anyway. So this is a good time to think about the RO2 newsletter, and to seek your ideas for content – what would you like to see as a regular item? Send your idea/articles to jenwoods@internode.on.net

Ken McLean has already sent in a “Motorcycle memories” article for September, which is a terrific look back at his riding journey to now (we won’t say too much more – you can read it in the September edition). Ken's contribution prompted our Editor, Jen to start a “profile” article which she is asking you to volunteer to write!  So, keep busy during lockdown and put yours fingers to the keyboard and send your article to Jen today? Please don't forget to send pics as well. 

Finally, who hasn’t felt like this lately? …… says Jen's neighbor:

“Getting carried away by the Olympics, yesterday I clocked a personal best by pinging a QR code from 1.7 metres.’’ 

Keep Smiling!😁

The August RO2 is here - a little sunshine in the dark days of a lockdown

 Need some Lockdown reading??

Look no further the August RO2 is here 

courtesy of our new RO2 Editor Jen Woods!

 

Click the above link,  the image or >>here<<

Keep Safe Folks!

Collateral Damage to Lockdown - NO BBQ at Bunnings and No Social Meeting

As you are no doubt aware by now the ACT is in Lockdown . 

As a consequence the weekend BBQ at Bunnings is cancelled as is next weeks monthly social meeting. 

Provided that the lockdown is removed after 7 days the Social dinner at the end of the month may still go ahead - watch this space! 

>>https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-12/canberra-seven-day-lockdown-rules-and-restrictions-explained/100167124<< 

>>https://www.covid19.act.gov.au/news-articles/seven-day-lockdown-for-the-act <<

Social Rides under current COVID Restrictions

Due to the COVID19 restrictions that are currently in place in NSW all future Branch organized rides out of Canberra are cancelled

HOWEVER

Noting that, the intent is that a choice of local Social rides will be offered to interested riders this Sunday 8th Aug21. 

 

The briefing point will be the Caltex Garage, Kirkpatrick Street, Weston at 1020.

Ride options this week: 

1. Three Peaks Ride. 

2. Cotter Tharwa Loop and 

3. Regional Loop of ~200kms nonstop till arrival Hall Cafe as an interest group not Ulysses group). 

 

If numbers are strong and there is enough demand for more than one ride destination, riders will be given the option of choosing a group to ride with on the day.

 

Regards

Ride Coordinator

MOB: 0409836595