As far as I know, Canberra Ulysses haven’t done a ride to Charlotte Pass for at least three years, and I hadn’t been on that road for nearly 40 years. Thus, I decided that a reconnaissance was required. My wife and I took a drive there, had a pleasant lunch, and on the way back hit a pothole the size of Brazil which completely shredded a front tyre. An expensive tyre replacement and an even more expensive trip home on the back of a tilt-tray truck; the things we do for Ulysses. I’ve resolved to never again own a car with low-profile run-flat tyres.
Anyway, unaware of all this, four more riders joined me to make the journey again whilst avoiding potholes. It was an unseasonably cool day - about 12 degrees as we started - but fine. The Monaro Highway to Cooma was typically monotonous, but we broke it up with a coffee stop at Bredbo. Cooma was bypassed by heading through Polo Flat, then we headed south on Maffra Road. This road has around 35 km of continuous sweeping bends but few trees, so the visibility is excellent; it can be rather exposed on a windy day, but we had no such problems. The route then took us through Dalgety to a fuel stop in Jindabyne.
Kosciuszko Road from Jindabyne to Perisher Valley is a lovely road for motorcycle riding: continuous bends, but only a few tight ones; and a smooth surface with clearly-painted lines and not a pothole in sight. It starts in eucalypt forest, ends in alpine plain and, although it was now midday, the temperature still hadn’t risen above 12 degrees. There was some re-surfacing in progress which hadn’t been on NSW Live Traffic, but it was in the vicinity of the ranger station anyway, where we had to stop and fork over $7 each for the privilege of riding in the Kosciuszko National Park.
Our lunch stop was made at the Alpine Eyre Cafe; best burgers in Perisher, open Thursday - Sunday, and with a big sign out the front saying ‘Open’. Except it wasn’t. No obvious reason why. Oh well; the group agreed to make Jindabyne our lunch stop. In the meantime, we rode the last 7 km to Charlotte Pass - narrow, but scenic - then made the downhill return journey to Jindabyne where lunch was about what you’d expect from a cafe in a country town.
What can be said about the ride home from Jindabyne? It’s a road very well known to all of us, not particularly interesting, and from Cooma to Canberra it always has stupid motorists who dither along below the speed limit until the passing lanes, when they go like a bat out of hell.
Oh, and one more observation. Warren Richer wrote his details on the ride sheet as “BMW R900XR”. The keen observer will note that Warren has an F900XR; this error can only mean that Warren subliminally hankers after a boxer twin!
The team:
- Noel Bentley BMW F800GS Adventure
- John Grace Triumph Tiger 1200
- Bill Henshaw Triumph Tiger Explorer
- Warren Richer BMW F(that’s an F)900XR
- Scott England BMW R1250RT; ride leader and scribe
