The spray from the truck in front of me hit my visor with an unrelenting urgency; I could barely see the alloy tray of the truck in front sending this blinding spray towards me as we made our way along the Great Western Highway towards Lithgow. Reluctantly, I let go of the handle bar of my BMW K100RS with my ‘clutch’ hand to desperately wipe my visor clear and gain some much needed vision. Steering the ‘Bimmer’ had become a chore in itself as the gusting winds conspired to hold the bike up as I attempted to lean it into a corner and escalating (in my small mind) the risk of increasing the slip angle to the point where she did just that – slip! I had already experienced a ‘moment’ as Bill and I had completed a slow and tentative lap around the Mount Panorama race track. As we entered Castrol Chase we slowed to what must have been no more than 15 to 20km/h to take the left hand turn which leads onto the small straight before the Pit entry. As I gingerly leaned into the corner the back of the BMW snapped away from under me, instinctively, my legs flailed out to regain some semblance of balance and my left leg bashed against something hard – still not sure if it was the pannier or the pillion foot peg but whatever it was, it hurt! I managed, somehow, to keep the bike upright and coasted slowly across to the grassed area adjacent to the track. Bill thought the whole thing was hilarious but soon summoned up an appropriate amount of concern when he saw how much pain my leg was causing me. We sat there, astride our bikes, cursing the inclement weather and the thought of what might lie ahead.
Our trip began unlike others in that very little prior planning went into the whole exercise. Bill had indicated previously that he was free and keen to go for a ‘ride’ anytime, anywhere and so a text message from me suggesting that I was also ready got things going. A loose plan had evolved in my head – ride towards Mudgee via the Golden Highway and see what happens from there? And so, Thursday morning greeted us with warm sunshine and the prospect of a hot day ahead, Bill cruised up to my place on a brand new Honda Blackbird all 1100cc of it in gleaming black with contrasting alloy exhaust. I had recently purchased an 89 K100RS with Touring panniers and about 125 000km on the clock for this very purpose, that is, to get out on the road and do some touring without the need to strap on backpacks and tank bags etc – the BMW fitting everything I needed comfortably in each of the black touring panniers, Bill had chosen to go with the Gearsack option which he had ordered to go with the new Blackbird.
A free-flowing and enjoyable ride was shared as we cruised through Kulnura along George Downes Drive, a short stop at Wollombi Tavern and then onto Broke via Paynes Crossing. At Broke we took the Mt. Thorley Road until we turned left onto the Golden Highway where we experienced some very relaxed touring. Both of our bikes enjoyed being stirred along although Bill had been advised to vary the speed on the Honda until it had a few thousand kms on the clock. His habit of backing right off and then giving the Blackbird a big twist of the throttle sometimes caught me off guard as one minute he’d be right in my rear vision and then when I’d check again he’d be nowhere to be seen! As our trip progressed I learnt to relax and just keep at a steady speed and allow Bill to catch-up when he was ready.
Denman soon came upon us and an appropriate place for lunch. A beautiful looking pub looked enticing but as we cruised up Ogilvie Street we found a nice looking cafe to take lunch. After a short break and a chat to the Cafe staff we resumed our journey west, taking time to wave to two gentlemen about to ride off on a pair of beautiful black (of course) R series BMW’s of mid 70’s vintage.
The Golden Highway, taking us through Gungal, Merriwa and Cassilis, was very entertaining and one which I’d recommend if you favour nice open, flowing road where relatively high cruising speeds can be maintained without the disruption of excessive traffic. Safe overtaking opportunities exist along this stretch of the highway combined with consistent and good quality bitumen. In the hot and dry conditions which we experienced that Thursday afternoon both bikes were taken into the long sweepers with speed and confidence.
Not far out of Cassilis we took the Ulan Road exit which would take us through to our intended destination for that night – Mudgee. At about the same time, we noticed our respective fuel gauges indicating that we were down to reserve supply, now with both of us being on ‘new’ bikes and unfamiliar with both the range of our reserve tanks and the location of any petrol stations the tension levels crept noticeably higher. I tried to assure Bill that we’d be fine and anyway, this was all part & parcel of being on an “adventure” – Bill wasn’t so sure! And so the km’s clicked on and the fuel warning light seemed to intensify with every click of the odometer to the point that we both resorted to coasting down the hills in an attempt to save on our precious fuel.
After what felt like an hour but what was in reality more like 25 minutes our bikes rolled into the main street of Mudgee. We came to the first servo but now feeling over confident, I ignored it to cross the road to go to my more favoured brand of petrol, as I accelerated slightly to cross the road the Bimmer coughed, spluttered and died allowing me just enough momentum to cross the road and roll (literally) into the forecourt of the ‘favoured’ servo. Talk about cutting it fine! But with a laugh we now agreed that this was more like it – living life on the edge and so with a grin we filled our empty tanks to full.
Accommodation was soon organised at the Corner Hotel, just opposite the Henry Lawson Park with your typical country pub style room, comfortable enough for two blokes, shared shower/toilets and a common TV/lounge/kitchen & verandah. The publican was very friendly and informative whilst the bar staff looked after us during the evening. After unpacking & locking our bikes we were soon enjoying the first of many beers in the main bar.
As the people rolled in, we moved to the Bistro for a hearty meal and another beer (or two) before adjourning back to the main bar where a Karaoke machine was found being setup. As you might expect after several beers, I announced to Bill that I was just in the mood to have a sing and once the ‘right’ song had been found I’d be getting up to wow the crowds. Luckily, for everyone, I couldn’t find the ‘right’ song because once the first volunteer had got up and sung his number I realised that this was a regular Karaoke crowd and that the ‘singers’ were actually damn good singers! My drunken & pathetic attempt would have been even more embarrassing given the talent they had on hand that evening. So anyway, all was not lost as we actually enjoyed a very entertaining evening with some funny characters and some pretty good singing. By the end of the evening we had even made some new friends and were invited to join the crowd as they ‘kicked-on’ at another nightclub down the road but wisely we chose not to and staggered our way back upstairs to fall into a drunken slumber.
Day 2 dawned bright and sunny with Bill already on his usual morning walk and me groaning and rolling back over in an attempt to snatch some more sleep despite a throbbing headache and dry throat. We eventually met up again in the shared kitchen area where we were joined by the owners of the Karaoke show and one of our new best mates. Amongst many other stories, our new best mate shared his success story from the previous evening and how he’d ‘got lucky’ at the night club! Breakfast was relaxed and enjoyable but soon we bid farewell to the characters from the Corner Pub and mounted our bikes pointing them in the direction of Bathurst.
Our plan was to head for Bathurst, tour Mount Panorama, visit the car museum and perhaps, then return to Mudgee for a second night stay, however, the weather had other plans for us. We thoroughly enjoyed the ride down through to Ilford before turning off to take the Sofala Road as again, the roads were of good quality with little traffic and a chance to tour at a safe but considerable pace on two good touring bikes. The only thing that spoilt our trip through Wattle Flat was the ever darkening clouds that grew bigger and looked more ominous the nearer we drew towards Bathurst. By the time we had joined Peel Road for the final run through Laffing Waters up to the Kelso/Bathurst turn-off, the heavy splat of full rain drops could be heard, seen and felt against the visors of our helmets.
Mount Panorama is a magnificent sight, the bold ground lettering on the side of the hill never fails to grab your attention as the anticipation builds the nearer you get the track. Evidence of the previous weekend’s annual Bathurst V8 Super car race could still be seen as we carefully toured the public road sometimes race track. The television coverage is never quite able to convey the steepness of certain parts of the track or the narrowness across the top of the mountain. Those professional drivers are certainly brave, to hurtle around that track at the speeds they do defies comprehension! With the rain now quite heavy we approached each corner with extreme caution but, as mentioned earlier, even at this speed I managed to lose the backend of the Bimmer in a small but scary moment.
I would recommend to any car/bike enthusiast travelling in and around Bathurst that they allow time to visit the Mt. Panorama Racing Museum. The quality and variety of cars and bikes on display is awesome and certainly brings back some vivid memories of past Bathurst drivers and events. As Bill and I ambled around the museum in the back of our minds was the hope that the rain would have eased by the time we left the museum. Unfortunately, this was not the case and so, upon exiting the museum gift shop we were forced to put on every bit of wet weather gear we had with us and I soon felt like the Michelin Man with the layers of gear I had on. To compound our discomfit, we had left our helmets chained to the bikes and carelessly left them facing the wrong way allowing the rain to saturate the inside of each helmet and creating a very wet and uncomfortable item of gear to wear.
A quick decision was taken and that was to head out of Bathurst and back towards Lithgow. In hindsight, we probably should have either bunkered down in Bathurst or escaped the bad weather and headed back to Mudgee but, I guess we panicked and decided to head home. And so, the rain followed us all the way through to Lithgow where we stopped at McDonalds to have lunch.
Miraculously, while eating lunch the weather did clear and the rain stopped. Clearly, though, the roads remained very wet and slippery and so with some apprehension we remounted our bikes to take the Bells Line Road to Richmond and Windsor. We planned to get through to Wiseman’s Ferry cross the river and travel up through Spencer to Central Mangrove and onto home (Gosford). Now whilst the plan sounded good the reality quickly turned into our worst nightmare as after asking directions from a petrol station attendant at Wilberforce as to how to get to Wiseman’s Ferry we ended up taking what must be the longest way you can go to get the ferry. Taking the Sackville Ferry Road we mistakenly took the Cliftonville Road exit which led us to the River Road. Now had we chosen to take this road on a sunnier day, this would have been a lovely ride. But after 5 hours in the saddle in crappy conditions all we wanted to do was to get home! The River Road went on for ever, hair-pin after hair-pin bend, blind corner after blind corner and with nearly every corner covered in some form of wash-away my nerves were shot.
Thankfully, we eventually crossed the Ferry and climbed slowly and carefully up the hill towards Mangrove Mountain and finally we arrived back at my place in one piece. I have never been so physically and mentally drained and I felt for Bill who still had a further 20 minutes of riding ahead of before he reached his home. After a long bath, I headed for bed and the last thing I remember was my head hitting the pillow!
Despite the unfortunate end to our little adventure we both learnt a lot form this experience. The first was not to spend too long in the saddle each day, to stop as often as you wanted and to find accommodation early in the afternoon allowing you to settle before the saddle sore creeps up on you. The second was, don’t bail out too early, if the weather is crap then stop and sit it out and, if necessary, stop for the night and begin your adventure the next day! Fortunately, the experience wasn’t that traumatic as the next day Bill and I were already discussing & planning the next ‘perfect’ ride.
Great story, can’t wait for the next chapter.
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