Towong Fri. 23^rd to Mon. 26^th Jan., 2004

Honda CBR929 Ben Warden (leader) Yamaha R1 Geoff Jones

Suzuki GSXR1000 Danny Kosinski KTM950 Rob Langer

Magna wagon Julie Warden Merc van Bronwyn Manifold

MV Augusta Dave Ward CBR600 Kate Stewart

CBR600 Pete Pondeljak

As a Victorian, do you trust the weather when deciding what to pack for a weekend in the high country or do you take enough stuff to cover all extremes? For Ben, the weekends leader, no such decision as Julie trundled up to Towong in the trusty Magna wagon packed with all sorts of gear. I fitted what I could into a Ventura pack and trusted the weather man's promise of fine weather and headed for Whittlesea to meet Ben and Danny at 8.45am Friday. Rob had been in touch about some steering head bearing problems on the KTM 950 and was an uncertain starter. Yarck, the official start point at 9.30am.

New front tyre, 012, and a bit of doubt about the rear 020 but there appeared to be enough depth to last the four days. 15/40 mineral oil in the sump, rated API CH-4/SJ and marketed as a low ash diesel oil. The choice, following some web reading after putting "motorcycle oil" in the Google search engine: cheaper than synthetic by about half, and available everywhere. Chrissie present helmet to test for fit. And how clear is the view through a new visor? Soon to be bug splattered, however.

At 9.40am there was no sign of Rob, so a quick diversion to Gobur and back onto the Highway to Bonnie Doon and Mansfield. Rob was able to sort the bearing problem out. I think he ignored it after the fix became too complicated for the time available, and headed for Yarck for a 9.00am meet. We had noticed a silver, unmarked car with radar at the ready, working this part of the Highway and one of his catches of the day was Rob, 3 points and $200. The rest of Rob's day was spent doing the same route as the three of us but not meeting up until the B&B at Towong.

Cafe at Mansfield for a break to mark the start of the twisty roads and Danny sees a bowl of ‘just-out-of-date’ Mars Bars and buys the lot. Adrenaline and sugar seems to mix well as Danny was always into it and out of sight on the tighter bits.

Photo stops on the Whitfield road, to gather material for a new cover for the Club Mag., featuring some bike-friendly-type road features. After the shots, on to Whitfield for fuel. Then the drone up the flat part of the King Valley through to Oxley, Milawa and Myrtleford for a break. Then onto the Happy Valley road across to Dandongadale, up to Tamgambalanga, then south to view the Dartmouth Dam and boat ramp. Very technical roads indeed.

Fuel for me at Eskdale and for Ben and Danny at Mitta Mitta where refreshments were taken as the temp by now had settled in the 30's. North again to the Granya Gap, then turning east onto the Murray River Road. How good is this? Sun on your back; an open, flowing, well surfaced road. You just have to push it! We did, until on a left-hander over a bridge, resulted in some close eye contact with a police officer in a four wheel drive who was rather wide eyed after Ben came around the left at a rather extreme lean angle followed by Danny. I got the R1 down to about 90k and smiled sweetly as I passed the Toyota, which was now just about stopped on the bridge.

At Tintaldra, we deviated into NSW before slipping back into Vic at Towong, arriving at the B&B after about 700 kilometers. We were greeted by Julie and Rob. Dave and Bron were expected to arrive around midnight in their van so we five piled into the Magna and settled into the Corryong pizza joint for tea.

Then back to the B&B to be quickly trained in the playing of a complex card game that Julie had mastered but that had me doing mental somersaults when my body was saying "get to bed". We worked through the stages of the game and so to bed around the time Dave & Bron rolled in, right on time.

Sharing with Rob, I had grabbed the double bed and was able to get off to sleep without trouble. The Snowy’s southern loop on tomorrow's agenda.

Up too early on Saturday morning allowed some time to sit and watch the day start from the balcony seats looking to the east with the Murray close below, mountains off to the east. Quite a view.

As the R1 was on reserve I went into Corryong early to fill up, not wanting to risk not getting to Khancoban where the other bikes took on fuel for the day's first stage to Jindabyne on the Alpine Way, now with many sections limited to 80k and others down to 60k.

While stopped for a break at Tom Groggin on the Alpine Way we were warned of some police activity by a well meaning lady who got the distance to the radar man all wrong and had us crawling along, expecting to be pinged any minute. The 60k limit at Thredbo revealed the speed trap, so once passed, we resumed formation and pace, Ben leading, Danny and Dave in close attendance. I was back a bit, doing the slow in, wobble around, grunt out thing on the MANY corners on this road which, early on, featured numerous cuttings which can be surprisingly narrow when another vehicle comes the other way.

Jindabyne for lunch and fuel followed by a rear tyre hunt for Rob, assisted by Danny armed with the local Yellow Pages and Rob’s CDMA mobile phone. Alas, with no success. Meanwhile Dave, Ben and I paid the $6 National Park entrance fee and zoomed up to Charlottes Pass and back, after a short boardwalk to view Kosciuszko and the Snowy River headwaters.

Regrouped at the Shell servo after I had wandered past, thinking the others would be at the local tyre place. We then rode on to Dalgety, Berridale and Adaminaby for a break. Some talk-the-talk here and Rob decided to head off to Kiandra at a tyre conserving pace where he waited for a while, then headed for Towong via Cabramurra and Khancoban. The view of the Tumut Pond is now open and spectacular after foliage was removed from the trees by the 2003 fires.  See photo.

We followed the same route after a long break under the trees at Adaminaby, the temperature now well into the 30's. Sensational riding weather and much warmer than Melbourne.

Bikes in the shed. Then off to Corryong, via the Magna, to the Sports Club for a Chinese banquet and fried icecreams. We were later joined by Kate and Pete who had left Melbourne after a very late breakfast, made a detour or two, and arrived well after dark, completely knackered.

Early night for me but the card sharks were at it again. So Saturday passed, northern loop tomorrow.

Sunday morning and a bit of a lay in after yesterday's early rise. Eventually people stir at their own pace, none of the "Hands off cocks, on with socks" sort of wake up I used to cop in the army. Gather round for

breaky then onto the bikes for a tour of the northern area of the Snowy Mountains and the legendary Adelong road to tackle.

Khancoban again for fuel and now we are 7: Ben CBR929, Dave MV750, Danny GSXR1000, Rob KTM950, Pete CBR600, Kate CBR600 and Geoff R1. Tanks full , water bottles stowed, the heat still as the preceding two days, bugs off the visors and follow the leader to first stop, Cabramurra. Cabramurra is the highest town in Australia, built as part of the Snowy Scheme construction. Its use now Minimal. Maybe maintenance people still live there. Whenever the Club has been there other tourist types seem to be in the majority. The road in, again climbing and tight, passing through the winter gates that are closed when the snow comes. More tight cuttings, but also some open sections along the power lines. No tolls to pay.

This was the first time Kate had ridden her CBR on the Cabramurra road. Compared to the CBR250RR, it made the road feel half as long (more usuable power on the 600), and much less bumpy (good suspension versus no suspension). We stopped in town for more photos and a snack.

We regrouped at the Sue City rest area (now called O'Hares Camping Ground) after coming down the Elliot Way. Some road improvements going on along here - two new concrete bridges, road widening. But still a test of front brakes and wrists as the road has a number of hard-on-the-brakes, tip-in type corners. Being NSW roads, bumps and much patching the norm. Rob, Kate and Pete planned to return to Towong at the end of the Elliot Way. Rob was conserving what was left of his rear tyre.

Normally this northern loop uses the Snowy Mountains Highway to get to Tumut via Kiandra but as there seemed to be a high police presence in the area, a different route was picked. Tumbarumba, more fuel for Dave, Ben, Danny. Why not do the Adelong road in both directions? Why not indeed, double the buzz and, as usual, no other vehicles.

Picking up the road from the back streets of Tumbarumba proved a touch tricky. But soon we were on the open, flowing, wide, and well banked piece of sport bike heaven. Some corner entry speeds raising the heart rate as, after getting used to the flowing nature of the curves, the odd one tightened up. Tip it in harder and all through OK. Watch your tank empty and your tyres wear before your very eyes on this road. Tumut reached and lunch to take.

The “Tumut Gap” is not a road like Granya or Tawonga but the difference between advertised sandwich prices and what we actually paid to get out of the shop. Being waited on instead of take away a very nice little earner for the shop owner. We did sit and talk-the-talk for quite a while though, as the temperature outside was now well into the 30's.

Mobile phone service was good here, so much "call home" stuff done. We had put all the gear on before the call frenzy, so a bit of stripping in the street went on. Eventually back on the road to Adelong and the rerun to Tumbarumba for fuel for the R1, the other bikes OK to get back to Towong.

Into the shed again to find Pete, Kate Bron and Julie swimming in the river. After a pushbike ride, Bron and Julie had hired a Canadian canoe and spent a delightful three and a half hours floating down the Murray River and back to camp.

Dave had noticed some coolant overflow on the MV so off with the fairings, (very easy as they are secured by Dzus 1/4 turn fasteners), to find the coolant level too high. Ben found a disused car pump tube and cut to length, then used to blow (rather than suck) the coolant out. Very effective: air in, level raised, overflow flooded out to the marked level. Fairings back on, the bike washed then stowed in the van for early return to bake bread tomorrow.

Julie and Bron had driven around the Alpine Way to Thredbo, taken the chairlift ($23 return or $24 day pass – for the downhill racers) to the top and then completed the Kosciuszko summit walk. The only downside was Bron copping a radar ticket in a tricky 80 to 60 transition point, not realizing the change in legal limit. A mildly sympathetic copper knocked it back a notch but still double demerit points in NSW.

Evening meal at the pub replaced a planned BBQ as the shops closed just as Julie and Bron arrived to do the meat buy. Two trips in the Magna required to get us all into Corryong and some welcome ales and those large country pub servings. Of course I went the entree, large steak and followed up with ice cream, as you do. Bron started the ice cream thing with a request, even though the kitchen had closed. I believe the majority of us had ice cream in the end.

Back to the B&B for more card games and another one of Julie's games called Taboo, which is like charades, but raised the stress levels as we tried to get the word across to team members. Sleep hard after winding up the brain cells. From this point, a week on I may have confused the nights but not the

Effect: Bron was on fire. So to bed, home run tomorrow.

Australia day morning and Dave and Bron roll out early, money changed hands, bookings for the next year done. Rob off next to head home the most tyre friendly way home after topping up the oil in the KTM V twin. Magna pack mule loaded up.

We head home west along the Murray River Road towards Walwa at a pace dictated by the local police 4WD which pulled up at Walwa leaving us to carry on to the Granya turn off, picking up a BMW and Norton Commando who also took the Granya Gap south. On this section Danny attempted some teacher-type action on Pete and Kate; not sure how it was received but the two yellow CBR's left to make their own way home after the Granya thrash.

As my back was not completely stuffed yet, Ben, Danny and I retraced the Friday route, minus the Dartmouth Dam excursion and found ourselves in the Mitta Mitta shop once again. Then back up to Tamgambalanga, down to Dandongadale and across the Happy Valley road to Myrtleford for food and visor clean. Then on to the Oxley Highway, running with a naive P-plater, hoping he would be the radar target. On down the King Valley and into Whitfield for more fuel – just closed - but happy to open again at that price. Mansfield twisties beckoned with a quick wave to Kate and Pete in Mansfield before they caught us at Yarck, our final regroup.

Drone down to Yea, returning holiday traffic now heavy and police everywhere. Oh for those empty mountain roads. Three police pursuit cars running in convoy going the other way and another unmarked, radar equipped not far behind. In Molesworth two more marked cars manning a speed trap and breath test station, and just out of Yea a 4WD making a total of seven police vehicles in 20 km. It was hot!

We picked up the Flowerdale road with a last fast run over Junction Hill before running through the Kinglake National Park twists and the sweepers into Whittlesea. Ben had gone, so a fuel stop at the Mobil, and "see you later" to Danny. Home around 6.45pm after 600 km or so for the day.

As mentioned previously, my instruments were misbehaving, but Ben tells me the total was around 2250 km. Good to be home, gobble some painkillers for a now, very stiff back. Hit the sack. Work tomorrow. What an anti-climax after those Snowy roads.

Great four days away. Thanks to Ben for the organization, Julie for the off bike activities, Dave and Bron for bread supplies, and others for great company.

The R1 survived, using about 400 ml of oil, which is enough to uncover the level sensor from time to time. It flashed a quite distracting bright red warning light. Oh, and the tacho decided enough was enough and stayed on 5000 rpm most of the weekend. None available at the wreckers, new price $940 ouch. Rear tyre gone and my back still stiff. 

Geoff Jones  (Yamaha R1)

“Visual Fatigue Area” overlooking Murray River at Towong B&B

Towong, Australia Day Weekend

Due to work commitments Peter and I were unable to join the other members riding to Corryong on Friday; instead we rode up on Saturday afternoon. Due to the expected increased police presence on the roads over this long weekend and Peter still smarting from his last encounter, we decided to keep relatively close to the speed limits on our way up and settled into a fairly monotonous, body aching rhythm.

My right hand kept going numb holding the throttle in the same position for long periods of time and also as I'd fastened my gloves a bit tightly. So I resorted to letting go of the throttle occasionally while trying to shake some blood down to my fingers. I was doing this when we had our first cop sighting, so we were well under the limit. A bright blue candy coloured toggy coming towards us on one of the tempting long straights between the Hume Hwy and Whittlesea.

Just outside of Whittlesea my bike mysteriously lost power and stopped. After fearing the worst ...oh no, not another break down! We decided perhaps I'd unwittingly hit the kill switch while shaking my numb hand, and so continued on cautiously through Kinglake and on to Yea. I didn’t let the ponies loose until Junction Hill where I spotted a few bikes ahead and set off to disturb their relaxed pace. Passing them was easy on those lovely wide flowing corners and the ponies continued to run until we approached Yea.

Once on the main Highway we settled into cautious mode again, this time all the way to Mansfield. Food, fuel and a rest for my now extremely numb bum at Mansfield. Then it was off along one of my favorite sections... the road to Whitfield. We found ourselves in the midst of a Ulysses ride. They seemed to be a never ending stream but I finally worked my way past them all, surprising a few who set off after me. I chuckled to myself thinking about how easily the male ego can be revved up. Of course in our Club I'm the one being overtaken, so the opportunity for me to pass several bikes rarely occurs.

At Whitfield we stopped in the shade for another rest, this time the boots came off as we stripped down in an effort to cool our hot and weary bodies. A couple Blackbirds waved as they passed by. Back on the road we crawled past the speed camera parked along the main street of Whitfield, then waved at the Blackbirds as we passed them stopped by a Toggy further down the road, thankful that we were being very restrained and the cop was already occupied. Apparently the cops have been targeting bikes and speed offenders on the road between Whitfield and Oxley for the past 6 months or so, and had claimed several licences over the weekend.

It was nearly 5.30pm by the time we refueled in Beechworth and the servo attendant told us loads of bikes had been through heading to Corryong for the weekend so I excitedly imagined a huge group of our members would be there to greet us when we finally got there.

Having missed the turn to Kiewa, we found ourselves at Gundowring and quite a bit out of our way heading towards Mt Beauty. After crossing the river then blasting along the quiet country road through the dairy farms back towards Tallangatta we had added approx 40kms to our trip. This detour meant we tackled the 95 or so kilometers along the road to Corryong at dusk. So we diligently kept a lookout for wildlife, seeing none.

The last 50kms seemed to take forever but we finally rolled into Corryong, all points intact. We found the others, 7 of them, at the Sporting Club having dinner. Where were the rest of you? Geoff Jones, Rob Langer,  Danny Kosinski and Ben Warden all rode up the previous day, while Julie Warden drove her car and Dave Ward and Bronwyn took the MV Augusta up in their van. Bronwyn's new bike has not yet arrived in the country. Not as many people had made the trip up as I expected and our presence seemed well received as Geoff made the comment "Kate and Peter, your arrival has cheapened the place!"  I hope he was referring to the accommodation cost!