World Superbike 2008 Ride by Marty Thompson February, 2008

I have just returned home from what ended up being nearly 5,000 kms all up! It was a cook's tour of New South Wales and Victoria.

On Monday the 25^th, I rode from Melbourne up to Albury and then took my favourite back roads all the way to Young where I spent some time with my daughter and grandson. (He got a tooth on Wednesday!)

Tuesday morning, after staying at my mum’s place due to being too tired to get going, I enjoyed the best breaky a young fella could hope for. Aren't Mums amazing! I then took some local back roads across to Canberra and did the Coppins, Tidbinbilla, Tharwa run and then rode up towards Cooma and Adaminaby via the Tharwa Road. It turns to dirt near the top and could be treacherous on a roadie if the weather turned foul or had recently rained. As it was, the first 15 kms were a bit rough and rutted, but nothing vibrated off or broke. (It's good to be back on a Japanese bike!) The last 20-30 kms of dirt is like a race track! Billiard table smooth with just a light sprinkling of fine white gravel which is actually very grippy! I cruised along here at a constant speed that would look respectable if the road were tarred!

From Cooma to Bombala was a cattle run with lots of road works. But the run from Bombala to Bega was a hoot. Wednesday was going to be a reverse of this. I was en-route to Batemans Bay for a Wednesday morning meet up with 11 other riders, so the run down prepared me for the next day’s ride.

Wednesday morning we met up at the usual Maccas meet point in Batemans for the run down to Orbost. We cruised down the highway to Bega where we stopped for fuel. Just after Bega we turned for the run up the mountain to Candello, Wyndham and Cathcart before stopping once again at Bombala for fuel.

We then ran across to Delegate and down the Bonang. It started pouring with rain about halfway through the first tar section and this continued all the way to Orbost! However, the last tar section is one of the grippiest roads in the wet, a lot of us nearly going edge to edge in the wet. The road mix is very sharp.

Thursday we ran across to Bairnsdale and up to Dargo in the fog and rain. It cleared up the top and we hoped for the same on the return trip. However, the weather got worse halfway back down with the rain suits coming out quickly. It continued like this till Stratford where it cleared. The rest of the day was mint weather wise.

We ran up a road which takes you over to Allambie. It starts off as a tight twisty road running up the side of the hill and soon turns into some mad sweepers. It eventually turns to dirt, but the dirt is good, rideable dirt and links onto some other awesome tarred roads after a few kms. We ran down to Mirboo North via the Marden Road and then onto Korumburra and eventually running onto the Island. I dropped the boys and girls at the roundabout and headed up the freeway arriving home about 6pm.

The ride back down to Phillip Island on Friday morning was nearly as good as the racing! Seven people including MSR members Ben Warden and Cameron Stevens met at the Shell West Gate servo. We ran around the ring road to Diamond Creek, over to Christmas Hills to Yarra Glen and on into Healesville. Having a few non ride-fit riders, we stopped here for a coffee and some morning tea while we waited for any other arrivals. A mate Mick turned up just as we were leaving and tagged along. Then we ran up the Black Spur and across Lake Mountain to Cambarvale and down the Reefton. The Reefton was in very good condition, perhaps the best it's been for years. The ZRX belied its size maintaining a good pace and leading down the Reefton. Bloody hell, it's a surprise package!

After a quick bite at the Warburton Bakery, we turned left at Yarra Junction and ran up to Noojee and Icy Creek. Then down to Hill End and Umina before running down the little flat bit to Trafalgar. We then took some secret squirrel roads never to be cast in print. The roads were empty, smooth, clean and sweepy! Constant radius turns spending about $1.40-$1.60 per turn! We then managed to find our way to Korumburra to the Bakery once more for afternoon tea. Then the final leg, which one rider referred to as "Qualifying"!

Ben, who has forgotten more roads in Vic than I know, took us on some new roads he had found recently sealed (last few years), which lead us down to Anderson and The Island! I can't tell you where they are in here, but I am happy to show you them some time! Bloody hell they were good. The scenery was equally spectacular! We arrived at our Phillip Island accommodation at 4.30pm having covered 550kms since leaving home that morning.