Ben’s notes to President post Jindabyne ride:
- 14
people - late starters Dave Ward and Marty Thompson boosting numbers from
12 (full) to 14. We scrounged a couple of mattresses and these two slept
in the large common room - once the tennis was finished. Peter Feistl
dropped out at last moment due to work commitments which was just as well
as then we would have been 1 mattress short.
- As
all costs covered; Peter should be reimbursed the $58. Marty
effectively donated $40 to the Club for the two nights with us.
Dave, whatever you think is a fair thing!
- weather
brilliant and relatively cool with much lower humidity than on the
lowlands; majority of roads in excellent condition
- no
incidents until last day, other than Rob's mate Tony Grande stepping off
doing stoppy
- Renzo
crashed on the last day on Alpine Way after hitting gravel. As bike and he
are both indestructible, he was able to continue on without a clutch
lever. He eventually disappeared late in the day but called in at 6.18 pm
to say he arrived home safely
- Pina,
Misho and Geoff Jones went straight at Whitfield and ended up doing 50 km
of dirt around Cheshunt. Ben, Cliff and
Marty went back from Mansfield
to find them. Added another 1.5 hrs to the day.
- Only
police all weekend were Yarck to Maindample (3 going, 1 on way back),
camera car near Mansfield, and unmarked blue Falcon near Dalgety who
didn't bat an eyelid as we passed him at $40 or higher.
- Ben's
animal count: wallabies (missed by inches - 2
occasions), kangaroos near Tom Groggin (forced
to run up inside of Misho to avoid him and kangaroo), dingo - on Alpine
Way, lyrebird near Cathcart, one magpie clipped, may have survived. Nic killed black snake sunbaking on road
after rest of us missed it!
- 2609
km home to home
- tyre
wear issue for most; Nic new front Day 2, Pina rest day to save rear; Ben
destroyed new Dunlop Qualifier (starts with 5mm, finished with 1.5 mm in
middle, zero on sides); destroyed front Pilot Power (was slightly second
hand but mint on sides; reduced pace saw no canvas but number of slides)
- did I mention roads were brilliant?
- sore bum bones!
Ben’s notes to Geoff Jones post Jindabyne ride:
- Sat
east loop: Jindabyne, Dalgety. Nimmitabel with 1.5 km dirt, 3 km bitumen
and 9 km of dirt - high speed, even higher on the way back!
- Snowy
Mountains Highway Brown Mountain lookout, Bemboka for morning tea - hot
and humid, then turn right to Candello along
ridge road with views of rolling hills either side before more forested
and twisty roads leading down to Wyndam. Then
spectacular road (equal radius corners, smooth bitumen) to Cathcart and
then open high country to Bombala for fuel. Nic hunting around for new
front tyre as Pilot Power had not long to live. Eventually sourced one in Canberra (after
midday, shops closed, next day Sunday, next day public holiday made for a big problem).
Sent him off. Meanwhile Marty Thompson is trying to track us down
riding form Melb via Bairnsdale, Cann
River and Bombala -
eventually catching us near Wyndam on the return
journey.
- Bombala
down the Monaro to Rockton Junction, then left for 57 km of very bad road
works with large eg 30 metre patches where bitumen stripped away
- Left
at Princes High to Eden
for lunch at the wharf. Rob lunch at open air café. We dine on
prawns, oysters, Atlantic salmon etc
- Eden
twisty roads to Wyndam and Cathcart (Ben has
very near miss with black wallaby - which ended up nose diving out of
control, Dave W witnessing (and laughing), Bombala, Nimmitabel, dirt, Dalgetty, home. Tea at pizza shop preceded by pub.
- Flying
run to Charlottes Pass. Ben has big "moment" on 65 km returning
from Charlottes
Pass where loses
front end, asking too much of worn front tyre, after being distracted by
on-coming (police?) silver car mid-corner.
- Sun:
- Rob, Tony and Renzo do Canberra Run (Tidbinbilla
Deep Space tracking Station, Parliament House, Telstra Tower,
food, food, food)
- north
loop - but Tumut, Bongo too far (677km)
- Jindabyne,
Dalgety (blue unmarked), Berridale, Adaminaby, Kiandra, Cabramurra
group filling $50 plus $100 ($78 used), Elliot Way (Sue City), Tintaldra,
Towong, Khancoban, Cabramurra for fuel and no food! Preceded by
group photo shot, Pina on back with Marty, second stint, first suggesting “if
only we went a little faster" - big mistake as she collapsed off bike
at photo point, laughing/(almost)crying with relief/exhaustion/stress.
Some fun with fast Harley rider (Ben, Cliff, Dave) but laws of physics
cannot be denied. Dave demonstrates block pass, others copy!
- Back
to Khancoban for food - shut! (No food since Adaminaby 11 ish) Another 115 km back to Jindabyne
- Tea
$10 steak and salad do it yourself cooking; Joker wins Australian Open
(tennis)