Tyre Tales from Tassie, 9^th to 12^th March, 2003

Our trip to Tasmania was finally here and I couldn’t wait! Although I had been to Tassie recently it was in the car when Kerrie trekked from Cradle Mountain to Lake St.Claire. So I had not ridden there since the last Club run to the 10^th Tas Rally back in 1990!

My Fireblade had just on 3000 kays on the clock, so nicely run in. My only concerns were tyres, but we only expected to cover a couple of thousand kilometres, so I reckoned the Bridgestone 010’s would handle it comfortably!

Saturday 8^th

The trip over was quite smooth and, being during the day, it gave us a chance to see the sights – the Bay, the Heads, the Rip, Bass Straight, the “other boat” etc. Although a few of our group may not agree with the “smooth crossing” – with several taking on a Kawasaki green hue!

One section of road I especially wanted to see was the stretch to Strathgordon. Kerrie and I had travelled down there in the car to view Lake Pedder and the Serpentine Dam and, even in the car, I knew it would be a great bike road.

Our first night was spent in Latrobe. When Sunday dawned fine and warm, it was time to explore. Ben, Julie, Martin and Carmen where heading to Cradle Mountain so the rest of us decided on a run to Strahan. After leaving the others at Cradle Mountain Tim took the lead for a route recommended by a bike riding servo owner, “No cops, no crossroads, plenty of bends”. Hmm, just our type of road!

Sunday 9^th

ZX7R – Tim Walker ZX9 – Richard Moore CBR929RR - Ian Payne

R1 - Dave Moore GSXR1000 – Gavin Wearing ZX9 - Rhys Williams

ZX12R - Cliff Peters R1150GS - Rob Langer

We left the Cradle Mountain road and headed south for Tullah and refreshments. The eccentric shop owner had some 1940’s jazz playing quite LOUD. This was real hillbilly country and above the music Rhys swore he could hear the sound of whittling and duelling banjos. All having seen the film Deliverance, we quickly left. After a short distance we detoured onto the Lake Anthony road, then towards Queenstown before taking the road to Strahan. What sensational roads! After parking the bikes, we opted for lunch at the pub and took in the magnificent views of Macquarie Harbour.

After a leisurely lunch it was back on the bikes to tackle the run to Zeehan and Reece Dam. At one point I found myself behind leader Tim, but after getting showered by a steady stream of fine gravel, I dropped back and instantly Dave passed. More gravel showers and as I dropped back again. Gavan slotted in. Dave and Gav soon caught and passed Tim who had also started to slow for the gravel (Dave, “What gravel?”).

We eventually caught them up, and, due to the time, decided to head back to Latrobe. As we stopped for fuel at Moina, Ben and Julie arrived, having just finished their walk. Ben, itching for a rid, talked us into taking the Mole Creek road for the trip back. This narrow, tight, twisty section of road really tested man and machine, some more than others, with Gavan running out of petrol. After a short wait we got back to the pub without further incident.

What a SENSATIONAL first day; great weather and great company. The only down side of our 500 km ride was the roads; they had torn my rear tyre to shreds! (To be fair, some of the blame must also be levelled at the nut that holds the twist-grip.) The all-important tread was now reduced to balls of rubber just hanging off the tyre and there was no way it would last another 6 days! An unexpected trip to Hobart for a new tyre was now highly likely!

Monday 10^th

Today we would travel almost the full length of Tasmania from Latrobe to Dover. Weatherwise it was a mixed bag, starting off dry, then drizzle, then dry. Fortunately it was dry as we tackled a tight section of road reminiscent of Arthur’s Seat. The road would have been exciting enough without a cycle race being held at the same time. We passed through Bracknell, Poatina and Bothwell in light drizzle. I had opted, as rear rider, to preserve the all-important rubber.

After fuel in Bracknell Rob took the wrong turn and with much light flashing and horn tooting it was obvious he had not seen me, so I gave chase. But Rob had the bit between his teeth, so after 16 kms I gave up and was returning to Bothwell when the group sped past me going the opposite direction! Seems Ben had gone the wrong way and Rob the right way!

We continued onto Hobart for lunch, then to Huonville and Geeveston. As it was still early afternoon we decided to try the Tahune Forest Air Walk. This is basically a 620m steel walkway built 20m above the ground, offering a treetop view of the surrounding forest and the Huon and Picton rivers. The excellent twisty road there and back made the experience all the more rewarding, that is except for the rapidly diminishing tread of my rear tyre! Back to Geeveston, then to Dover and our accommodation. Again it was an excellent spot with picture perfect views over the water to Bruny Island.

Tuesday 11^th

Today most of the others had decided to go to Port Arthur. Rhys, Richard and myself would have a stress free day checking out the area. First to Southport where expectations of a seaside resort were met with a quaint, curious cluster of shacks and houses built all over the place! Back to Dover for fuel then onto the Channel Highway and through Cygnet, Gordon and Kettering. This last place had a decent looking pub right on the water overlooking the marina, perfect for a leisurely lunch.

We continued on to Snug and Sandfly where a brief stop was made as our mobile phones now worked! Rhys spied a link road that would cut out some boring highway and, although it turned to dirt it, like all the other roads we had encountered, had an excellent surface, was twisty and offered great views of the countryside.

Back in Dover, a quick change, then over to the bar for, as Rhys put it “some golden throat charmers”. Here we met Tim who had spent the day at Cockle Creek, population 4! This is the most southerly town on Tassie. He then walked to the coast and sat on the beach. From here the next landmass is Antarctica!

Wednesday 12^th

Today we planned a run to Strathgordon and Lake Pedder; Renzo had arrived from Melbourne making a total of 10 for the ride;

ZX7R – Tim Walker ZX9 – Richard Moore CBR929RR - Ian Payne R1 - Dave Moore GSXR1000 – Gavin Wearing ZX9 - Rhys Williams ZX12R - Cliff Peters R1150GS - Rob Langer R1 - Renzo Cunico CBR929RR - Ben Warden

As this ride would finish of my tyre, I opted for rear rider, as straight after the ride I would head back to Hobart and Derwent Motorcycles, who would fit some new rubber.

From Dover we proceeded to Huonville, Hobart and New Norfolk where we stopped for a short break. Another 20 kms further on, another brief stop where we topped up with fuel as this may be the last petrol for the 170 kilometre round trip!

Being last away I doodled along allowing the others a good start, then began having fun, but all too soon caught up to Rhys and Tim, who were admiring the magnificent scenery! Damn, I thought. I had a tyre to kill and no time for sightseeing so passed them and sped off. What a hoot of a road! Cresting a hill a bike passed going back. Was that Cliff? A few kays further on, I saw another group of bikes heading back, but none that I recognised.

So I continued on but never caught up to anyone else. But as I was still officially rear rider I stopped at Strathgordon and waited for the others to catch up. Rhys arrived and informed me that Richard had crashed about 40 kms back. He was OK, bike looked rideable, but he may have ankle damage! Apparently he and bike had gone off the road on a right-hander with the dense undergrowth obscuring them, hence my not seeing him! Cliff, being in front, had noticed him disappear from the rear view mirror and turned had around to investigate. He and Tim were with Richard, so best we catch up to the others and inform them.

We had only gone less than a kilometre and found Renzo and his R1 in a ditch! Rob and Dave were sorting out things out so I continued on to the end to notify Ben and Gavin of the now TWO crashes.

By the time we got back a construction crew from Strathgordon had picked up Renzo and his bike, taken him back to town and was waiting for the Ambulance. Richard had also been picked up by a campervan driver and taken to Maydena for medical treatment. In the end a helicopter flew Renzo to the Royal Hobart hospital and Richard was taken by road ambulance also to Hobart. Not sure of the latest condition of the guys and will allow the editor to fill in the details, but it was an unfortunate end to a magnificent days outing.

Ian Payne (Honda CBR929RR)

p.s. Just a note of thanks to Ben and Julie for the effort they put in organising the trip to Tasmania. It was a fantastic week with excellent accommodation, a well thought out agenda and great weather. All the ingredients needed for a great holiday.