The ride from hell!!!!! continued???
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:38 am
So Monday night I says to the wife (who has been on L plates for all of 2 months), let's take a ride from Canberra to Tilba Tilba (well Central Tilba). Whoa great idea!!
6am Tuesday of like a piece of greasy weasel whatsit. Great ride down the Clyde to Tilba, quick beer or two at Narooma on the way, lock the bikes up out the back
of the Dromedary Hotel and into some serious drinking with mine host Warren (Woz). What way to go back next day I muse? The road up Brown Mountain has been washed
away in the rain and is closed. Why not ride to Bemboka, left into Candelo then on to Bombala, Nimmitabel, Cooma then Canberra. Drop bikes of and hop in car and drive
back to Woolloomooloo. Great idea. All good until Candelo. Stop briefly at Candelo, see sign post that says Bombala ->, then head forth on what turned out to be the
worst 40 kms of dirt road I have ever had the misfortune to ride, drive, walk or fly over. If this road was a horse you would shoot it. It was as mongrel with huge corrugations, pot holes
and occasional tracts of bitumen (4 I think) for about 20 yards then back on to dirt. If we had've been on trail bikes it would have been bloody excruciating but we
were on a ZX10R and a CBR250R. Crawling long about 20 to 30 Ks and when the road was just bad it was a relief but most of the time it was just f...ing diabolical.
Here I have to heap great praise on my wife who on only her second big ride got the whole way through without a blemish. Her statement at Bombala was "I was a bit scared at times there",
my reply was that I was scared shitless most of the time. It appears we were supposed to go via Windsor after Candelo then on to Bombala but we, brave and foolish souls
that we were, went directly over the mountain. The fear was also ever present that if we broke down we may never have been found and was that banjo music I could hear
faintly in the bushes? Finally more kudos to the wife as the day ride finished up being about 400ks (including the 40 ks of satans highway) on the bike folby 300 by car and
she did it all with batting an eyelid. Warning: unless you have a helicopter DO NOT, I repeat with great vigour, NOT take the direct road from Candelo to Bombala.
Cheers
Fearless Ride Captain and Intrepid Explorer,
Butch
So on Thursday I says to the wife, listen sorry about the dirt bit but lets go for a short squirt after I pick up my bike from the recall service. Here's the plan:
we'll go from Canberra to Bungendore have a coffee then down towards Braidwood turn left at Goulburn turnoff to Tarago, couple of beers at the Loaded Dog pub
back way back to Bungendore then right to Max Reef road left to Eagle Hawk pub (couple more beers and maybe food) folby back to Monash and NO DIRT.
Great idea until coffee at Bungendore. Bloody hell where did that wind come from??? Oh well it's not too bad, onward to Loaded Dog. Second beer and look out the pub
window - fark the bloody tree tops are now touching the ground. Ok lets go, forget Max Reef, forget Eagle Hawk let's just try and get back without getting
blown into the oncoming jaws go a giant double jinker or 4 wheel drive or anybloodything that will hurt. The ZX10R is being blown round like a leaf so
I can't really imagine what is happening to the little CBR250R but we finally make it safely back and the wife on (by now) trip #3 in her riding life says
"gee that was a bit scarey but it was fun" and "I feel a sense of accomplishment after that" to which I reply "I'm very proud of you but you're a sick woman".
There's pretty much just the rain/hail/snow ride ride to go and she's done it all.
Cheers
Fearless Ride Captain, Intrepid Explorer and Seeker of Winds,
Butch
6am Tuesday of like a piece of greasy weasel whatsit. Great ride down the Clyde to Tilba, quick beer or two at Narooma on the way, lock the bikes up out the back
of the Dromedary Hotel and into some serious drinking with mine host Warren (Woz). What way to go back next day I muse? The road up Brown Mountain has been washed
away in the rain and is closed. Why not ride to Bemboka, left into Candelo then on to Bombala, Nimmitabel, Cooma then Canberra. Drop bikes of and hop in car and drive
back to Woolloomooloo. Great idea. All good until Candelo. Stop briefly at Candelo, see sign post that says Bombala ->, then head forth on what turned out to be the
worst 40 kms of dirt road I have ever had the misfortune to ride, drive, walk or fly over. If this road was a horse you would shoot it. It was as mongrel with huge corrugations, pot holes
and occasional tracts of bitumen (4 I think) for about 20 yards then back on to dirt. If we had've been on trail bikes it would have been bloody excruciating but we
were on a ZX10R and a CBR250R. Crawling long about 20 to 30 Ks and when the road was just bad it was a relief but most of the time it was just f...ing diabolical.
Here I have to heap great praise on my wife who on only her second big ride got the whole way through without a blemish. Her statement at Bombala was "I was a bit scared at times there",
my reply was that I was scared shitless most of the time. It appears we were supposed to go via Windsor after Candelo then on to Bombala but we, brave and foolish souls
that we were, went directly over the mountain. The fear was also ever present that if we broke down we may never have been found and was that banjo music I could hear
faintly in the bushes? Finally more kudos to the wife as the day ride finished up being about 400ks (including the 40 ks of satans highway) on the bike folby 300 by car and
she did it all with batting an eyelid. Warning: unless you have a helicopter DO NOT, I repeat with great vigour, NOT take the direct road from Candelo to Bombala.
Cheers
Fearless Ride Captain and Intrepid Explorer,
Butch
So on Thursday I says to the wife, listen sorry about the dirt bit but lets go for a short squirt after I pick up my bike from the recall service. Here's the plan:
we'll go from Canberra to Bungendore have a coffee then down towards Braidwood turn left at Goulburn turnoff to Tarago, couple of beers at the Loaded Dog pub
back way back to Bungendore then right to Max Reef road left to Eagle Hawk pub (couple more beers and maybe food) folby back to Monash and NO DIRT.
Great idea until coffee at Bungendore. Bloody hell where did that wind come from??? Oh well it's not too bad, onward to Loaded Dog. Second beer and look out the pub
window - fark the bloody tree tops are now touching the ground. Ok lets go, forget Max Reef, forget Eagle Hawk let's just try and get back without getting
blown into the oncoming jaws go a giant double jinker or 4 wheel drive or anybloodything that will hurt. The ZX10R is being blown round like a leaf so
I can't really imagine what is happening to the little CBR250R but we finally make it safely back and the wife on (by now) trip #3 in her riding life says
"gee that was a bit scarey but it was fun" and "I feel a sense of accomplishment after that" to which I reply "I'm very proud of you but you're a sick woman".
There's pretty much just the rain/hail/snow ride ride to go and she's done it all.
Cheers
Fearless Ride Captain, Intrepid Explorer and Seeker of Winds,
Butch
