The Cormanus Chronicles: March 2017

[Cormanus]

Prologue

Rain pelted onto my helmet and visor. It was hard to see where I was going. The sky was nearly black. The trees in the Royal National Park south of Sydney crowded the road, making it even darker and more ominous. Leaf litter and debris was everywhere.

Even though I’d not been riding long, water was starting to creep into places it had no right to be and the tide in my boots was rising.

“How on earth did I get myself into this mess?” I wondered.


Chapter 1
In which Cormanus joins a new riding buddy and heads to Bulga where they join with an old riding buddy

13 March 2017: Brisbane to Tamworth (601.5 kms)*
*Mileage is according to the CB’s odometer and does not align with Google’s estimate.



[url=https://goo.gl/maps/VMu6KU2UKUK2]Day 1: Link to Map

I took one photo all day, and that was first thing in the morning on the ride south to meet Tezza at the Yamanto Shopping Centre. It’s a photo of what I suspected would be ominous weather ahead.

It was. By the time I pulled up next to Tezza in the car park it was spitting vigorously. By the time I had my wets on, it was pouring down.

It continued to do that on and off most of the way to Tamworth. We had occasional patches of dry and maybe the odd glimpse of the sun; but basically it rained. It’s a good road, though, and we made good time. Eventually we found a bed in the Tamworth Hotel. The rooms were overpriced, crappy and smelled of paint as the accommodation was being renovated. But the beer was cold and the food was good.


14 March 2017: Tamworth to Sydney (444 kms)

[url=https://goo.gl/maps/kvySVC11mxz]Day 2: Link to Map

It was a better looking morning, although a dirty great black cloud to the west and a less than optimistic forecast meant we decided on wet weather pants so we’d be half ready if the rain caught up with us. We got moving as there was no breakfast to be had at the hotel and we thought to put in 50 kms or so before refuelling both ourselves and the bikes at Wallabadah.

Arriving in Wallabadah, we passed a couple of cafés and I thought we were in trouble as the town fell away and there was no sign of the promised petrol station. But it soon appeared on the right and we stopped to refuel. A cheerful young woman made us a cup of tea and a toasted sandwich each and we wolfed them down before continuing to Bulga.

Two CBs at Wallabadah

The weather still didn’t look brilliant, but we stayed dry all the way to Bulga.

I’ve not ridden on the New England Highway south of Tamworth before. It’s pretty enough and does the job of getting you there, but, as part of the joy of motorcycle riding for me are roads less travelled, it would not be my first choice. But it’s better than the main coast road.

Tezza






Some New England Highway views

Bulga, as I recall, is little more than a service station, and we arrived there to find Pterodactyl waiting. Unlike us, he had enjoyed a very soggy trip north to meet us: he told us he’d been hailed on twice and made much of the trip in pouring rain.

The young lady in the service station—much less cheerful than her predecessor at Wallabadah—took the money we offered for fuel and water and we made our way onto the Putty Road.

Heading towards the Putty Road

The Putty Road, an alternative ride north from Sydney, is loved by motorcyclists for a stretch known as the 10 mile. The sign warns of a winding road for 16 kms which is—you guessed it—10 miles. And a splendid 16 kilometre stretch of winding road it is too. Pretty, well made and well surfaced, it’s a rider’s delight. I’ve ridden it south to north a couple of times before, but never the other way.

It’s also Pterodactyl’s home patch and he quickly vanished into the distance with Tezza and I maintaining a more relaxed pace astern. It is, I think, a more agreeable ride north to south, but, hey, it’s good either way.



Chasing Tezza along the Putty Road


I passed a milestone on the way

We stopped at the Grey Gum International Café where I had a cup of coffee and an excellent home-made sausage roll and, courtesy of an uncommon mobile signal we looked at the ominous weather swirling about us.
After lunch we dressed up in full wet weather regalia and set out after a Russian-sounding gent on a near new BMW sport machine

Getting ready to ride

As we approached north Sydney Tezza left us to circle the city on his way further south. He was off to visit his sister and we were to collect him on the way past on Friday. At around that point the rain set in; our preparation being rewarded by a solid and sustained downpour that lasted until we arrived at Pterodactyl’s place. I gathered from Tezza later that he was similarly poured upon all the way to his destination.

One pucker moment: at about 100 kph, I met a tar snake in the middle of my lane. It was running the same way as me and was very wet. The back tyre didn’t like it at all and gave a little flick. The bike wobbled. I started to think “Oh, sh …”, but by then everything was OK again.

I confirmed for myself that my boots are not up to the wet. They were soon full of water.


Chapter 2
In which Cormanus and Pterodactyl make a new friend

15 March 2017: Sydney

As Pterodactyl and I stood in the arrivals hall at Sydney’s international airport, it dawned on us that neither of us had the faintest idea what Inhouse Bob looked like. Nor had either of us taken the sensible step of wearing a CB1100 rally or forum t-shirt. Brilliant!

Inhouse Bob, on the other hand, was much better prepared and emerged from immigration wearing a t-shirt bearing his design for the 2016 CB1100 Rally.

We took him to the bike shop where he was to pick up his rental, all the while thinking it was a courageous thing to pick up a bike that you then had to ride on the wrong side of the road when you had just spent at least 15 hours cooped up in an aerial sardine tin. But Bob’s a brave bloke, and he did it. Luckily, as it turned out, his accommodation was just on the other side of the road and he could travel to it quickly and via back streets.

His rental bike, by the way, was a BMW F700 which the turkey at the rental shop positioned rather trickily for Bob to mount. He was outsmarted though: Bob insisted on a lesson on boarding in tight circumstances, then got aboard and away without mishap.

We left him at his digs to unpack and rest. We would collect him later for a quick drive around a small part of Sydney and one of Mrs Pterodactyl’s splendid dinners.

16 March 2017: Riding on the left (261.6 kms)

[url=https://goo.gl/maps/BHAE99r7RDN2]Day 4: Link to Map

As arranged the night before, Pterodactyl and I arrived at Inhouse Bob’s accommodation to take him on a bit of a familiarisation ride. We planned to go across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and then on a favourite local ride north to Wiseman’s Ferry.

Getting ready to ride at Inhouse Bob’s

The weather was not looking brilliant, although we expected only light showers. Nevertheless, Pterodactyl and I donned our wets while Bob decided to stick with his water resistant riding gear.

It was an uneventful ride across the bridge and for some of the way north out of the city. Pterodactyl and I sandwiched Inhouse Bob between us while he got the hang of being on the wrong side of the road. At some point I realised one of his panniers had come loose at the top and was about to fall off the bike. I had to overtake him and then pull over to get him to stop while we refastened it.

It was about that time that the rain set in. It pelted down and, for ten or fifteen minutes at least, was downright unpleasant to ride in. Eventually, just as we got to a lookout before Wiseman’s Ferry, it cleared. I took this rather watery photo.


The rain held off while we wound our way down the final hill and the sun came out while we had a coffee (or a Coke in Inhouse Bob’s case). Other similarly soggy riders arrived while we enjoyed the sun. Similarly, it held off while we crossed the Hawkesbury River on the punt.

The poor shot of Inhouse Bob and Pterodactyl on the Wiseman’s Ferry was it for the photographic department this day. Rain consigned anything that resembled a camera to a very dry place

And it held off until we were settled into our ride along the side of the river whereupon it treated us to another drenching.

Of course it stopped at the Pie in the Sky café where we stopped for a bite to eat and stayed away until after we’d eaten and ridden a little further down the road to refuel. To be honest, I can’t now recall whether it rained again that afternoon, but I’d be kind of surprised if it didn’t. I do know we had gear all over Pterodactyl’s garage drying before the next morning’s adventure.