Roads Less Travelled - WSBK Round 1

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Question. Be it MotoGP or WSBK, what are likely to be the most interesting rounds of a racing series? Some might say "It depends". And they would be right. Too many hypotheticals. However here in Oz I reckon that we do reasonably well. Phillip Island (PI) hosts Round 1 of the WSBK series and Round 16 of the MotoGP. Round 1 of either series approaches and we look forward, with rising anticipation, to the coming contest. The last series revitalised! What will new bikes, new riders, changed teams and, sometimes, even new rules bring us in the months ahead? This thread, courtesy of Inline4, says a lot about that. So what's good about Round 16? Well the chances are that, even if the Championship is already decided, and it may not be, the riders are getting down and dirty to secure their places in the race for fame and fortune, and next seasons upsized contracts. So on a little island far, far away from the myriad race tracks of Europe and The Americas, the Motorcycle Heroes do battle each February (Round 1 WSBK) and October (Round 16 MotoGP). I love it, and just have to be there.

However, I must misquote our old mate Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said "Motorcycling is a journey, not a destination". In early February, with Ralph Waldo in mind, and the taste of excitement from last October's MotoGP still with me, I set out to plan the journey to PI for WSBK Round 1. Normally I like to ride south from Sydney and on to PI through the Snowy Mountains. The Snowies are a motorcyclists paradise; the Omeo Highway, the Mount Selwyn Road, the Great Alpine Road, the Kosciusko Highway and others, offer some of the best motorcycle roads in Australia. I've relished them all. A plethora of hairpins, twisties, sweepers and fast straights all set in a mountainous, scenic, remote and low traffic environment. "Ride me, ride me" they shout. However on opening my tattered road atlas, my eyes are drawn away from the Snowies and, with mounting excitement, to some roads less travelled. What about Brown Mountain Rd? Grand Ridge Road? The Barry Way? Haven't ridden those. OK, I will plan a coastal route that follows, departs from, and then rejoins the Princess Highway and allows me to ride those three roads, and some old favourites. I will work on three days down, three at the track, then three for the return. I'll camp out at the track and en-route. Done.

With two days before departure I do an oil and filter change (The oil? M**** **W - **W of course. I'd be a mug to use anything else!). I clean, lube and adjust the chain. I check and blow out the air cleaner, ensure the suspension settings, such as they are, look good and then lubricate all hinges and pivot points. Finally I give the mighty "Last Blast" a final look over before loading my gear. My gear? Well I keep it simple; camping essentials such as tent, sleeping bag, ground sheet; Trangia spirit stove, fuel for same and means of ignition; food for three days (I'll replenish en-route), mainly canned of the beans and bacon, chunky soup or beef stew variety; tea, coffee, UHT milk capsules; a two litre water bottle that I can refill along the way; eating irons and a mug; jeans, one good polo shirt and enough t-shirts, underwear and socks to last and a pair of sandals; toilet kit; wet weather gear, spare gloves with water resistant inserts, thermals (just in case summer turns to winter); lastly, a puncture kit and chain lube - the CB already has an adequate Honda tool kit. Thats it. Oh, I almost forgot! A first aid kit and a large bottle of Bundy rum. Both purely for emergency or medicinal purposes of course. No dedicated camera this time. My well used iPhone 4 will suffice - sorry folks, photo quality may be not to the high standards set by others on this forum. There I am, the day before departure, something like this:

Shoot! Ah'm gunna have a pretty good weekend in PI with all that stuff.

The night before departure and with the prospect of a long day tomorrow, plus a week of camp food, I decide to make a pizza and wash it down with a glass of Aussie red. Sorta like a carbohydrate load:



OK, down to business.

Day 1 (Tues, 17th Feb):

[url=https://goo.gl/maps/Gq7UO]The plan.
Weather perfect, clear sky, 27deg C with a light north easterly breeze. I ride south from Sydney through the Royal National Park (described very well by Cormanus in his thread [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=4453&highlight=a+bit+of+a+ride]A Bit of a Ride) and stop for the obligatory photo at Stanwell Tops.




Leaving the RNP, I rejoin the Princess Highway and take a short deviation along the Jamberoo Road. Scenic, light twisties with a good surface. Dairy country.


Once more back to the Highway before riding the Nowra to Braidwood Road. The last time I was on this road it was with Cormanus and Jalalski. And it was wet, very wet. In fact it was as wet as a ... No, in the spirit of Forum Decorum, lets not go there. Suffice to say I took advantage of the perfect conditions to enjoy this road. As an aside - Jalaski, I now know how to get to Braidwood with no dirt . No time for photos - I have a long day ahead.

From Braidwood it's down the Kings Highway to the coast. The South Coast of New South Wales is beautiful; a boating, fishing and holiday maker's paradise with a climate milder than to the north of Sydney. Numerous rivers, sourced from the Great Dividing Range, flow into inlets that open to the sea.





I don't suppose that there is a boy in the world who can resist a sign, on a bridge, that states: "Danger, strong current. No jumping or diving from this bridge". Bear in mind that all the water in the previous photo flows under that bridge.

A quick stop at a roadside café for a cup of coffee and up the sugar levels. Plenty of butter keeps both dairy farmers and cardiologists in work so I feel good about that.



The afternoon wears on so I push it hard down the Highway, hoping that the revenue men are all out fishing or having an afternoon nap. They must have been. Just south of Tilba Tilba I leave the Highway and take the coastal road to Tathra. Some nice sweepers and a few twisties provide an unexpected bonus. Just north of Tathra I locate the turnoff that leads to the 5kms of dirt track to Gillards Beach, my home for the night.



As I ride the last few kilometres the sun gets lower and I am happy at the prospect of setting up camp.





A beach without footprints:




----------------------------
Thanks for your patience guys. I'm limited by the photo count but if someone cares to post I will post days 2 and 3.

Cheers.

 

[emptysea]

Love the picture with the kangaroo. And the beach. Carry on with your posts

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

ES, thanks mate.

Day2.

The Plan

Strewth, the sparrows have broken wind and it's morning already. Short night!





Today I will ride the Brown Mountain Road. This road runs west from Bega through dairy country. Good surface with some nice easy sweepers. Initially a
nice gradual rise to the foothills of the Brown Mountain.


A bloke doesn't need to be particularly observant to note that the weather behind looks better than that ahead where the cloud is pressing down on the mountains and getting more ominous by the minute. Could get interesting later in the day. Or maybe even sooner in the day!

Brown Mountain Road has sometimes been called Brown Underpants Road. It's the last 20kms where the riders interest and attention mounts. It better. Even for a conservative old codger like me that wonderful string of tight corners, without being hairpins, make for a cornering rhythm that leads to ever increasing lean angles. I can't stop myself. Left, then right, left, and maybe left again, right again and so on.....until the boot or peg touches down and jolts, or grinds, me back to reality. After all, boots are expensive!



I haven't mastered the Ferret "pictures on the run" technique so, sorry folks, the boot photo is all I have of Brown Underpants Road. Other considerations are leaf litter (in the season), timber trucks and caravans. But it's my lucky day and the road is good to me.
Joining the Monaro Highway I ride towards Bombala with the intent of proceeding down "The Bonang". The Bonang is a legendary road carving it's way through the mountains between the Snowy River National Park and Errinundra National Park. Timber country.

The Bonang has some good road (watch the leaf litter):

Some back country scenery:

Some corners:

(last three photos from a previous ride)

It also has a significant stretch of dirt and as I approach this the rain begins. While it is still a light drizzle I stop and put on wets and take a photo or two. I love this mountain country.




As I put on my wets two “trailes” scream past, riders just pulling back enough to check that I'm not in trouble. Thumbs up from me and they blast off. KTMs I think. No way I will catch them but I do learn something by following the lines they leave in the dirt.
On leaving the Bonang at Cann River I ride down the Highway in moderate rain. As I approach Sale the rain clears to overcast. Still warm enough though at around 25deg C. From Sale it’s a straightforward ride to my next camp at Woodside Beach. Woodside is not as picturesque as Gillards but it is interesting as it sits at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach. Named well before Oz went to the metric system. Yes, this beach stretches, with little variation, for ninety miles.


After another meal of bacon and beans (or was it beef stew?) and a couple of nips of Bundy to keep the terrors of the night away, I sleep the night through. Like a log, as they say.
---------------------------
The photo limit, while understandable, is frustrating. Particularly as it can be circumvented by not putting text between photos and stringing them together. Day 3 to come.

 

[emptysea]

I went to a chili cook-off one Saturday and spent all day Sunday "riding the brown mountain road". Carry on.

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Once again, thanks. You are a champion.

Day 3.

The Plan

Phillip Island is an easy ride from Woodside so I decided to make a day of it and take a look at Wilsons Promontory and the Cape Patterson Road. Wilsons Promontory is the most southern tip of mainland Australia. Any further south and you would be looking at the map of Tasmania (obscure Aussie humour here. Again, in the interests of Forum Decorum, I will not elaborate).

Wilsons Promontory:






Nicely surfaced easy riding road with some scenery and a good cup of coffee at Tidal River. From Tidal River I turn north and begin the final run to PI. Wildlife and school buses can be a hazard.


In light rain I take a 10km dirt deviation to look at Bear Gully. Its pretty enough and I mark it in my memory as a future camp option.


The Cape Patterson road is only 12kms long but offers some scenery and mildly entertaining riding.




i'll come back to take another look at this road in the next few days. The weather clears and in under an hour I have set up my tent in the Phillip Island Track Campground.



I meet some blokes from previous events, have a cold beer. All is good, very good.

Cheers, thanks for your patience and more to come. In a separate thread.

 

[emptysea]

Great report. I'm the only one in my riding group that has any interest in camping from their bikes. Perhaps I should show them this post so they can see the romance in it.

 

[Elipten_imp]

They still allow open fires? Wow ready to move to Aus. You are the man! Minimal supplies and camping gear. When you come to Texas, come visit and we will go out for Bbq Texas style on me.


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[the Ferret]

You Aussie are just incredible tellers of tales, and excellent documentographers ( made that word up, but it fits).

Well done Ptero, well done indeed.

 

[redbirds_imp]

Your report gave me the feeling of being there and the fabulous pics helped. Well done.

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate your generous comments.

ES, head down under and it would be my pleasure to ride with you. Chilli cook-offs and Texas Bbq sound good to me.

Cheers, I must get down to finishing my ride report.

 

[Elipten_imp]

Going to the liquor store and looking for some Bundy. I've drunk it on two continents so time to add a third when you lads from down under arrive. Well maybe sooner as I've got an Aus mate staying with me for MotoGP in April.


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[Cormanus]

Great report, Pterodactyl. Dang—is that how we say it around here?—I wish I'd made it.

 

[Rocky_imp]

Awesome narrative and pictures

 

[buttaknife_imp]

Great trip report... Totally inspired for my trip down to Sicily next week! Thanks for sharing!

 

[emptysea]

Pterry, I love to ride upside down and on the other side of the road someday. You and Cormanus have given us a fascinating glimpse into what it's like to ride in Australia and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has added it to his "must see" list.

 

[CA200_imp]

Just a great report, the pictures are outstanding !

 

[Ole]

The kangaroo camp shot is awesome! Thanks