This ride was just on a whim. 'Hey, its Black Friday tomorrow' I thought to myself. I should go for a ride. I looked at the map for a while and figured out where to go. I called my mate TigerBill to see if he wanted to go for a ride in 8 hours or so, but he was out of town.
I grabbed a start docket at the closest ATM, logged the time (02:53hr, 0km) and quietly rolled through Newcastle mall then headed south, hugging the coast.
The plan was to ride some nice roads within a box and never be more than a tankful of gas from home. To do this requires more than 'head south from Darwin and stop 13 hours later' kind of planning. There are some nice riding roads within my back yard and I wanted to mix them in. Plus I planned to do this squiggly line without the need to intersect my track.
Down the coast road then. A docket at The Entrance (03:46hr, 64km) to show I went that way - Google maps wouldn't advise that way - and back into the stretched out suburbia that the Central Coast has become. My only close call with wildlife on the ride happened here. A wallaby scooted straight across my front wheel in Wamberal in full streetlight cover. Through very quiet Gosford streets and up the hill through the bends to Kariong (4:16hr, 91km, 8.1L - wasn't full at the start).
The run north from here would be freeway. I didn't sleep before the ride as I had other things to do and had the opportunity to monitor the traffic website. There'd been a truck crash the day before and northbound traffic was to be diverted off the M1. Thankfully it was sorted before I reached that point so I could ride through unimpeded. A turn west onto the Hunter Expressway and a corner stop in Singleton (05:35hr, 225km). A nice morning was emerging.
South down the Broke Road and on through the twisties of the Wollombi Road.
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I paused for a docket at Kulnura to show I'd gone that way. Jerry's Gourmet Kitchen and Cafe transforms into a motorcycle gathering point for the Central Coast riders on sunny days, but not this morning (06:36hr, 323km).
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Then the Wiseman's Ferry Road. Its a great bit of bitumen and I had it to myself, even getting a solo run on the ferry.
Then just a commute through the bends to the turnaround at McGraths' Hill (09:04hr, 424km, 13.54L). This is the start of 'The Putty'. For those that don't know it, the Putty Road is a magical place. Basically a hundred miles of back road with almost no intersections and a great mix of climbing twisties, undulating forest stretches, and wide open sweepers that culminates in 'The Ten Mile': a 16km snake of 101 tight bends. But before the Ten Mile I stopped for a coffee. The Grey Gum Cafe is a beaut little spot. Very welcoming to bikes with a corralled and concreted motorcycle only area, a nice cafe with IBA-hotel worthy tables and benches, fire pits in winter and 24 hour facilities for free camping. I even had a hot coffee, not my usual practice on a timed run (10:00am, 512km).
Then mounted up, north through the Ten Mile, all dry and grippy,
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then swept west along the Golden Highway into the sticks.
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South down the great Bylong Valley way to a pause at the Bylong Valley Store. It was hot here. Hot for a while I suppose, but with storm clouds approaching. South from here along the floor of the valley stayed dry though - a rare occurrence here for me.
Fuel at Rylstone (13:36hr, 764km, 12.94L) and a bunch of work phone calls to deal with. Into a bit of rain by Kandos and south onto the Castlereagh Hwy at Ilford.
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This 3 km was the only planned use of the same stretch of road for the trip - but still no crossing the track.
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Capertee next
Then a smooth Highway run through Lithgow to Bowenfels (15:06hr, 865km) and the delightful roads through Tarana and Sodwalls to O'Connell. I love that bit of road. Twisty and lumpy bumpy and picture perfect farms and vistas and dead set roller coaster bits. A gem of a road.
Kelso (Bathurst) for fuel (15:59hr, 929km, 7.15L), my 12th docket for the day and now heading 'home'. North up the back way with the climb to Wattle Flat and then through Sofala back to Ilford.
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Straight through Mudgee, travelling easy. The Ninja is not that comfortable for long distance work I suppose. But there's ample power, decent tank range and a set of pillion pegs to vary the load. Fuel economy for this ride ended up at 3.94L/100km or 25.36km/L so I think with a better seat it could probably LD as well as most...
Historic Gulgong for fuel (18:09hr, 1086km, 5.81L)
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A quick pic at the Ghost town of Ulan, bought by the mines. The miners are ghosts, too, of course, but they just don't realise it yet.
BLACK FRIDA_ FU_:
On northwest to Merriwa and the Scone back road into the black. But not black for long. It had been raining since... since... well about 500km now and its about to get worse. It was a great light show up ahead as I rode eastward running into the back of a mad storm. Trees, branches and leaves to dodge all over the road kept me focussed as I tried to guess which way it would go. A weird dry spot for a few minutes in Scone (20:35hr, 1258km) gave me the chance to check the web for a route.
Not many options......
Stick to the plan. Down the New England Highway, riding like a turtle. Well under the limit, skating and sliding at times, getting blasted by every single truck in both directions wasn't much fun. Even my KLIM leaked in the bucketing. Well, not really leaked. Water down the neck despite the storm flap thing and water up under the front - over the pants - despite the long waist. To be fair it was yacht-like conditions and I certainly wasn't drenched.
At Singleton I changed the plan. I had wanted to go looking for trouble over the hills of Gresford and Dungog and Gloucester. It would have been fun in the dry dark. But I've ridden those roads lots before and deep potholes abound, full to the brim and hiding waiting. I changed the plan.
Down the highway, onto the freeway and a corner docket at Beresfield (22:41hr,1391km, 11.82L) 20km from home. Its an IBA ride.....
Mount up and put up and shut up. North on the Pacific to Nabiac like a machine, for the final turnaround (00:29hr, 1521km).
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Then I just pointed the bike south and the little Ninja just hummed along as it had done all day without complaint. A pause for a pic:
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And back home to the mall in Newcastle (02:23hr, 1665km).
Total 23:30hrs, 1665km (1035miles), 65L (17.37 USG).
Black Friday (13) Fun.
