I had a spare space in my usually crowded social calendar so Paul and I decided to do a quick Oxley run. It would be my first long trip in almost exactly a year after my standing still drop at Mt Keira right at the end of my last tour.
There was nothing outrageous about the itinerary covering mostly familiar territory and providing an opportunity for me to test out whether or not my frozen shoulder (yes, it’s still frozen) could stand up to the rigours of some time on the road. There wasn’t much of a plan, just “make it up as you go along”.
Not an especially early start, lit out from here about 0715. It had rained and some showers were predicted so I dressed accordingly with my Wicked Gear Winter jacket with the liner inserted. I packed my rain suit in the top box in case it was needed and my mid-season gloves also packed away in case THEY were needed. The tour was also an opportunity for me to test my new Summer gloves, of which more later. Having worn them on a couple of short bursts, I wore them to start with.
The weather was kind though the roads were a bit slippery, especially up Mt Keira where many parts of the road do not get sunshine at any stage during the day. It was also surprisingly warm with the ambient being around 20 in Picton which was quite a surprise.
The local council has been doing extensive roadworks on Montpelier Road though some sections still need attention (obviously, it’s not a major road and it’s also quite long). It certainly was pleasant to find that most of the rougher sections have received extensive treatment; it makes travelling that way much more pleasant.
I hadn’t filled up before leaving (it wasn’t going to be THAT sort of tour) and Paul’s bike has a much smaller tank than the VFR so stopping for fuel more often was going to be the norm. The servo at the shopping centre at Silverdale is always the cheapest on the road (more of that in a moment) so we topped off there and moved along.
Filling up served as a reminder that the tour was going to be a great deal more expensive than previous ones had been. A “normal” fill up on the VFR is usually about $20. My first fill up at Silverdale was $29 and this pattern was to be repeated right throughout. I use 91 whenever I can, I’m sure glad my bikes doesn’t insist on PULP which, in many place was over $2.00 per litre.
Considering it was a Saturday, the traffic was surprisingly light (perhaps the paragraph above may be some of the reason) and we made good time to Wilberforce and the bottom of the Putty. Now the rule is, “Don’t ride the Putty on the weekend.” so we were about to test the rule. It was after 9 so the crazies should be out if they were going to be.
Guess what? The road was DESERTED, in BOTH directions. We saw neither a car or a bike between Wilberforce and Grey Gums going in our direction and only a few heading the other way. What joy, a perfect run up to Colo Heights and we pulled into GGC having had the road totally to ourselves.
As a sidebar, it was sad to see the markings on the road from the Police Accident Investigation Team in the middle of Colo Heights village. Last weekend a novice rider, only 25 years old, crossed the double unbroken lines in the middle of town and collided head-on with a truck. He never stood a chance. While sympathetic, it reminded me again of why there is an 80km/h speed limit through there and why there are double unbroken lines. Sadly this poor young man never lived to learn that valuable lesson.
GGC was VERY quiet, only a few bikes so we got Kimmie’s undivided attention. They’re really doing it tough at the moment, as Kimmie said, “It’s rained since November.” She’s had to let all of her staff go and she and William are running the place by themselves and only opening on the weekends. They carried staff for two months in the early stages of the COVID stupidity but you can’t pay staff if you’re not making sales. Now that things have picked up a little bit, they can’t get staff because the young people are quite happy to live off the government hand-outs that came along with COVID and they don’t HAVE to work. The consequences of this nonsense will be felt for years to come to say nothing of our governments having put us into debt well into the next century.
While there I noticed (it was hard NOT to notice) a red ST1100 with a sidecar and Paul went over to have a chat with the owner. A died-in-the-wool sidecar fanatic, he had been President of the NSW club until it folded some years ago.
Later that night while checking my Facebook I saw a post from one of my FB friends saying that he had been at Grey Gums today and it included a photograph of his bike.
What are the chances, eh? The photo includes his sidecar rig and Paul and my bikes in the background. Don and I have been trying for over a month to wrangle some time where we can get together and have a coffee and a chat. He lives on the Central Coast so we were trying to find a central venue. Well, I guess we will have to continue to try and organise that meet-up 🙂
A perfect run up and over the Putty Heights and another one through the Ten Mile, things were just humming along. The “plan” had sort of settled into stopping overnight at Gloucester and then pushing on in the morning to the Oxley. But, at Gloucester, we were still way ahead of the clock so the decision was made to push through to Walcha and be closer to the Oxley for an early start the next morning.
Oh, I should mention that the road between Gresford and the bottom of Thunderbolt’s Way is probably even worse than when I rode it last, showing evidence of complete neglect by Dungog Shire Council. They should be ashamed.
Some traditions become traditions for no good reason at all. Stopping at the rest stop on the river just out of Dungog is one of them.
It started to look like we’d called “heads” when we should have called “tails” however. Not far out of town the sky turned grey and, once we started climbing up into the cloud line, the mist became thick and the rain started to fall. Down into the valley and up the other side, it persisted, not heavy but certainly annoying. The “should I stop and put on my wets or should I push on and hope that it will clear?” question was being asked and we opted for the second one.
It was still foggy and rainy at the Pioneers’ Lookout so no photo opportunity. Once we descended to the plains we ran out of the fog and the rain but the damage was already done. The last 80kms or so into Walcha is long, flat and boring, though it did serve to show just how much good the rains have done; the pastures are lush and green and the stock looks to be as well fed as it is possible to be.
Interesting sidebar again. In the whole trip we hardly saw any road kill; just two dead roos and a couple of possums and one wombat. The pastures are so good there is no reason for the wildlife to come out onto the road.
600 kms for the first day and we checked in to the Apsley Arms Hotel, a decision that I was to regret. I’ve stayed there many times and the service and facilities have always been excellent. Evidently the place has undergone a change of ownership since last I was there. The room was less than basic, the bed was terrible and the one pillow that was provided was well below par. The bistro food was good but way too expensive and the whole place gave the impression that the owners had instructed their fellow countryman to cut down on expenses as much as possible, something he had clearly achieved. I will be looking for another place to stay next time I am in town.
A walk around town to admire the beauties of the village and it’s art and a cup of coffee at a coffee shop that was still, surprisingly, still open, helped a little. The coffee shop owner is a retired gentleman who used to live in Sydney and whose tuning business covered speedway, drag racing and speedboats. A fascinating man, we encouraged him to get his history down on paper while he still could, I’d certainly love to read it.
Tiredness set in early so we retired, a pretty poor sleep hardly a reward for the rigours of the day. The room DID have a heater so that provided us with the opportunity of drying our gear and we were good to go in the morning.
I will pick up the narrative tomorrow, thanks for reading.