It is 7:30, Monday May 27th and I will try and get this blog current although the internet connection is up and down. Last Tuesday Jeff and I took off on our own for a couple of days following a route that Clint had laid out for us. Our first night was spent in Miles and we woke up to rain. We packed up our tents which is never fun when they are wet and headed out. Little did we know (how many bad stories start with those words?) that the rain was part of a large storm that was not going to be fun. The rain kept increasing in intensity and the temperature kept falling. My clothes were better suited for the rain but Jeff has his electric under jacket and as you may recall mine was in my room in Brisbane. I bought a heavy pull over shirt to help keep me warm Farther down the road I decided to put the quilted liner in my pants for additional warmth. We talked to 2 ladies at a small museum and gift shop. They said we might consider turning back but we wanted to see the country. When we went outside it was raining harder but we continued on. We rode west and north through Roma and then north to Rolleston where we asked about a room. $190 and no bathroom. We continued on. Eventually we found a room and tried to get warm. That is when I tried to use my phone and found that it had become waterlogged in my jackets waterproof pocket. I have always carried my phone there even in bad rain. But this bike has almost no windshield so I had no protection from the rain. Of course my other pocket had my camera in it and it too was waterlogged. This was an expensive ride. According to the route plan it was 15 hours home and that did not consider the weather and all of the road construction. We programmed the GPS systems to take the shortest route back to Brisbane which was 6 hours and actually took 9 and a half. When we got back we put the tents on the clothes line and did laundry. Tomorrow, Friday, would be the start of our Far Ride and then Jeff and I would start out on our own for the rest of our trip.
Far Ride
Australia has a group called the Far Riders. It is a long distance riding group puts on events called Far Rides. You start the ride from wherever you are no sooner than 11:45 Friday morning and proceed to the meeting place by any route you choose. Your route must be at least 1000 kilometers long and you must arrive by 11:45 Saturday. No Americans have ever came over and rode one of these events. Jeff and I were going to change that. So were a couple from Wyoming. If you have the correct certifications you can do 1200 kilometers instead of 1000 which is what we elected to do. We rode until 9:30 and got a room in Cundaburabran. This may be the only town with a 5 syllable name that I have ever stayed in. We left the next morning at exactly 6AM and arrived at the destination at 11. 1229 kilometers. The couple from Wyoming were there on time after riding 1000 kilometers. Our destination was the Mount Panorama Raceway in Bathurst. It is a beautiful race track on the side of a hill. The track is also a public street except on racedays.So now there are 4 American Far Rider members. 1000 kilometers may not sound like much to the American long distance riders (Iron Butt Association) who have a minimum distance of 1000 miles in 24 hours. But most of the time the roads in Australia have a 100 kilometers per hour speed limit, are only 2 lanes and limited passing opportunities so it evens out. And you can do a 1600k ride following the Iron Butt Association rules.
After the Far Rider lunch Jeff and I took a motel room instead of starting south as there was less than 2 hours of daylight left. The room was evidently not insulated well as the heater could not get the room warm.
Sunday the 26th
We elected not to leave until 8:30 waiting for the sun to do it's job on the temperature. There was a nicely restored 34 Plymouth in the parking lot with right hand drive.
I would lead the way out of town with our final destination being the coastal city of Eden. I had been here before and knew there was a highway out of town. I was surprised that the GPS routed us onto a country road but it said we would arrive in Eden by 2:30 so the back road was fine and even preferable. About an hour later I turned left at a T intersection and stopped to take a photo. Jeff said that his GPS wanted to turn right. Both of these units are configured the same way. Then a farmer came over to talk and told us that the way we were going had a 10 mile section of bad dirt road. I have no idea why my GPS did not know about that but Jeff's did. So we went the other way and finally arrived on the highway we should have taken to begin with. This took us through the capitol of Canberra and right by the Parliament Building.
I had been through this building on the last trip but we did not really have time to tour it this time. The 4 braces you see for the flagpole are quite large and so us the flag. One of the braces has a motorized cart on it so that someone can go up the brace and change the flag.
From here on the route was familiar to me especially the downhill section out of the mountains. We did one twisty section after dark and I found out that the headlight was inadequate for that type of road. We arrived in Eden about an hour after dark. The first motel that we saw had everything we wanted, especially, internet so we took a room. In a little while we will leave for the Killer Whale Museum and then head out of town again. Hopefully today our GPS units will agree, if not we will follow the guidance of Jeff's unit.
Far Ride
Australia has a group called the Far Riders. It is a long distance riding group puts on events called Far Rides. You start the ride from wherever you are no sooner than 11:45 Friday morning and proceed to the meeting place by any route you choose. Your route must be at least 1000 kilometers long and you must arrive by 11:45 Saturday. No Americans have ever came over and rode one of these events. Jeff and I were going to change that. So were a couple from Wyoming. If you have the correct certifications you can do 1200 kilometers instead of 1000 which is what we elected to do. We rode until 9:30 and got a room in Cundaburabran. This may be the only town with a 5 syllable name that I have ever stayed in. We left the next morning at exactly 6AM and arrived at the destination at 11. 1229 kilometers. The couple from Wyoming were there on time after riding 1000 kilometers. Our destination was the Mount Panorama Raceway in Bathurst. It is a beautiful race track on the side of a hill. The track is also a public street except on racedays.So now there are 4 American Far Rider members. 1000 kilometers may not sound like much to the American long distance riders (Iron Butt Association) who have a minimum distance of 1000 miles in 24 hours. But most of the time the roads in Australia have a 100 kilometers per hour speed limit, are only 2 lanes and limited passing opportunities so it evens out. And you can do a 1600k ride following the Iron Butt Association rules.
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| 108 Far Riders on the side of the Mt. Panorama racetrack. |
After the Far Rider lunch Jeff and I took a motel room instead of starting south as there was less than 2 hours of daylight left. The room was evidently not insulated well as the heater could not get the room warm.
Sunday the 26th
We elected not to leave until 8:30 waiting for the sun to do it's job on the temperature. There was a nicely restored 34 Plymouth in the parking lot with right hand drive.
I would lead the way out of town with our final destination being the coastal city of Eden. I had been here before and knew there was a highway out of town. I was surprised that the GPS routed us onto a country road but it said we would arrive in Eden by 2:30 so the back road was fine and even preferable. About an hour later I turned left at a T intersection and stopped to take a photo. Jeff said that his GPS wanted to turn right. Both of these units are configured the same way. Then a farmer came over to talk and told us that the way we were going had a 10 mile section of bad dirt road. I have no idea why my GPS did not know about that but Jeff's did. So we went the other way and finally arrived on the highway we should have taken to begin with. This took us through the capitol of Canberra and right by the Parliament Building.
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| Australia's Parliament Building |
From here on the route was familiar to me especially the downhill section out of the mountains. We did one twisty section after dark and I found out that the headlight was inadequate for that type of road. We arrived in Eden about an hour after dark. The first motel that we saw had everything we wanted, especially, internet so we took a room. In a little while we will leave for the Killer Whale Museum and then head out of town again. Hopefully today our GPS units will agree, if not we will follow the guidance of Jeff's unit.
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| Beware of rolling kangaroos? |
Coonabarabran for those checking maps.
ReplyDeleteCan't blame him for not remembering after such eventful days.