A Year and a Day

Day 366, Wednesday 22 August 2018.

I rode to a North Harbour Ulysses meetup point this morning. It was raining fairly heavily, so no ride ensued, but it was nice to catch up with the people.

I started this challenge just over a year ago. The challenge was to ride every day, with the exception of when I’m on holiday out of Auckland. At the time I wondered if I could keep it up for a year. I thought perhaps, if I did, I would reward myself by buying a new bike. However, not long after starting this, I did buy a second bike, and my first is still going well, so the reward for completing a year is the sense of satisfaction it brings.

I explored the area around Auckland more thoroughly than I’ve ever done before. I rode with friends in Ulysses many times, and found some new places further afield with them. I spent a couple of weeks experiencing Australia.

There were times I didn’t feel like riding, and did so anyway, because I had made this commitment.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed this year! But I’m not going to continue the challenge further. I will of course continue to ride.

Distance travelled: 40 km. Total distance: 48,140 km

 

Back to Auckland

Day 365, Tuesday 21 August 2018.

A day spent in transit back to Auckland. No motorcycling involved.

 

Noosaville

Day 364, Monday 20 August 2018.

We made a quick trip down from Bundaberg to Noosaville this morning and returned our rental bikes. It’s been a fantastic trip!

Distance travelled: 261 km. Total distance so far: 48,100 km

Bundaberg

Day 363, Sunday 19 August 2018.

We rode from Kingaroy to Bundaberg today, getting a long way from anywhere by taking a minor road to Durong South, then north to Mundubecca. This had the advantage over taking the main highway of being empty roads with no small towns to slow us down, and no speed traps. We did have one cop come past in the other direction, but he paid no attention to us.

We stopped briefly at a historic residence where a highland festival was in full fling, with hundreds of people even though it was at least 80 km from the nearest town. We had a boilup at a truck stop somewhere along this road (photo 1).

At Mundubbeca, one rider headed east, and the rest of us went north planning to have lunch at Eidsvold. There wasn’t a lot open there, so we had a muesli bar and swig of water, and continued on the road through Mount Perry towards Gin Gin. When we found Tunnel Road we discussed whether to follow it; as we had just washed the bikes we were reluctant to get them dirty on the gravel road. We went on to the other end of the road, which was sealed for the first bit. A few km of gravel later, we found the old railway tunnel we were looking for, and rode through it (photo 2). We didn’t see the colony of bats that live in it though.

At South Kolan, shortly before reaching Bundaberg, we were waved over by a cop. It was a license check and breath test, so we had nothing to worry about. The cop was professional but looked tough with his sidearm. I thought about asking him to pose for a Facebook photo, but decided this would be a bad idea!

At Bundaberg, we had booked a three-bedroom luxury apartment for the same price range we’d been paying for cramped motel rooms, so we celebrated by cooking a meal this evening. As I was walking to the supermarket, I was catcalled with a comment about my hair. It seems provincial Queensland hasn’t changed much in the last few decades!

Distance travelled: 431 km. Total distance so far: 47,839 km.

Emu Creek

Day 362, Saturday 18 August 2018.

From Warwick to Kingaroy today: a short day.

We took a minor road from Crows Nest to Blackbutt via the evocatively-named Emu Creek. It was a pretty road with some twisty bits, and about 9 km of easy gravel. Thanks to members of Austrom for suggesting it. We pulled off the road at one point to have a drink of water and a muesli bar (photo 1). Nothing came by while we were stopped and we could have been in the middle of nowhere.

We checked into our motel in the early afternoon, and washed our bikes as we need to return them clean on Monday. We’ll probably have to wash them again then but the job will be easier after the thorough clean today.

Two of us went for a ride along Bunya Mountains Road later in the day. It’s a steep, winding country road with some decent views, culminating at a walking track up Mount Kiangarow. I liked the views from the summit (photo 2), and I was amused by the prevalent grass trees with their flamboyant flower spikes (photo 3).

Distance travelled: 341 km. Total distance so far: 47,408 km.

Back to Queensland

Day 361, Friday 17 August 2018.

We rode from Tamworth to Warwick today, one via the New England Highway and the rest of us via Warialda and Texas. The roads were empty, and the latter route appeared free of speed traps.

On the way, we stopped at a rest area a bit south of Warialda for a boilup (see photo 1), and were amazed/terrified/impressed by the large and very aggressive ants in the vicinity!

Lunch in Texas just over the Queensland border. It’s a motorcycle-friendly town (see photo 2) but seems very isolated from other areas.

In our motel in Warwick, we handwashed our clothes, and spread them out on impromptu lines tied between our bikes (see photo 3).

Distance travelled: 415 km. Total distance so far: 47,067 km.

Tamworth

Day 360, Thursday 16 August 2018.

We rode from Bathurst up to Tamworth today on our way back to Queensland. We took Bylong Valley Way through a national park, then the New England Highway north from Muswellbrook. There was a spectacular opencast coal mining operation on the approach to Muswellbrook. All enjoyable riding apart from the first part of the NE Highway, which pointed directly into the sun, and went through many small towns with low speed limits.

Distance travelled: 500 km. Total distance so far: 46,652 km.

Parkes radio telescope

Day 359, Wednesday 15 August 2018.

Today was a “rest” day, so we each did whatever we wanted. The other three visited art galleries and museums around Barhurst, and the rider who hadn’t done the Mount Panorama track the previous day did it today.

I decided to ride to see the Parkes Radio Telescope. I’ve previously see the installations at Green Bank and Arecibo, and didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see this one.

It was a cold morning, so I wore extra clothes on the bike. After passing through Orange, it had warmed up so I looked for a rest area so I could take the surplus layers off. I daw a sign for the Borenore Karst conservation area with picnic tables and toilets, so I followed the sign down a rough gravel road to the picnic area. A large sign there gave directions for walks, with one very short walk to a cave which sounded interesting. I had left my torch at the motel but thought I could get a little way in by the light of my phone. The cave was spectacular, with two passages off the entrance part which met up again, and then another entrance beyond where the passages met up. I could see an entrance at all times. Very satisfying!

I approached the radio telescope from the east on small country and gravel roads. The radio telescope was visible from several km away and huge up close. The visitor centre was more geared towards school trips but still interesting, and there was a good cafe.

I came back to Bathurst via Canowindra so I didn’t ride any road twice on this loop.

Distance travelled: 378 km. Total distance so far: 46,152 km.

The Putty Road

Day 358, Tuesday 14 August 2018.

While we all rode the same way today, one rider went ahead to meet a relative at Kurrajong.

Before leaving Singleton, we visited the giant sundial (first photo). It seemed to be running about an hour fast, which I don’t think is caused by daylight saving time!

We rode down the Putty Road, a most enjoyable experience. We stopped at the Grey Gum Cafe in the middle for a decent morning tea, and chatted to a friendly rider on a Ninja 1400.

After joining our companion at Kurrajong, we did a decent bush walk in the Blue Mountains with a great view (second photo), then took a nice country road to Lithgow for lunch, then a rather boring highway to Bathurst.

We’re going to spend a couple of nights in Bathurst with a “rest” day in which we do our own thing. In my case I’ll go exploring on the bike.

Distance travelled: 336 km. Total distance so far: 45,774 km.

Thunderbolt Way

Day 357, Monday 13 August 2018.

Waited until 9 am for the day to warm up today. I rode by myself to the Ansley Falls about 20 km away. The falls had no water at all but the gorge was well worth the ride (see photo). I would have liked to spend more time exploring the area but didn’t want to hold the others up.

We left Walcha about 10 am by which time it was 6 degrees, and I wore extra clothing which made it tolerable with the lower wind levels. Unfortunately it didn’t warm up further and by the end of the first hour’s riding I was feeling distinctly chilly. We stopped at Carson’s Pioneer Lookout near Mares Run for a boil up which warmed us up a bit. After that the road started descending from the New England plateau to the lowlands, and the temperature rose with each descent. By the time we reached 200 m altitude (from an initial 1300 m) we were overheating in all our gear and had to pull over and remove the excess. The temperature briefly hit mid 20s before settling down around 20 degrees, which was very comfortable. The overnight low is forecast to be 4.

The Thunderbolt Way was quite spectacular during its descent from the plateau, but wasn’t particularly interesting for the rest of its length. We had lunch in Gloucester, then took country roads to Singleton which went through more interesting countryside and were more variable.

Distance travelled: 325 km. Total distance so far: 45,438 km.