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MOTHER’S DAY RIDE TO LAKE BATHURST – THE
SCENIC ROUTE….
By
Paul McAlister
from June
2001
Peter
Stanfield had organised for the club to
celebrate Mother’s Day with a lunch at
the Lake Bathurst Tea Rooms leaving from
Bungendore after the usual Sunday breakfast.
Sounds pretty straightforward but as we
know nothing is straightforward when it
comes to the ACT BMW MCC club rides so
please read on.
I had
breakfast at home with Mandy on that fine
Sunday morning and left at about 10 a.m.
to make sure that I met the crowd at Bungendore
before they started the ride. When I turned
into Gibraltar Street there was quite
a crowd gathered and I bumped into David,
Dayn and Jim from the BMW Touring Club
of NSW who were enjoying breakfast after
attending the Loaded Dog rally at Tarago.
By this time some people were getting
ready to depart so I asked our esteemed
President which way he was going? Greg
said that he would like to try the dirt
road that goes along the top of the escarpment
from Gundaroo to Collector this was fine
with me so after a quick squizz at the
map we had decided on our scenic route.
So on
leaving Bungendore we headed up pass Bywong
towards the Federal Highway. It was from
this point that some level of confusion
crept into the day. We weren’t following
the route that the majority of the group
were supposed to take as we wanted to
do some dirt roads so we crossed the highway
and rode on towards Gundaroo and it appears
that between Bungendore and the highway
some riders had forgotten the route that
they were to take because they just followed
us. Oh well it’s a nice day for a ride
so how bad could it be????
We arrive
in Gundaroo and find the road signposted
to Collector. As we turned onto the road
we find Warren and Fran (K100RT) and Colin
and Leena (R1100RT) with us. A quick stop
to tell them that we will be doing some
dirt Greg and I were away. This road was
good fun and was my first real bit of
dirt on my R1150GS which is now nearly
10,000 kms old. The road was well formed
but a bit dusty and rocky in places with
a couple of sharp turns thrown in just
to keep you on your toes. The view along
the top was very good and it would be
great if Lake George was full. Anyway
after a while we come to a ‘T’ intersection
and wait to see if the road bikes come
through. After a few minutes Warren rolls
along and Fran declares that they are
going on the tar from now on. By this
time Colin and Leena have safely arrived
and decide to go with Warren and Fran.
So we
turn left and head towards Gunning. This
dirt road was a lot smoother than earlier
and we came across a small mob of roos
which was safely negotiated. Actually
these roads could be easily handled by
any of our bikes. We get back on to the
tar just out of Gunning and turn into
the main street. We thought that we might
have found some of the road riders here
but they were nowhere to be seen. However,
as we pulled up Ron and Trish Andrews
also came into town from the Goulburn
end. We decided that a coffee was on the
cards and went to Caxton House (I think)
for a coffee and cake. This was a very
good find and I recommend the place to
anyone the next time they are in Gunning.
As we were just going inside a couple
on Japanese bikes came along and joined
us. It turns out that the bloke (Charlie)
is the guy that writes up the bike reports
in The Chronicle so we had a good yarn
about various bikes. As Greg and I were
thinking about leaving Warren and Fran
and Colin and Leena rolled into town as
well after stickng to the tar route.
We consult
the map and decide to head down the old
Hume Highway to Breadalbane and then across
to Collector and then onto more dirt towards
Tarago and Lake Bathurst in time for lunch
at 1 pm. The old highway is still in pretty
good nick and the bends through the Cullerin
Range were great fun. There were lots
of bikes on the road after Gunning but
they were of the pedalled variety and
thankfully going in the other direction.
At Breadalbane the President had a little
woopsy and let his bike have a little
rest on its side. A quick check of body
and bike, and with some new battlescars
on the pannier and cylinder head protection,
we continued onto Collector. There is
a large swamp on this road but it is dry
at the moment. After Collector we are
back onto the dirt and heading towards
the old Woodlawn Mine. Near the mine we
get back onto the tar and the road is
well sealed and in good nick with some
nice scenery and some great sweepers along
this route. We go though Tarago and arrive
at Lake Bathurst at the designated lunchtime
of 1pm to find the majority of the other
riders nearly finished their lunch. Not
to worry we are soon tucking into a very
nice lunch and explaining where we’ve
been and finally Ron, Trish, Warren, Fran,
Colin and Leena rock on in too so we have
all finally arrived. Better late than
never.
After
a nice lunch I just headed back to Queanbeyan
on the tar without any problems. So my
bike and I have survived our first foray
onto the dirt and I rode over a few roads
that I haven’t been on before and all
within about an hour or so from home.
Well done to Peter for organising the
day and thanks to Greg for going on the
dirt with me and to Warren, Fran, Colin
and Leena well done for handling some
dirt roads. All good stuff.
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2001 - not to be reproduced in whole or
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