So, 2026 Eh?

 Well.

Here we are a third of the way into 2026 and I haven't posted a thing on this old blog. It isn't that I haven't been doing anything - quite the contrary. I have had months of holidays and so have been traipsing all over the place but to be honest I couldn't be bothered saying anything about it until now. 

Why?

Well, I'm not sure to be honest. I just don't feel like I have had anything worthwhile to say. Yeah, yeah, I can hear you pointing out the fact that I never have anything worthwhile to say but it hasn't stopped me in the past.....but I just feel like I am doing the same shit over and over again - even if it is fun doing it, writing about it is sort of bleh.

So, what has gone on so far in 2026?

Well, in late January I loaded the car up with my mountain bike and the trusty old Engel and headed south. We had our bi-annual houseboat holiday booked and as I had a few days off before we were due on the boat I thought I'd try some trails as I meandered down to Adelaide. I didn't go the most direct way - with the Pacific Highway and the Hume Highway being dual lane almost all the way from Brisbane, through Sydney to Melbourne these days I decided to retrace Lucy and my trip down to Holbrook when we picked her Z650 up a couple of years ago.

Holbrook was HOT like the last time we were there. A quick look at the Ovens class submarine that rests in the park and I was off to bed after a 1400km day.

Next day I headed west out of Holbrook, cutting across the lower centre of NSW and entering Victoria via Barham/Koondrook, then turning north west to Lake Boga. Lake Boga has a special and unusual place in Australia's WWII history. It was actually a major maintenance base for Catalina flying boats after the Japanese bombed and sunk a heap of them in Broome harbour. As you can see, Lake Boga is just a tad further south than Broome......!

So, while safe from the Japanese they would surely wear the Catalinas out just flying them there and back!

They have a museum that houses a full size Catalina. I did consider going in for a look but the combination of a $25 entry fee and the fact that I wanted to get to Adelaide at a reasonable hour today saw me give it a miss this time.....but now I know its here.....

The rest of the day consisted of driving, 

then more driving,

 followed by driving in 42C temperatures. 

Yep, southern Australia was enjoying a heat wave this week. But it is interesting what you might see out here in far north western Victoria.

I had deliberately driven this way so that I would enter South Australia through Pinnaroo and then on to Tailem Bend. The reason for this was so that I could check out The Bend racetrack as I had heard so many good things about it. Driving up to it the facilities did not disappoint.

I guess all of our racetracks are many decades old and are chronically under funded. To see a new track with modern facilities - all funded privately by a family who love motorsports - is a breath of fresh air.

Wandering into the foyer of the facility I was pleasantly surprised to find a mini museum.

I remember Alan Moffitt racing this RX-7 at Bathurst in the early '80s. We never missed watching a race when we were kids.

Stopping by the front gate to The Bend I decided I'd better find some accommodation for the next few days. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a motel in the middle of the main street in Hahndorff for a great price. I was concerned about the quality at the asking price but it just turned out that I was here on a quiet week for them. Winning!

With the car unloaded I wandered across the street to the Hahndorf Inn. Giant mugs of German beer on tap - very handy for washing down bratwurst and sauerkraut dinners!

Great advice!

Next morning I was up early to check out the trails at Fox Creek mountain bike park.

There was some serious elevation here and as I'm not very fit I needed to be careful that I didn't just drop right off the hill.

So I decided on some of the contouring offered by the cross country trails. Well, that turned out to be a bad choice as they looked very disused. Perhaps this was because they were janky and just didn't flow well at all. There was some cool trailhead signage though. They get top marks for that!

After an hour of trying to find something decent to ride I decided to just head back to the trail head and ride the gravity trails. I would just have to suck the big climb back to the top up.

I ended up doing two runs down the gravity trails and they were EXCELLENT! Fast, flowing and looooong. I had to stop part way down to give my legs a rest....yes, on a downhill! That meant two full climbs of the hill....I was hoping that there would be shuttle services running as it was a Saturday but alas, no shuttles....until I put my bike on the car and got changed that is. Turns out my early start to beat the heat also beat the shuttle services too.

So I headed back to the motel for a shower and breakfast, then spent the day driving around the Adeliade Hill refreshing my memory of where the great bike roads were. 

And some of the great little pubs. 

Uraidla Hotel brew pub on Greenhill rd got some of my attention that afternoon.

Not sure what to go for? Go a tasting paddle!

The next day was meant to be more mtbing but I woke with the beginnings of a head cold so just laid low. The boss was flying in today so a trip down the hill into Adelaide to pick her up was the job for today. That didn't stop us passing the Uraidla pub again for lunch then settling in to listen to the band at the Adelaide Hills wine bar that was conveniently located right next to our motel! It made us realise how much we miss this lifestyle where one can sit out in pleasant weather without sweating one's ring off. Even after twenty four years we aren't used to the humidity in Brisbane!

The following day we were off to Morgan to meet up with our friends and load the houseboat with all of the goodies we would need for the week. The drop off the Adelaide Hills onto the plains is very pronounced!

I went a different way this year so we could ride the ferry across the Murray river at Morgan.

Loaded up and settled on the boat, we cruised up the river a couple of hours to a little beach where we had spent all of our time last time we were down here. The sun set, the breeze died down and soon enough the million stars were out. Yeah, this is livin'.

There ensued a week of  skiing, swimming, eating and of course, drinking some fine wines and cleansing ales.

The week went by all too soon. The boss got a lift back to Adelaide to fly home with some of the others and I headed off for the long drive home.

My loose plan was to get to Forbes to pay my respects to Mum and Dad. A mere 905 kilometres for the day. There really isn't much to see either so several podcasts kept me company. I arrived in Forbes just before dark, checking into a motel then wandering around to the Vandenberg Hotel for a bite to eat. The setting sun highlighted the town hall nicely.

The next morning I was planning on riding the mtb trails in Glenwood State Forest at Orange. I had heard good things about them. Unfortunately as they are in a working forest a big chunk of them were closed for logging operations. This still left more than enough for me to ride given my lack of fitness and Orange's elevation

It had rained overnight and the tracks were in mint condition! As I climbed higher the views just got better and better.

I did need a breather part way up and this handy rock bench was inviting. I did wonder how many brown snakes were living in it though as I sat gingerly on it's edge!

This trail was very appropriately named....and yes, I flicked them $5 because the trails were phenomenal considering where they are located.

Cooling down and drying off I enjoyed the peace and quiet of this secluded parking area before loaded the car up and heading for Sydney.

 I still had several more days off so I thought I'd go visit Steve. A quick catch up over dinner with Georgia and Steve then I was off northward for home.

I arrived home that night after two weeks away and another almost 5000 kilometres under the wheels of the mighty Prado.

After a week or so at work I was onto the bike and bee-lining back down to Sydney. I had booked an adventure bike ride waaay back in August last year with Aussie Bike and Hike. I figured I would learn some new roads and maybe meet some new people as I generally ride on my lonesome.

I managed to get away half a day earlier and stayed in Macksville for the night. It was a warm, humid day and I was glad of the airconditioning in the pub. The steak was pretty good too.

The next day turned out to be a wet one but my new Klim gear kept me dry. I did discover these Four'N'Twenty sausage rolls to be bloody delicious (I'm a sausage roll/pie snob so have never bought these servo offerings) and ended up having a few during the day to warm me up.

The rest of the ride was very wet, with a truck crash causing MAJOR delays on the freeway between Newcastle and Sydney. Crawling along, filtering and lane splitting my way in pissing rain wasn't much fun. Neither was being abused by a police officer guiding traffic at the accident site. I was on the phone to Steve at the time so he heard the whole interaction and thought the cop was out of line too but I can understand that he probably wasn't enjoying standing there in the pissing rain either, with a mangled semi trailer turned inside out just metres away from him.

Anyway, I finally made Sydney and while I had initially thought my tyres would last for the tour this 1000 kilometres had the front tyre looking pretty sad. Add to that I have very little confidence in the Goldentyre in the wet (see why) and it was looking like the first few days might be wet, so I dropped into Tyres For Bikes in Dural. The bonus here was that Dural is on the road to Wisemans Ferry, where the ride was starting from the next morning.

Tyres For Bikes has a fantastic selection of tyres in stock but I didn't know what to get. I wanted to trye the Pirelli Scorpion Rally that Adam Rieman rocks but the tubeless version looked much less aggressive than the tube type and I really wanted to stay tubeless.

In no time at all the guys had my bike on the work stand and fitted up a Continental TKC80. Steve had run one of these on the Flinders ride last year and was happy with it, so why not give it a try?

Speaking of Steve, as it was late Friday afternoon AND he had booked the room at the Wisemans Inn Hotel he met me at TFB, then we headed for Wisemans Ferry. It was still very cool and wet but we stopped at an overlook just before dropping down to the Hawkesbury River and the pub.

We checked in and the bikes began to roll in.

A very jovial night was had. Perhaps I should have retired quite a bit earlier as feeling doughy the next morning was not smart! Anyway, we met up in the hotel car park for the sign-on and riders brief. Aussie Bike and Hike is owned and run by Damian Cudlin. The Cudlin brothers were two young and up and coming road racers when I sort of lost interest in road racing in the early 2000s. Damian went on to be multiple World Endurance Champion so he knows how to pedal a bike - quickly! 

He and his crew, his Dad included, were a great bunch of guys and ran an awesome tour. Anyway, before I knew it, we were off!

We crowded onto the ferry, taking up most of the deck.

Off the other side we rode like a procession for a few kilometres before some frustration set in at the slow pace and riders began to wizz by. I decided to join them and enjoyed and awesome ride through St Albans and Yengo National Park on grippy, damp roads.

Through Yengo, then The Watagans to Morpeth for lunch. There were some repairs required. The young lad on the CRF300 had broken a chain. How you do that with 27 horsepower on tap - I don't know. But this is the beauty of doing a supported ride. The guys had all the gear and the idea so had the little Honda rolling again in no time.

Another feature of the ride is the use of the cornerman system. This keeps the ride flowing along and we only had a regroup every hour or so. Everyone seemed to get the concept as it worked pretty well for the four days of the ride.

I was regularly about the fifth fastest rider so didn't have to corner-man very often.

It was pretty dry on some of the tracks so we just spread out to let the dust blow away. This section had a couple of bull-dust holes in it which is like riding through talcum powder. Not fun!

The first night was spent in Gloucester. It rained overnight so we were a bit apprehensive about the road conditions with Alex saying there was a lot of clay this morning. He gave riders the choice of riding up the sealed Thunderbolts way to our lunch stop at Walcha which I thought was very mature. I liked the fact that there was no pressure to do anything that was uncomfortable. Almost all of us chose the dirt route and were not disappointed. It was a cracker with hardly any slippery stuff, just flowing dirt roads through lush green countryside. 

And it just got better and better as we curved back northwest toward Nowendoc. John was a Kiwi and had freighted his Tenere' 660 over to do a months riding in Oz. 

Lunch was at the Walcha Cafe' then we were off for the short blast to our overnight accommodation in Uralla. This was via dirt that I have ridden previously that takes us past Gostwyck chapel. A must stop location.

One I had washed the mud off the Desert X and washed the dust off myself I was straight up to the top pub for a double brace of New England Brewing's finest.

We then sat outside our rooms and shot the shit about today's ride and various close calls.

Dinner was booked and scheduled for 1830 each day and tonight we were in the newly renovated Bolt Inn. It was like new inside with plenty of beers on tap, pretty young barmaids (where did they find them in Uralla pop 2 388?) and the Moto GP on the big screen! A great night was had by all.

I had been keeping an eye on my rear tyre as it was down about 10psi each morning. This morning it was dead flat. I decided instead of just topping it up I'd use some soapy water in a cup to find where the leak was and plug it.

That job done I didn't have to worry about it for the rest of the ride.

It was a nice cool morning up here on the range and as the days aren't too big distance wise, we have time to soak up the inevitable delays country life throws up.

Plus the regroup stops every hour or so.

Today's ride was some new to me stuff but also some very familiar roads as we approached Tenterfield. I love riding Torrington road even if it is always slippery like riding marbles with its crushed granite surface. One day I'll see it in the wet and be able to rip.

Rolling into Tenterfield Alex led us up Mt McKenzie to the lookout. It was a nice way to finish the day as it was still quite early. Not having massive days was a nice change.

We were staying at The Tenterfield Tavern which isn't my favourite pub in town so I convinced Scott, on of the other riders to come for a walk to The Royal Hotel where I assured him that they had better beers on tap. One Deepwater Bloodline later and I had a convert! It was hard to drag Scott out of there to get back for our dinner booking. 

Next morning was our last and we were riding the familiar Rocky River road then Paddy's Flat Road which I have done many times.

It is hard to get photos during a ride like this as you can't really just stop and hold everyone up so I really only have photos from the start or the end of a day or perhaps from a mid day regroup.

Rolling into Woodenbong on the Queensland border we fuelled up and grabbed a bite to eat. It seemed like quite a long break but then we didn't have very far to go for the day.

The support vehicle wasn't there though...and nor were Damian and the other sweep riders. It turns out that we had our first casualty of the four days. Matt, a very accomplished rider had overshot a corner and busted his leg. That he did this about five kilometres from the end of the last dirt on the final day was a real shame.

After farewelling Matt in an ambulance headed for Lismore hospital we rolled the last few kilometres to the Kooralbyn Valley Resort. I wasn't going to stay as it is less than an hour to home but I decided that we were having so much fun I'd stay for the final dinner. The room was very fancy for a moto ride (and the price reflected that!) but it was worth it as a great night was had by all.

Next morning was a sleep in before rolling home to tackle some chores.

Another 2300km was added to the odometer. I enjoyed it so much I'm booked in for their Sydney to Melbourne ride in November.

She also got some new rear rubber. I should have done that in Sydney as the last day on the crushed granite surface was getting sketchy.

Then it was back to work for a few days then the blokes from work wanted to do a three day ride. We overnighted in Tenterfield then Killarney, with an excursion to Texas in between the two. That got a little exciting as it was only about a week after the crisis in the Gulf and fuel availability was patchy in rural Australia. It was still a good ride nonetheless with Rocky River rd and Maryland State Forest along the rabbit proof fence being highlights of the ride.

We had four adventure bikes and two road bikes along. A regroup at the Mount Warning Hotel in Uki was where we began to relax. Getting out of the city is always a pain.

Through Kyogle and Casino we were soon at the Drake pub, The Lunatic Hotel. Always an interesting stop.

Then via Rocky River road for us adv types into Tenterfield for the night at my favourite pub, The Royal. 

The Deepwater Bloodline went down a treat!

Next morning we decided on a loop out west via Texas then back to Stanthorpe. We phoned a petrol station in Texas to make sure they had fuel as the two road bikes had pretty limited range. "Yeah, we have about 100 litres of unleaded" was the response. Ok, good enough.

Of course when we got there they were out of unleaded! Luckily a little independent servo up the road had a little left so while the road bikes topped up us adv boys just splashed eight or ten litres in to make sure we could make Stanthorpe. Lunch was had in a quaint old cafe'.

The ride along the QLD/NSW border is always a surprisingly good one. Topping up in Stanthorpe we bade farewell to Josh on his Ducati 1000. Us adv boys then headed to Killarney via the rabbit proof fence and Maryland State forest tracks. 

Dennis on his Katana stuck to the blacktop.

Killarney hotel was a welcome sight as it had warmed up quite a bit.

A cooling shower and it was down and into the cold brews. Everyone had had a great day on the bikes.

Dinner ensued as did a little nightcap. Some of the group were a bit hazy the next morning. Must have been something they ate....

We headed for home via White Swamp road from Old Kooreelah, which is always another pleasant run. Another great little ride done and dusted.

Then it was another week or so of work before Lucy and I headed off for the US Moto GP. 

We bypassed LAX, flying into DFW. 

Hiring a car we headed south to San Antonio for a look around. 

 

San Antonio is a pretty cool town with it's bar and restaurant lined river walk.

Right by the Riverwalk is this icon. I thought it would be out in the middle of nowhere but it is smack bang in the middle of San Antonio!

We visited a few places around San Antonio and after see the Nardis Gun Club billboards thought we might do something we can only do in America.

A Glock 17 and an AK-47. Yes, it was fun!

Then we did some more river walking as our hotel was located right on the river.....and it was very pleasant.

Did I mention it is lined with food and beverage outlets?

If you ever get to Texas I would highly recommend a visit to...

It was Friday morning now so we were up early to drive back to Austin to make the first practice session. We needed to top up first.

So, while fuel prices at home were hitting $2.50 a litre for petrol, here in Texas is was barely $1.30AU a litre.

It didn't take long to get to the track, what with their 80mph toll roads!

Friday was HOT! Luckily they have plenty of area to cool down and get something to drink. Shame the prices were the same as home. Shame you ask? Then add the 30% exchange rate in their favour. So we took our own food and drink for the net two days.

Their trade show area was huge being located on the infield section between turs 5/6 and 12/13.

All of the manufacturers had a huge fleet of demo bikes that you could sign up for and ride around the inside of the cicuit!

Saturday was a day for walking the track. here we are at the far end of the circuit at turn 11.

Marc crashed at 190km/h on the Friday right under that dude's left index finger. What T.V. doesn't portay well is how steep and rolling the circuit is. Turn 10 is over a blind left crest into a steep downhill straight, then into an almost stopped turn 11.

Race Day.

But first we sprang for The Mullet. $23 USD per person...but we probably aren't coming back, so why not?

The view was actually pretty darn good!

The glass floor didn't bother the engineer I was with either.

COTA had these giant ice water refill stations located around the track. What a great idea! 

And beer tastings! Phillip Island, you got nothin' on how a GP should be run!

We were in the Turn 15 stand and had a great view of the main passing areas on the track, plus a big screen to watch the bits we couldn't see. 

The racing was great in all classes with the standout being the Moto 2 because of course, Senna Agius won! Bezecchi won the Moto GP race and was heartily cheered by the American crowd.

Gotta say, the crowd were pretty damn well behaved and quite respectful. We found at all times Americans/Texans at home are pretty damn polite. Maybe when the other person might have a gun in their pocket it pays to be polite?

Either way, maybe we Aussies could take a lesson there?

GP done and dusted we were back in town for our last night in Austin. We had parked in a cheap ($20 a day) carpark right across the road from the COTA $200 a day park. Everything was well organised with police everywhere.

Lucy had been fascinated with all the driverless Waymo cars getting around. Many were empty which I found kind of unsettling.

We still had a week over here so decided to high-tail it to Colorado for a look around. Driving might be for plebs but we wanted to see some countryside.

Yeah, it was still cold at 10 000ft!

But that could be fixed.

Mt Elbert, the highest mountain on the continental US.

Yeah, we did not pass.....

AWD but no chains, so this is a far as we went on Independence Pass.

The WWII Alpine Battalion trained near Leadville.

Then it was time to head for lower ground. I rode up this street in Breckenridge during the 2015 Tour Divide race. It was much less icy then!

We stopped in at Lookout Mountain. Who knew this is where Wild Bill Cody aka Buffalo Bill was buried?

Next day we toured Red Rocks.

It was soon time to head back to Dallas.

But first we needed to try at big steak in Amarillo.

It was pretty touristy but the food was ok.

Back in Dallas and there was a ball game right by our hotel. The local team were playing Seattle. Baseball eh? To be honest it was pretty boring because is was hard for any batter to get a hit and the fielders almost looked nonchalant taking the catches, what with that huge mitt it just made catching a non event. Not anywhere near the challenge that cricket is in my opinion.

Our last morning in town we decided to check out where JFK met his demise.

The grassy knoll.

The view from the grassy knoll. The "X" on the road are where he was when he was shot. It is interesting to note that that bit of road is quite steeply downhill left to right.

Looking up at the grassy knoll. It is only about 20 metres from the fence to the road. If someone was shooting over the heads of the many bystanders there could be no doubt as to where the shot would have come from. How could there have been so much confusion of this fact? Ever stood in front of a high calibre rifle at a distance of between zero and twenty metres? You would certainly have ringing ears.

Anyway, farewell America! It's been a hoot!