Northern Rivers Rail Trail - Again - But Different

 

Dan had a mate from Cairns coming to south east Queensland for a month for a work gig and as Steve was a keen cyclist, thought it would be a good idea to show him the Northern Rivers Rail Trail. I thought so too and I also thought I should come along as I had heard a lot about Steve and what he does for a living.

Leaving early because we would lose an hour crossing into NSW with its Daylight Saving Time thing kicking in that morning we picked Steve up at his Kingscliff abode.  It wasn't much longer until we were unloading at the old railway station in Murwillumbah.  The car park was full and there were dozens of people milling around, even at 0730.

We didn't muck around,  getting the bikes off the rack and our bums onto seats. The trail starts off fully sealed which makes for an easy warm up. It soon turns to well manicured gravel though and enters almost constant tree cover. 

There wasn't much traffic once we got away from the trail head which allowed us to chat a bit. 

Dan had met Steve while working in Singapore during the Covid years.  While Dan came home to his current employer,  Steve chose to go completely off piste from his previous profession.  He landed a job with the Australian Armour And Artillery museum in Cairns! 

I had never heard of the museum prior to Covid but being able to watch plenty of YouTube content during that time I had stumbled onto their amazing "Workshop Wednesday " series of restoration posts. To say what they do with the sometimes small pile of scrap metal that they have to work with is an understatement! They have a huge array of drivable tanks and vehicles from every protagonist in World War II and many from the following decades, most painstaking restored from the ground up. 

Steve, like the other employees, is a jack of all trades working on anything from a 1940s Stug transmission to a more modern Leopard tank. He is currently down here operating two Shermans for a $100M Netflix movie that is being filmed right near Murwillumbah. Check the link above or the  YouTube clips I have posted below and go from there! Be prepared to be sucked down that awesome rabbit hole though!

Yeah, they get the tanks out once a year in Augaust for AusArmourFest! 

The Burringbar tunnel didn't disappoint. While it is a long slog climbing up to it, you get to coast downhill through it. At about 900m in length you definitely need lights lest you start to lose balance with no visual cues in the dark at it's centre. 

We quickly rolled through to the end of the trail just past Stokers Siding. 

While there is a bollard at the end of the trail it was clear that people had been riding around it and continuing along the sleepers, between the rails. People are keen for the trail to continue!

We turned around here today as our bikes weren't really suitable for that style of trail....plus the fact that we were getting a little hungry. So it was off to the Moo Moo cafe' at Moobal for a slap up breakfast.

The cafe' was busy with cyclists, motorcyclists and general tourists. It was far busier than it had been during visits pre rail trail. I bet people are wondering why they fought the idea of a rail trail for so many years - like they still do in so many other places around Australia.

Time to head for home - well, the car anyway and it was muuuch busier on the way back as people had rolled out of bed.

The main trouble with the trail is that it is too popular. Hire bike companies have sprung up and they hire out electric bikes with small diameter fat tyres that look difficult to control. Couple this with inexperienced cyclists wobbling all over the trail and you get head on incidents. We stopped to chat to a woman who had a small child on her bike that had been crashed into by some other women in the tunnel. I almost had a big head on myself when one of a bunch of young women coming the other way wobbled headlong onto my side of the trail. Some locked brake/sideways action saw me narrowly avert a prang.

The answer to me is to open more trail to spread the load out (plus to also ride early before the general public is roused). At only 24km long the trail is being massively oversubscribed. Here's hoping that the adjoining councils look to cash in on the tourism bonanza and open their sections of trail.

Anyway, it was a very nice day out that we capped off with a beer in the Riverview Hotel, across the road from the old railway station. Steve filled us in on a few details about the tank museum and the movie that he is working on. Bloody interesting stuff! Here is another link to one of the MANY YouTube videos that the museum has up.

Enjoy!

Cheers.

Beautiful One Day, Perfect The Next

That line - beautiful one day, perfect the next - has been the tag line for Queensland tourism for as long as I can remember. I recall it as a boy, growing up in country New South Wales so it goes back at least as far as the early '80s. While it might not be strictly correct every day of the year, it certainly describes Autumn here in South East Queensland. We have cool mornings, in the region of 13C(55F) and getting up to a very pleasant 25C(77F) during the day. What makes it especially pleasant is that the humidity is gone, making it feel 5 degrees cooler. 

Perfect riding weather!

So, after an early start where a mate and I bashed out 60km on our road bikes (bicycles), I came home and wheeled the R1 out of the shed. It had been (quite) a few years (5+!!) since I had rolled down to Tyalgum in northern NSW for a coffee and today was too good of a day not to ride.

I had a quick faff around with my new GoPro 6. I took it off charge and it decided that it wanted to keep turning itself on after about 10 seconds! After 30-45 minutes of searching the interwebs for a fix and some swearing at it, the little bugger was sorted! Bloody half baked technology.....

I would be taking the Advancetown road from Nerang as it is a sweet, if heavily policed, slice of motorcycling heaven. I planned on just tootling along so the prescence of mobile revenue collectors didn't worry me too much.

Once off the motorway and through Nerang it was a pleasure to tip into the never-ending corners that weave their way around the western side of Hinze dam. The surface is mostly good and while I was a little rusty, skills wise, I wasn't anywhere near boy-racer mode so really enjoyed the cruise.

I stopped in Numinbah for a quick photo outside the local hall and noticed that the cafe' seems to be operational again. A good reason to come back.

Crossing the border into NSW, the little parking area at the viewpoint was chockas with bikes and cars so I continued on down the mountainside. This section of road is narrow and bumpy and it was still wet (as usual) after overnight showers. This section of NSW gets the highest rainfall with 2300mm (92inches) per annum on average. Hence, the strip of green moss in the centre of the lane....... I was being extra careful !!

After a bumpy but fun ride I rolled into Tyalgum. There seemed to be more options for food than 5 years ago (was it really that long since I had been here?!!) but it was still too early for the pub (I don't drink when riding-hard and fast rule) and the "mumsy" cafe' didn't appeal. The general store looked very inviting so I decided to check it out.

It was a good choice as inside there was a little bit of everything from groceries to a cafe'! I grabbed a chicken salad roll and a coffee, then retired to the bench out the front to soak up the glorious morning and read the local newsletter.

I was having such a nice time on the bike I decided to extend the ride over to Murwillumbah, then loop around through Chillingham and then back over Natural Bridge and the Advancetown Rd to home. More glorious miles ensued.

Climbing back up to the border crossing and the little viewing area was clear, so I stopped in for an overview of northern NSW. It is a cracking view! (not really relayed in a photo)



Looking from QLD across the border into NSW, this is the view.

Retracing my steps from here I had a pretty good run with almost no traffic until I got to the sweet section of bends on the western side of Hinze dam, where I got stuck behind a caravan and several cars. Oh, well, it had been a mostly traffic free day, with zero mobile revenue collectors spotted, so I couldn't complain.

The 50km of motorway was over fairly quickly and painlessly and I was home about four hours after setting out. Another 260km (161mi) was on the odometer.
Funnily enough, it had been 2 years and 2 months since I was sitting at that border crossing lookout with my brother and his mates and come to the realisation that my suspension was shot and needed rebuilding. That process took about 6 months (long story) but the funny (sad) thing is that this is the first real ride I have taken the bike on since that rebuild! I have been worried, thinking I would need to set it up for me but I guess Teknic set it to my weight and specs when they rebuilt it because it handled really well today. I don't ride enough to know where it needs tweaking but for now it is good enough.
Good enough will do.........






Cheers.

Cross Border Raiders

I had a call from Chillertek of The Road To Nowhere fame last week. It seems he and a few mates had hatched a scheme for a four day ride that would bring them into my neck of the woods.

"Would I mind showing them around?" he asked. 

Would I mind? Hell no! It would be my pleasure!!

So began a few days of frantic activity around my Yamaha R1. I decided that after three and a half years she needed an oil and filter change as well as a bleed of the brakes, both ends. I gave the gig away back here....

I decided to ride down into New South Wales in my own cross border raid and meet them at Kyogle. From here we would retrace the Summerland Way, past Mt Lindesay, back to Brisbane where the group were staying with Rick, one of Chiller's mates who had recently seen the light and emigrated from Sydney to Brisbane.

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny overcast with periods of serious cloudbursts. Bugger! I hate heading out on a ride into heavy rain. So, I waited a while. I checked the weather radar and saw that there would be showers all morning along my intended route. Bugger! With it being a 2 hour ride to Kyogle and time starting to work against me I suited up and splashed my way out onto the freeway. Once I had crossed the hills toward Beaudesert the skies lifted and I was able to get out of my rain gear. 

I had a nice dry ride down to Kyogle (well, apart from a few light showers and wet roads) where I refuelled and placed myself outside Dave's Bakery to await the Southerners arrival.

I had plenty of time as I was a little early and the lads were a little late. By the time they arrived I was all pied-out.

I sauntered over to meet them as Chiller peeled himself off his new R1. From the grimace on his face, touring on a sports bike is clearly not as easy as it used to be!

The boys were in good spirits and it was great to catch up with my little bro, Geoff  (Triumph Sprint) whom I hadn't seen since Un Zud and to finally meet Rick (Aprillia Tuono), Stu (Aprillia Futura) and Dave (ZX10). They were soon tucking into some of Dave's Bakery's finest, with Geoff stealing the last steak and kidney pie from some unsuspecting tourist! Nice one Geoffrey!

It was then off to the servo to top up the lad's tanks for the push across the border. This was a good opportunity to get a closer look at the new R1.  And to compare it with the very first fuel injected one.

The lads insisted that I lead even though there was no way to get lost, so off I trotted. Not having ridden with them before I wasn't sure what sort of pace to set, especially as the road was wet in places. There were some B grade racers amongst them and I didn't want to hold them up so I set the pace to "holy shit", then backed it off a hair- to allow for the wet. As I don't ride much these days and certainly not in the wet I was more than a little apprehensive about the grip levels of the Michelin Pilot Power Pures that my bike is shod with.

As we got into the twisty section of road near the Queensland border I waved Steve past as I didn't want to spoil his fun. How fast could he go anyway, with the road wet and more moisture starting to drop on us?

Well, it turns out he can go pretty fr#ckin' quick! He was hooking into the wet stuff at pretty steep lean angles that had me marvelling at how good modern tyres are. This had me thinking "Well, if he can do it then so can I. I have the same tyres".......

Only thing is I don't have the same tyres! He is running some stock Bridgestones that came new on his R1. I am glad I didn't know that at the time. They do say that confidence is most of the battle.......

In spite of the rain this was a fun section to ride and it sure was nice to ride with my little Bro again. It was the first time we have ridden together on our own bikes since we toured Tassie back in 2003! Where has the time gone?

We stopped briefly on the Queensland side of the border to regroup then got stuck into the uber-bumpy section of road that passes in front of Mt Lindesay. Steve shot away through here as it was too bumpy and too wet for my poor old worn out suspension to cope.

We also stopped for a quick shot in front of Mt Lindesay itself. It was raining so we didn't linger.

The rest of the ride into Brisbane was pretty uneventful with a coffee stop in Beaudesert then we battled Sunday afternoon traffic in pouring rain for the final 30 minutes or so. I peeled off for home as my tail light had filled itself with water and my brake/park light wasn't working any more and I didn't want to splash my way home from Rick's new place, in the dark, with no rear light.

Monday morning did dawn bright and sunny, looking like a cracking day for a ride. The lads don't seem to go for early starts and eventually I met them on the M1 heading south at about 9:30am. We droned down the motorway for 30 minutes before taking the Nerang turn off.

I had two options for our return trip to Kyogle this morning. They were the road up to Springbrook or the Advancetown road down the Numinbah valley. I figured that the Springbrook road would still be wet as it is a 15km long series of 25-35km/h twisties, under tree cover whereas the Advancetown Road is more open (and a hell of a lot faster if thats your bag). So, we went down the western side of Hinze Dam along the Advancetown Road.

It didn't take Steve long to zip by me through the series of 35-45 km/h bends. It was a pleasure to watch him work as he makes it look so effortless, despite the still damp road.

We continued on up the valley to the old Tick gate crossing, where we stopped for a breather and took in the view over the Mt Warning caldera.

The lads were suitably impressed with the roads and the views.

Having been an El Nino summer with very little rain, it had finally begun to rain in the last 2-3 weeks and things were taking on their normal, green summer state. Something a little unusual for these southerners who are used to dry, brown summer landscapes.

From here Steve MADE me ride his new R1. I knew that the road coming up was narrow, bumpy and wet so I was suitably concerned! He gave me a short rider briefing then jumped on my bike and shot off.

My concerns were well justified as within the first kilometre or so I found out just how insane a modern sports bike is. The ride is ultra stiff, bordering on fully rigid feeling and the power.....the power is INSTANTANEOUS and COPIOUS!

I have never ridden anything with such a light-switch throttle. It is seriously ON or OFF. I was having some difficulty in the narrow, bumpy wet conditions and to be honest, wasn't enjoying it at all. That was until Steve said "Let me put in on Mode 3".

You see, Mode 3 is apparently the wet weather ignition setting. The throttle response went back to slightly more docile than my R1 but the insane power was still there if you wound it on.

Here is Steve asking me if I had tried the flat shifter and demonstrating how it is done......

Yep, just hold it FLAT and shift up. The ignition interrupter will take care of the shifts..........

Needless to say, I didn't take advantage of this chance to explore the engineering advancements since my old R1 ! These things are absolute weapons and no way could I hold it wide open on a public road!! I must be getting old.

Closer look at the fun section.

We had a morning's worth of winding roads to ride but we needed a caffeine break so took the opportunity to imbibe some of the good stuff in the little hamlet of Uki.

I was still trying to come to terms with the power and handling of Steve's R1 compared to my old version. What was glaringly obvious was that my suspension was shot. Fair enough, the bike is 14 years old and I am sure everything is original.

During the conversation it came to light that Rick was driving down to Sydney later in the week with a half empty bike trailer (he was racing Post Classic in the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed). My gears slowly turned over and we hatched a cunning plan. I would send my bike to the suspension gurus in Sydney that Steve had seen for his old R1 suspension upgrade.

The ride out west to Kyogle was far better than I had remembered it. The road was a good mix of fast bends, tight bends, smooth bends and bumpy bends. I think there was straight or two in there but they were bent over a hilltop..... Unfortunately I hit the wrong button on the GoPro and all I got was burst of pictures of the palm of my hand along here. The curse of the GoPro operator stikes again!

The Mt Burrell store looks like a great place to stop for a coffee and feed. I will have to return to find out.

Once in Kyogle again everyone was grinning about the ride as they filled their bikes up and sipped on an ice water. The lads were debating on which way to go back to Sydney and Dave (ZX10) and I both argued for the Bruxner Highway up to Tenterfield. This was agreed on and I hear the guys had a great ride up there as it is quality road with little traffic.

Rick and I however turned north, back along the Summerland Way back to Brisbane. We were home in about 2 hours and I soon had my bike washed and ready to load into Rick's trailer for it's trip to Sydney.

It was great to catch up with my Bro and his mates. I put almost a year's worth of my normal mileage on the R1 in the 2 days and it has definitely sparked a bit more interest in the motorcycle. I am looking forward to heading down to Sydney to pick it up after it's nip and tuck at Teknik Motorsport.

Keep an eye out for the ride report in a month or so, as I plan on joining Steve and the lads for a lap around their (and my old) home roads before I bring it back home.

Steve's write up on his entire 4 day trip can be found here.




Cheers.

R is for Riding

And the 1? It might be for the number of times I get to ride it per year! Well, almost.

I actually managed to up the ride percentages for the year today. After a quick mountain bike ride early this morning, I came home to pat the kids on the head before shipping them off to school. I then sat down to a coffee and nutted out a ride route.

I had been thinking about a lap of the dams. That is, out to Fernvale-Esk-Kilkoy-Mt Mee and back but the prospect of doing Fernvale-Esk so soon after last weekend wasn't overly appealing. Neither was filtering my way through Brisbane from the north side.

I have been avoiding the Gold Coast hinterland due to constant whispers that the Police have a heavy handed presence when dealing with motorcyclists. I guess they want to keep them off the Advancetown road. It is a very sweet piece of racetra...er...tarmac and I am sure plenty of wanna-be racers have wiped themselves out on it over the years. But, it is a Monday. It is a bit showery looking, so not a very inviting day for riding. Perfect!


View Larger Map

 I must say, after gearing up it was nice to thumb the starter button and have the engine turn over at a rapid rate before bursting into life. The new battery seems to be doing the job.

The other nice thing I noticed was that it finally felt natural to sit on the bike. The controls fell readily to hand, my throttle control was pretty good and it felt normal to tip it into the first few corners. As I have mentioned before, I was slightly afraid that after 7 years off the road bikes I may have fried the brain cell that was responsible for co-ordinated riding but it seems he was just slacking off, possibly watching the cricket while downing a tinny or two.

Getting the boring bit out of the way didn't take long at all. I took it easy along the Advancetown road to get my eye in and to just have a recce of the place. I hadn't been along here for a few years and while the road surface was a bit choppier than I remember it still had the wide surface with the fun, tightening 40km/h (25mph) bends that can catch the unwary out. But I was fine because I am very wary these days.

Moving along through Natural Bridge I noticed that the cafe' was closed, but that could just be because it was a Monday morning. I was soon at the border crossing into New South Wales. The old tick gate is there but these days the surveillance is done by fixed cameras. Human contact has gone. I guess if you break the law they just send you a fine at their convenience.

Across the border the road deteriorated into a bumpy goat track. Pretty much what you expect when you ride in NSW these days. But it was still fun.

At Chillingham I turned right onto the Tyalgum Rd. This was new territory for me. I am pretty sure I have never ridden through Tyalgum before. It gets a good mention on the local motorcycle forums so I thought I had better see what all the hype was about!

The road into town was twisty, narrow and a bit bumpy. It was however, deserted. This made for a fun ride and the 13km to Tyalgum were dispatched quickly. A quick look around town and it was either the pub or a "mumsy" looking little coffee shop for morning tea. 

Can you guess which one I took?

Yep, too early for the pub and I was after a nice coffee.

Consulting Mr Thoeming's and Hemma's conglomeration over some raisin toast and a cuppa was very pleasant indeed, despite the rising humidity this morning.

I was still a bit undecided on the route (despite what I said above) and finally decided to head down to the Kyogle road and duck out to Uki for a look. This bit of road is another gem of northern NSW. Today the traffic was against me and I basically trickled along, stuck behind various trucks and cars for the ride out and back.

I made my way back through Murwillumbah and headed out the Chillingham road to retrace my path across the border. This is a very pleasant little ride, despite being stuck behind traffic most of the way. From Chillingham to the Springbrook turn off the roads were pleasantly deserted.

The short link across to the Springbrook road is very nice. Unfortunately it is signposted at 60km/h making it a very "watchful" section of the ride.

The Springbrook road itself is just how I remember it. No, it is even better! Many of the corners have been repaired and are now superb "hot mix" ashphalt, making them as smooth as a racetrack! 

Even though I was going downhill and I dislike downhill bends, I was having a ball again. Well, until I caught a conga line of cars. This time I just pulled over and waited for them to get away from me. Then as the next car that was coming along behind me appeared around a bend, I headed off again. Not perfect flow, but I was working with what I had and it was nice.

From Mudgeeraba it was onto the motorway for the trudge back home. I must say, I think this is the sort of sport bike riding that I can handle. About 4 or 5 hours of saddle time or 260km(163mi) interspersed with coffee and photo stops seemed to work well and stops my various bits from complaining too much.

So, two rides for the day. One motorised and one humanised(?). Perhaps the perfect balance? That should see me through the next few days at work. 

Now its time to put my personal bike washer to work.

Cheers!