Flinders Ranges Trip 2025 - The Prologue

 

After months of low level preparation my two weeks leave had finally rolled around and it was time to set off for the Flinders Ranges!

The Desert X had been for a visit to Desmo HQ in Byron Bay for a pair of front brake discs to replace the warped standard ones (that my local ex dealer wouldn't even look at under warranty for me). They also threw a new chain and sprockets on while it was there.

Our plan for the trip was to trailer our bikes out to Broken Hill. Why I hear you ask? Well, I have done the inland roads of central New South Wales a million times and spending two full days droning along 1700 kilometres just to get to Broken Hill had zero appeal, not to mention the life it would take out of the tyres.

So I hit the road at 0520am....in the pishing rain! Did I mention that it hasn't stopped raining here in Brisbane all year? No? Well it hasn't and I could barely see for the first twenty kilometres or so but thankfully the roads were pretty deserted at 0520 on ANZAC day.

In fact, the roads were deserted for pretty much the whole 849 kilometre drive to Dubbo, so it was a good quick trip.

I rolled into Dubbo nice and early at about 3pm and checked into the motel. I quickly unloaded my bike and went for a look around town. I lived in Dubbo for four years in the mid to late 1990s so it was interesting to see how much it had grown. 

I called Steve via the Cardo helmet comms (how good are these things?!!) and he said he was only about thirty minutes away. I then proceeded to tool around east Dubbo and wandered out the Wellington road ten kilometres or so to wait for him. It wasn't long before a very bright headlight came around the corner and I could see it was a black Africa Twin. Not sure who the dude was riding it though because the bloke was wearing a grey suit. I powered off to catch up and I could see by the rego plate that it was in fact Steve. New gear, eh?!

I rang him again and he suggested we pull into the brewery on the road into town. 

A brewery? Here in Dubbo?!! 

"Sure, why not" was the obvious answer!

Jumping off the bikes I admired Steve's fancy new ADV suit. Along with his Tech 7 Enduro boots he really did have all the gear!

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice Devils Hollow brewery was on a warm Friday afternoon. We had nothing like this when I lived here and venues/facilities like these definitely help to retain good people in the "smaller" regional areas. (Dubbo is actually about 55 000 now, up from the ~35 000 25 years ago!)

A couple of quick beers + some takeaways and we were off to the motel to load the bikes onto the trailer, ready for an early start tomorrow. Dinner at the R.S.L. seemed appropriate on ANZAC day and despite being busy it was quick and tasty.

Next morning we were up early and hit the road westward. It was soo nice not to be driving into the rising sun and soon we were through Narromine and on to Nyngan. From Nyngan the skies darkened and we encountered some decent rain.......plus the highway patrol....no conversation was entered into though!

Enough to have several inches of water running over the road at the many causeways along the road. Very unusual for out here!

 Cobar was wet but the main street was very busy. We didn't stop there....

Once we got west of Cobar we were astonished at the number of wild goats along the roadside. There were tens of thousands of them over the next 454 kilometres to Broken Hill! We were constantly slowing down for them then having to accelerate again. After a while it became very noticeable that while there were hundreds of dead kangaroos along the road there were no goats. Yep, the goats were far smarter than the indigenous wildlife (no big surprise I guess) so we only slowed for the goats that were right on the road verge from here on in. That certainly cut down on the anxiety!

We stopped for a rest break and when we got going I had the drone follow us for a few kilometres while Steve drove. We got some interesting shots of the nothingness that is western NSW....plus some unexpected shots of a few of the MANY goats.

Goats sneaking under the fence.

Wilcannia came and went without a stop. Eventually we rolled into Broken Hill at about 4pm. We headed straight to the caravan park to check in. We were staying at a caravan park so as to leave the car somewhere relatively safe for the next week or so.

We unloaded the bikes and our gear into our cabin then went for a drive into town to look around and to find some dinner. The main street was eerily deserted as we wandered around. We grabbed a beer in the Palace Hotel (as apperaed in the movie Pricilla Queen Of The Desert) and checked out the murals that decorated the walls and ceilings.

Sorry for the poor quality phone camera shot. I was huge so was very hard to photograph. 

Wandering back down the street we thought the Astra Hotel looked ok for dinner so we settled in for a feed and drink.

Then it was back to the cabin to prepare our gear for riding off tomorrow. I had a plan for tomorrow's ride but the days after that....? Lets just see.....

Cheers.

Where Does It Start ?

Earlier in the week Andrew Thomson from Bandit Rider wrote a post about where motorcycling started for him. He added a few early photos (pre colour?) and recounted books that perhaps helped sow the seed. 

One of his commentators reminded me of "The Mouse and The Motorcycle". I recall having this book read to the class by our teacher waaay back in grade 2 or 3 and loving it, what with the active imagination I had back then.

Anyway, in a roundabout way there is a connection here. I happened to be pouring over some old photographs the other day and came across a few of some early motorcycling. Of course, none were of my good self - clearly there were no cameras that far back in time.

I did find this little pearler of a certain Chillertek of "Road to Nowhere" fame whetting his ~13 year old appetite with some backyard-helmetless-frivolity. We.... he didn't need no stinking safety beanie.....

We... he used to valve bounce it up to near Mach 1 along the fence line then tip into that first left hander, all without touching the brakes.
Oh how the front tyre of the mighty Honda 50 used to drift on the wet clover......

It sure was puckering good fun. ;-)


The rest, as they say, is history.

Cheers Little Bro. Nice work.

A Day In The Sun

Sunshine is finally bathing South East Queensland again and I have been out working on getting more than my fair share.

I managed a ride on Sunday morning with Dean0 that worked some of the kinks out of my arms and legs that were put in there on Saturday morning at trail care. That ride was much needed. Thanks mate.

On Saturday it had been basically just Neil and I absolutely burying ourselves with what felt like countless barrow loads of rock and gravel to keep the berm builder's efforts fed. 

Neil had the good sense to go home at 9am and afterward I was wasted for the rest of Saturday. I even suffered the embarrassing forearm cramps later at home while trying to wash my hair. And its not like washing my hair is very taxing on my strength any more!

The trail is looking awesome and you can't really blame people for wanting to go for a ride with such magnificent weather after the last 6-7 weeks of rubbish we have been dealt. Although, that rain is why the trail is looking so awesome, actually.

Thanks to the regulars again this morning. You know who you are. 

Life is for living part II

Work,weather and life in general have interfered with having fun until last week when Steve and I were finally able to sneak out for a ride at Nerang.

Maybe it is time to take some risks.

Ride Today

It was awesome to be back in the bush, on my bike chatting with a mate about "stuff". This is one of the reasons I ride..............................................

Heal tomorrow......................