This roster sees me working every weekend which generally sorta sucks. However, to put a positive spin on it, it sees me with weekdays off and six-ish hours each of those week days between family commitments. That can only mean one thing....well, two actually......solo mountain bike rides AND solo motorcycle rides. Yep, working weekends sure does suk!!
I took a quick jaunt on the BMW last week to check out some road conditions around the Scenic Rim. It was also time to get some decent kilometres(metric miles) under the wheels!
It is VERY dry here at the moment and I was almost caught out a couple of times with large kangaroos bounding out of the high, dry grass on the sides of the road. The lack of carcases along the roadside lulled me into a false sense of security but in my defence, I have never seen the big Eastern Greys this close in to the coast before. It is usually just the smaller Wallabies. I guess they are looking for something to eat.
The first thing I wanted to do was check out Duck Creek Road. I have ridden this road many times on the mountain bike and have driven it a couple of times as well. April 2017 saw an ex tropical cyclone drift over the south east corner of the state and dump biblical rains. So much so that this volunteer funded road was washed out in a couple of places. Being on steep mountain sides it is beyond volunteer fundraising efforts to have it reconstructed, so Duck Creek rd has been closed since that time.
Bummer.
Since that time I have presumed that it would be traffic-able on my mountain bike but didn't want to go all the way out there only to find that the road had been barricaded off. Well, today I rode in to see what I could see.
What I could see was an entrance road in better shape than I have ever seen it! I guess the lack of traffic has allowed the access road to be relatively low-trafficked and stay in great shape.
I only went to the gate as I didn't want to be pinged for breaking any laws but when I come back on the mountain bike......? Well, lets just say mountain bikes can go anywhere.
I then rode down to the very end of the Kerry road, as far south as I could go on public roads. You tend to hit up against the Border Ranges which form a formidable barrier to accessing northern NSW. Turning around I then began my way back up to the Darlington Connection Rd which took me up a short, sharp climb then dropped me into the next valley west where I turned left into the Christmas Creek area.
End of the road.
I had ridden the mountain bike down here on one of my early bikepacking trips and the story of the Stinson Crash was explained in that post. Today I wanted to remind myself what the Stinson Park camping area looked like with a view to bringing the family for a lazy weekend before it gets too hot to camp again.
From here I headed to the little town of Rathdowny for a coffee and something to eat. In the 16 years I have been in Queensland I have never stopped in Rathdowny as it is just too close to Brisbane and a trip has either just started or is about to finish when passing through it. Well, today, on my "old man bike" I was just tooling around and the "must get going" guy wasn't in charge.....
I stopped at the quaint store and a very lovely young lass with a hint of (Irish?) accent took my morning tea order. I then sat myself out the front and watched to world go by for 30 minutes or so.
Done with sitting, I suited up and took the back way past Maroon Dam to mt Alford, then on to Boonah. The road was pleasantly twisty.
It was also single lane in places and I got to test the BM on the dirt at 100km/h as I made way for oncoming traffic.
I stopped briefly at Maroon to take a photo in front of the local church. The towering Mt Barney can be seen to the right, looking down on us.
I then took a fairly uninspiring, circuitous route back to home via Peak Crossing and Ipswich Rd. I was looking to go to Johhny Appleseed for some RAM mounts to set my phone and GoPro up on the bike but when I got there I found the store had moved.......about 6km back along the route I had just come in on. It was now 29C according to the bike's temperature gauge and I was sweltering in my RST suit. "Bugger it, I'll come back another day" I told myself and so hightailed it home!
I put together the following video from my GoPro time lapse stills. It isn't that interesting but if you would like to see what the Australian countryside looks like, albeit in drought, grab a coffee and press play!
Taking it up a notch (or twenty three), here is an extremely well made and quite funny review of the F800GSA by FortNine.
Humour me and watch it through. You won't be disappointed (unlike with my crappy vid above)
(Please, please, Mister Postman) I been waiting a long, long time
(Whoah, yeah) Since I heard from SW Motech online.....
......You know the song.....
Yep, I have been giving the credit card a bit of a bashing lately. After a few weeks of research I have covered off three or four of the most important (to me) items that I need to make this F800GSA work for me. In no particular order these are -
Number one - A chain oiler system
Number two - a strap system so I can carry stuff.
Number three - a topbox so that the kids feel more secure and I can carry stuff.
Number four - a workshop manual so I can break stuff! (then fix it)
These items all arrived this week and luckily, I have the weekend free to fit them up! Free, that is except for a few jaunts to motorcycle shops looking for a ladies jacket to fit Lucy.
Did I mention the kids are loving riding around on the back of this thing? Lucy has expressed her desire to get a motorcycle licence in a few years, when she is legally able to. It might be time for a little second hand TTR-125 or KLX-140 to teach them how to ride.....but first I need to find a place where they can ride. Not so easy when you live in the city.
The last "must have" I need to order is a screen add-on to deflect the breeze off of my helmet. The go to item seems to be a Wunderlich Ergo 3D screen which is to be had for a ridiculous amount of money for a small piece of perspex but anything to get rid of the "little guy tapping on my helmet with a hammer" at highway speeds......and I am again awaiting the Postman.
There hasn't been much happening here as there has been too much work at work and too much work at home lately.
Painting the garage (plus a few other rooms) has eaten up all of my free time but Will and I did get out for a quick ride Saturday afternoon to grab some hot chips and to sit in the winter sun.
We are loving this BMW and I haven't even had it on the dirt yet!
Victoria Point sunset. Winter in Queensland.....
Still no farkeles yet but I am researching a slip on pipe for more road presence and more importantly, some sort of luggage. Who'd have thought that hard panniers were so expensive?! If anyone has any advice or tips on luggage, feel free to comment below.
Now I am sure that those regular readers here know the rule that governs the correct number of bikes that a bloke should own?
It is governed by the formula N+1
where N = the current number of bikes one owns
and clearly the + 1 = the number of bikes that need to be added at any given time.
Following this principle (judiciously) has seen me walk the tightrope for a number of years without ending up in the dog house. Last week I walked a little further along that rope, even though it was strung across a ditch deeper than the Grand Canyon.....
Yup, I had a bit of free floor space in my shed so I thought that I had better cover it up.....you know, so I didn't have to sweep that part of the shed......
Introducing my+1
The kids approve and have both been for a decent ride. They both love it, so I am safe from living in the shed!
It has been a long time since I did any motorcycle touring but an opportunity arose last weekend. A few months back my Bro had told me that the Sydney boys were planning a ride up to the Oxley Highway in NSW for the end of June. I pencilled it in but it would depend on my roster. When the roster came out I actually had seven days off across that weekend.
Game On!
I decided to get a days jump on everyone and head down on the Thursday afternoon so that I could squeeze some extra riding in. Hell, I needed the practice with my last big ride being over two years ago when the Sydney lads had escorted Rick to Queensland.
I planned on heading down via the Mt Lindesay Highway to Kyogle, then Casino before climbing the range on the Bruxner Highway to Tenterfield, then down the New England Highway to Glenn Innes for the night. It would be cold up on the range so I would wear my RST suit coupled with my merino layers to keep me warm. I didn't have much space in my seatbag but that wasn't a problem with quality clothing.
I will eventually be listing here all of the gear I took, used and discarded. I will review my thought process and provide my* opinion on what worked and what did not so you may want to check back here from time to time.
Unauthorised use and /or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blogs author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given with appropriate and specific direction to the A View From Above website.
Aeroplanes, Mountain Bikes and Motorcycles are the toys that make me tick. If you have an interest in any of these things feel free to have a nose around in here. I hope you find something of interest.
