Trip Blog
Sydney to Murrumbateman (via lots of places)
Boxy relevantly enquired as to why we were riding south in winter? The purpose was to enable those Foxes with superior skills to practice for the upcoming Alps Tour in June 2019
We met at Mezzapica cafe in Leichardt at 7:30 am for coffee bacon egg roll @ pep talk/game plan. First stop is to fill up singos tyres, 14lbs pressure! Thought it felt like a . Thats a bit embarrassing.
Were off thru the National Park & then a myriad of turns which had us circling Wollongong for a while. Somehow we ended up at Nowra for Morning tea – Hyper Hyper cafe if anyone cares.
Then we cut inland thru Macquarie Pass to Kangaroo Valley & onto Tarago for lunch at the Loaded Dog hotel.
A change has occurred within the Group – subtle at first but now apparent. There are now 3 divisions of rider in the Silver Foxes. Division 1 are the cruisers, the foundation choice of vehicle but becoming a rare beast.
Unsurpassed on the long wide roads but somewhat limited on the tight corners in the hills. Boxy, Lewy & Singo are fighting hard to stay in touch with Div II. Division II is the cocky new road bikes. Gibbo, Hydro & Russ have thumbed their noses at Fox traditions. These bikes are out on their own in the mountains. Division III is represented by Mike. The cafe racer (you’ll see it in the photo – its the little one) lags on the fast roads but heroically excels on the tight corners.
Across to Bungendore then onto Murrumbateman Country Inn. Engines off, Gin & Tonic time. Its great to be back in the Car park having drinks again (refer Route 66).
Murrumbateman to Jindabyne.
Its an Icy start to the day.Not to worry, Gibbo pulls out his seal fur gloves & Singo fits out in a Drizabone (looking more like Ned Kelly). Hydro turns on his heated vest (?really) & the rest layer up.
As we settle into an early morning coffee, up the centre of the main road rides Lewy, fresh from the Canberra bubble. He is unusually excited to see us. After coffee, we head up the Hume Hwy near Yass & then south for far too long. Finally, we turn at Gundagai into our natural habitat. Watch the cows all over the road! We travel Via Shockeroo (advisedly a place Bekky has a particular affiliation with. Russ wouldn’t elaborate) to Tumbarumba for a stop & then the piece de resistance, the road past the Tumut Substation #2 where Hydro’s nomenclature was created. He (and all his technology) lit up as we went past.
Up to Cabramurra, the highest spot of our journey, for another coffee.
The next stage is a lengthy ride across the top of the Snowy Mtns. It is cold & barren. The white gums have no foliage. We hit ice & snow on the road which caused everyone consternation. Finally, we emerge Into the beautiful plains near Khancoban. Dont relax. After refuelling we are Back on to the Alpine Way. More ice. Boxy doing the down the mountain. Dead rubber. Its cold & bitter as we head down to Jindabyne. Extracting our stiff bodies from our bikes we head for the showers for a recovery session.
Dinner tonight at the Rydges hotel dining room. Swans defeat Kangaroos. Coalition defeats Labor. Mike is exhausted from the excitement.
The last 2 days we’ve had perfect weather. We start the mornings in cold with the low sun flickering on the road between the trees. As dusk approaches, the colours are pastel and the shadows long. The end of autumn is nigh as the poplar trees shed their leaves.
The landscape is green but the dams & rivers are low.
Jindabyne to Sydney
Coffee and we leave Jindabyne across country to Dalgety. The landscape is flat cattle & sheep country but we cant see it! Fog is thick with about 100m visibility. Weve been through nearly all conditions, except fire & flood. Riding is slow & we limp into Cooma for a coffee.
Conditions improve as we head to Queanbeyan & across country to Bungendore & on to Goulburn.
The riding is fast & flat. Lunch is at The Paragon in Goulburn.
After lunch, Lewy departs first, riding slowly (for effect) down the main road back to the Bubble & the rest of us head home. The trip covered approximately 1430kms over 3 days. We reached elevations of nearly 1600m.
All good. Thanks to Gibbo for his organisation & leadership.
Another great fox adventure.
Silver Foxes Motorcycle Club Australia 