"3 Day Ride" September 2011

This was our first overnighter ride together and we had a ball. Actual time in the saddle was limited to no more than 4 hours a day with plenty of breaks for photos, wee stops and a stretch along the way.
The scenery was excellent but being on a bike, you can also smell everything, including the bush with its eucalypts and road kill was never far away either. We would ride past a dead Roo or Wombat or some other poor unfortunate bastard and wait for the stench to hit us through the helmet vents. Sometimes the kill was fresh and the stench never came but most of the time the smell was strong enough to make your eyes water.
The other negative I experienced was "Swamp Arse". Our textile bike pants did a bloody great job protecting us from the elements but on Tuesday it was sunny and warm and the inner lining of my pants acted like a frickin sauna. It kinda felt like wearing gum boots full of water while walking through a cow paddock !
Taking the bastards off wasnt much better. I had to hang on to the bed head while Cathy pulled them off. They sounded like a pair of wet rubber gloves coming off after delivering a calf ! Didnt smell much better either.

Map

Day 1: We left home about 8am after packing our gear. We had saddle bags given to us by Andy some time ago and we bought another bag for the back rack and covered it with a "bag rain coat' donated to us by Daniel.

First stop was Windsor for Breaky and top up with fuel.

Next, we headed up the Putty Road and another stop at the "Grey Gums Cafe" - roughly halfway up the Putty.

Continuing up the Putty, there was no shortage of photo ops.

This bridge was one of many on the way to Wollombi but they are all being replaced with Concrete ones.



Lunch at Wollombi Tavern, home of "Dr Jurds Jungle Juice"

It turns out that the Jungle Juice is basically a mixture of Port and Brandy - bloody nice though.

Here we are at the Cessnock Motel - recently renovated and central to everything. We basically parked up, showered and went into town and in the evening, we had dinner at the leagues club and a beer or three.

Day 2 : After breaky, we were on our way once again. We headed back through the wineries but unfortunately couldnt stop for any tasting especially on two wheels.

Heres Cathy pretending to know where the hell were going and doing her best impression of the Michelan Man.

Broke was one of the first towns we rode through. Theres alot of these towns around and all a very old with heaps of history within them.

Next, the town of Denman where we had a drink and a wee break - oh and also had a chat to the information desk who gave us some advice to ride through the Bylong Valley Highway. This highway was the best. Heaps of unmarked road and the valley itself is beautiful. Had a close call with about 15 kangaroos who decided to hop across the bloody road. I thought "oh wow thats nice" at first, but soon realised "shit! they couldve caused us some serious problems"

Another pub in Denman

This was another interesting looking bridge.

At this spot, we hit a humungous pot hole and pulled over to check the bike and pick up our teeth from the side of the road.

Finally, we arrived in Rylstone and found this bakery to have lunch at.

Mmmm bakery made pies and sausage rolls.

The lady at the bakery advised us to ride to Mudgee through the village of Lue. This village consisted of about 6 houses so you can imagine the look on my face as we rode through looking for something a little more than half a dozen bloody homes ! Still very nice though.

And finally we arrive at the B & B we were staying at called "Kia-Ora". This home has alot of history and very nice to stay in. The only problem was, at a place like this, you need to give them a time for breakfast and we felt that it took away some flexability as to when we could get going in the morning.

Day 3 : Breaky at the B & B. Thank God they dont take photos for a living !

Riding away from Mudgee we pass the edges of  Lake Windamere. We didnt get any rain until we rode through Cullen Bullen (half hour outside Lithgow), then it didnt stop all the way home. It was a good experience though as we were very well prepared and were very snug in our gear while listening to music on our blue tooth communicators.

And finally heres what the bike looks like after riding long distances in rain. I didnt even put her to bed in the garage tonight - she was way too dirty. Mental note "dont follow trucks in the rain, even the spray on my helmet was brown"

Anyone wanna come over for a bike cleaning party ? Anyone ?