This was indeed a large turnout with 11 machines & 14 people willing to brave the weather to Bathurst. It had been stormy with gale force, cold westerly winds for several days before our Saturday departure, with showers & strong winds forecast to continue for the first half of Saturday. With such a synopsis I would have expected several drop-outs & I would not have blamed anyone for doing so.

But no, indeed I had two late sign–ups at the Club meeting a week before, Ian Duvall & Greg Carmody.

The day before our departure Peter Wilson rang me & intelligently suggested that we run the event in the reverse to our plan, to avoid crossing the 1300m+ high country north of Taralga in such poor weather. I readily agreed to this and so it was to be.

Contrary to my expectation Saturday dawned promisingly with calm & bright weather & everybody was waiting for the ‘off’ at the Caltex on the Federal Highway. Unfortunately the cheerful weather did not persist & by the time we reached Gunning it was overcast with slight drizzle & the wind had risen. In Crookwell it was 7C with driving drizzle, not a nice day & I was pleased with Peter’s suggestion. After brunch in the pub bistro, which consisted of mugs of steaming liquid & egg & bacon rolls all round, we headed for Rugby on the ‘new’ road.

Sadly in Rugby the ‘new road’ had claimed its first casualty, a row of fine old trees had been felled right through the centre of the village, obviously they were considered a hindrance to traffic on the new road. So fell Rugby’s only asset.

We were to take the Frogmore road to Wyangala next, & as we descended from the high ground so the weather improved & the temperature increased, but only slightly. The Severs missed us waiting at this poorly sign-posted junction & Peter Wilson had to chase after them to prevent them arriving bemused in Boorowa. On the Frogmore road we were greeted by the largest flock of sheep any of us had ever seen being grazed on a highway, there had to have been 2000 head, sweeping in waves of bleating grey for several kilometres along the road. We missed them all with Lorraine acting as the ‘sheep plough’.

Wyangala was a pitiful sight with even less water in it than when I first took the VVC past this dam in about 2001. However the faintly depressing sight of the dam was relieved by a demonstration of one wheel riding by Ian along the dam wall. Ian has been a trail rider most of his life & was most adept at his craft! Lunch followed at the Wyangala Club, for all of us except Peter Lenket, who got lost & was found later in the Woodstock pub some miles away. John & Son-in-Law Mick both went off to find him to no avail.

All was well however & the remainder of the ride to Bathurst was uneventful, ridden on wet roads, but with the actual rain always seemingly ahead of us. Two trucks with barely legal mudguards proved our only peril, spraying so much water that overtaking them was a risky business, which quite unnerved me.

We were settled into our warm motel rooms by 1600 & all changed & scrubbed up ready for a beer by 1730. Those of us in the ‘Country Lodge’ walked to the ‘Panorama’ where we spent a delightful evening of bike stories & good food. This really is a top pub & we all recommend it to any of you visiting Bathurst. Actually the Country Lodge was good too, complete with English style central heating.

Sunday dawned as the opposite of Saturday, it was a clear, sunny, still morning. We all met at Ellie's Café in the Royal Hotel for breakfast, which was of a high standard, preparing us for the ride home over the mountains. But first we all rode to the Mount Panorama Circuit to the Motor Racing Museum. This is always different on each visit, & this year is displaying an excellent collection of racing motorcycles from the pre-war era right up to the 21-century.

Refuelled we headed for Oberon, planning to ride the 150km to Taralga without a break. This is a stretch on a cold Winter day, and despite the sunshine the temperature dipped to 6C as we climbed above 1300m & the cold seeped into our bones. This is beautiful country & worthy of stopping to savour the views if time permitted. I am sure that you will all agree that cold weather riding is far more wearying than warm weather riding & I was overdue a stop when we rolled into Taralga. The pub was a welcome lunch destination & we were there an hour refreshing & warming ourselves I remember.

The descent to Goulburn was uneventful & the group split up there with four of the faster riders riding along Lake George looking forward to our homecoming as the evening approached. It had been a first class ride for us all & for myself I was delighted to have so many riding companions, after all I usually run these overnight events with about half a dozen regulars!

Overnight runs will re-commence in September for the start of the new season, keep an eye on your magazine for details.

Lorraine Litster
21 May 2009

There are some photos HERE