Great stuff Andre and Jason. Sound like an awesome bike adventure was had. There
is nothing like some stretches of dirt to make things more 'interesting'. Those
who rode to Phillip island with me last year know what I am talking about even
if it was accidental : )
This reminds me how much fun it is to get far out of the big smoke and become
one with your bike.

Ray



----- Original Message ----
From: "zx7r-dude@..." <zx7r-dude@...>
To: bikers_anon@...
Sent: Thursday, 3 April, 2008 10:02:05 PM
Subject: [bikers_anon] FW: Kings Highway ride - 29/3/08


Kings Highway ride - 29/3/08

Map Ref: http://tinyurl. com/3db33u

My Saturday ride started at home in Hornsby late on Friday afternoon with
the usual bike check. Everything else was good except the bike didn't start.
The battery was dead. I hadn't been for a ride on this bike for 3 weeks so
fair enough. I removed the battery and put it on the charger. Packed a bag
and went to bed.

I got up at 5:00am on Saturday morning, fitted the charged battery and was
preparing to leave at 5:30am. It turned over for about 10 seconds before
dying completely again. Damn. I got the car and jumper leads and managed to
get the bike running eventually and left without making too much noise. In
actual fact I'm sure I woke up the entire unit complex.

The run to Thirroul was cold, dark and the visor was continuously fogged up.
I got there just after sunrise and Jason had breakfast ready. We left his
place at 7:15am stopping for fuel at Woonona.

At Jamberoo several people flashed their lights at us so we thought we knew
what to expect. Cops, no! We had to stop and wait for a heard of cows to get
off the road. Then ride through 3 or 4kms of slippery cow dung soaked road.

We continued on down the Princes highway until we reached Milton and
stopped for fuel. We got chatting to a local and asked how to get onto
Woodburn road and was it ok to ride on. We should have also asked was it
sealed as we were greeted very quickly by our first stretch of dirt.

Happy again to be on Princes Highway at Terneil we enjoyed the flowing road
that became increasing bendy. After passing through Batemans Bay, the road
to Mogo was fantastic. For about 10kms we were in heaven as we rode on a
freshly sealed undulating road of sweeping corners, wide lanes with over
taking sections, hardly any traffic and very well sign posted. The trip
highlight so far. So good we turned around and did it again rather than
attempt more dirt in Mogo State Forest.

Back at Batemans Bay we had a quick drink stop at the beginning of the Kings
Highway. This was the road we had travelled so far to ride on and we weren't
disappointed. The road wound its way up and down through Currowan State
Forest. It was heaven part 2, as we road up and over mountains with sweeping
long turns and tricky tighter corners that folded back on themselves. I was
sorry to see Braidwood approach but I was damn hungry and getting low on
fuel.

Lunch at a pub in Braidwood is not for the faint heartened. My old room mate
Keith now runs the place and he said the steaks were huge. Jason ordered
the Mixed Grill that was big enough to feed 3 people while I tackled the
steak sandwich. Totally stuffed from too much food and talk of "doing it all
again" and "what about that corner where..." and "what was that crazy move
that Rebels dude on the cruiser did ...." we fuelled up and continued on to
Bungendore.

Really straight boring roads all the way to Goulburn followed. We did take
another back road that was great fun for about 5 minutes until it suddenly
became a gravel road with no warning. I laughed so hard at Jason trying to
brake from high speeds on dirt that I nearly ran up the back of him. When we
finally stopped he was having a great laugh at my expense too.

We had a quick stop in Goulburn for fuel and then out via the Hume Highway.
We turned off for Towrang, Greenwich Park and Brayton. Unfortunately we
encountered more dirt roads and one horse towns but we saw some awesome bush
country. As we approached Marulan my rear tyre started going flat so we put
a plug in the puncture at the service station nearby. It was a long stop but
a good chance to re-hydrate and relax before heading home.

We left via Penrose, Bundanoon and joined the Illawarra Highway at Suttons
Forest for Moss Vale and Macquarie Pass. By this time local traffic was
getting heavy and the final leg back to Thirroul was very painful.

We stopped for the last fill up at Woonona again and arrived back at Jason's
place at 6:00pm. Thirroul to Thirroul round trip was 650kms and when I add
in my morning ride from Hornsby my total was 770kms.

After a cold beer or 2 from the fridge and some take away Thai food we
settled in and relived the thrills of the road to Mogo and the Kings
Highway.

Awesome trip,
Andre





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