Snowy Ride 1-4th May 2023

 The Frosty Snowy Ride Report.

Last Sunday, all of those booked for the snowy ride looked at the weather report with trepidation. The first two days were scheduled to be stormy and wet. What a joy therefore to find that all four days were perfect weather.

 

We met at Heathcote, travelled through part of the National Park, down the old highway past Wollongong to Albion Park then on to the Robertson Pie Shop for a welcome morning tea. Down Pearson's Lane, through Kangaroo Valley, through the roadworks to Nowra, then that delightful road to Nerriga, there was still   8 km gravel on the stretch to Braidwood where we had lunch at the bakery.

 

The afternoon saw us enjoy the Kings Highway down to Bateman's Bay, then along the coast road to Bermagui for our first night stop. Dinner at the local club that night.

 

Our casualty for the afternoon was Hollywood, who limped into Bermagui with a slowly deflating rear tire. Discretion being the better part of valour, Mitch decided to inflate the tire with some of that horrible sticky goo that is supposed to seal leaks ( it doesn’t) and went home the following morning. Sad to see.

 

Breakfast on Tuesday was at the Bermagui Beachside café, where Helen came in early to make sure that we could get away at 8.30 as planned. We set off through Cobargo, down towards Bega and then turned on to the Snowy Mountains Highway for the  run up Brown Mountain, one of my all-time favourite roads. Morning tea was at Lotts in Cooma, on the recommendation of our many skiers in the group who frequent it regularly. After Cooma it was the back road to Dalgety, a fuel stop at Jindabyne and into the National Park. For the first 15 minutes after Dead Horse Gap we were literally in the clouds, a thick fog that limited visibility down to as little as 50 m. Very slow and tentative going. Once we dropped to a lower elevation, that cloud cleared and we were able to ride the absolutely fantastic mountain  forest road all the way through to Khancoban.

 

Lunch was at the Pickled Parrot, where Dee had set us a table and served a wide range of great food including a superb lunch soup.

 

With the Khancoban/Cabramurra Road and the Cabramurra/Tumbarumba roads being closed currently, we went on a long open road loop through Tooma to Tumbarumba, and then the usual road up to Tumut for our next night stop. Accommodation was shared between the Elms motel and Harriet House Motel, and dinner was had at the Orient hotel. The fresh caught snowy trout was a delight.

 

Breakfast on Wednesday was at the Coffee Pedaler café, where they do the best bacon. While the weather was crisp, we had bright sunshine, so we headed off through Bombowlee, through the Billapaloola  state forest, on to Adjungbilly and then Coolac, a section of road where most of the group had not traversed before. Excellent road condition because it is maintained for logging trucks (we didn't see very many of those) and then open rich farmland and following a river course down to the main highway.

 

We turned off to Harden, and had morning tea at the always delightful Jackson's café, then through Boorowa for a fuel up and on to Crookwell for lunch at Paul's café. The afternoon ride was the excellent riding road through Binda and Tuena and into Bathurst for our last night stop. Dinner was at the Bathurst RSL.

 

After breakfast at the motel, Thursday morning saw the group break up into three, with some going to their homes in Tamworth and further North, some making a bee-line for Sydney, and five of us doing the final leg of the journey through Eglinton, Turindale, Sofala, back down to Kelso,  then the delightful back road through Brewongle and  Locksley to Tarana. Another excellent morning tea at Mama Snow’s café, (opposite the hotel) then back through to Lithgow, Bells line of Road to Windsor where we had lunch at Macca's, and then made our respective journeys home.

 

I'm happy to say I've received positive feedback from everybody who went, so let's call it a success. What worked for us was the fabulous weather for the whole journey, and generally good road conditions with most repairs now completed. A couple of large potholes in, of course, the shadow of trees caught a couple unawares, but generally road conditions were great. And the other thing that is so notable travelling on the minor roads in rural Australia is the lack of traffic. We were rarely held up anywhere along the route.

 

Unfortunately, of the original contingent a few had had to cancel, due to motorcycle issues and in one case injury, but those of us who went had a great time. Some felt that it could have been earlier in the year, to avoid being quite so chilly (it only got as low as 6 degrees a couple of times in the mountains ), but from my point of view one of the highlights of the trip at this time of the year is the very colourful autumn leaves once you get to the high country. The ride will definitely be on again next year, and we can debate the exact timing then. I certainly had a great time this trip.

Cheers

Frosty