A cold but clear almost winter solstice morning. After a briefing from our commander-in-chief, our group set off with Elliott leading and me as tec. We moved along pretty well through the monotony of the suburbs then hit the curves of Bell's line and stopped at pits for a pie. Beautiful blue sky and clear air made for a lovely ride. The countryside surprisingly green with a tinge of blue as the the cops seemed to be out in force. Keith's bike takes a nap!!   Looks like they enjoyed themselves .. well done. As usual, Geoff came through with some brilliant destinations as we first stopped at hargraves lookout overlooking the megalong valley. Then over to the other side and after 4ks and of dirt and sand we got to point pilcher for a different perspective of the blue mountains. Keith.

  Thursday 19th June, my turn as ride leader   Destination - Bulga - via the Putty Rd    The morning was pretty cold - 7 to 8 degrees on my bikes temperature display, some dew on the grass alongside the road edge, but Dry road, sun trying to appear, and no wind.   We had a starting crew of 14 riders at Macca's Mcgraths Hill, no virgins, a couple of riders from the Hills group. For the ride we had 3 riders on Kawasaki 1000, watch out BMW riders.   The Bulga ride is head north, stopping at Greygums for smoko, then onto Bulga. Minor road works near the end of the twist bits - repairing road subsidence It was a good fast ride - nil corner making and TEC nearly always in sight.   At Bulga, we lunched in the parked, servo closed no fuel, later we were joined by 3 riders who had started from Berowra, they arrived as we left, one of those riders was Danny - there to celebrate his 28th birthday - but as Ste...

  As John Randall tested positive to Covid , I volunteered to lead this ride . John had been on a reccy earlier and suggested that the Govetts Leap Lookout might be a warmer venue for lunch as the Megalong Valley is quite shaded this time of year .    So we took his advice and headed that way .    Just as we were leaving Margaret  “The colourful “ who used to ride with us , turned up with John Osborne wielding a cane for those with limited vision . Apparently she suffered some medical condition that has left her blind . They were given the ride route and duly appeared at the morning tea and lunch spots - Mount Tomah Gardens and the Govetts Leap Lookout near Blackheath.   The ride was relatively uneventful , various road works slowed us slightly, but nothing too major .    The weather was a bit cool , but everyone was layered up to cope with this , so no complaints.  Regards  Peter Greenwood

  We had a good showing of 19 riders for Wollombi.   This confirmed to me that short rides are still as popular as longer ones. We agreed to corner mark but I quickly realised (at the first corner) that we had 3 newish riders & I didn’t explain what corner making entailed. That was rectified at smoko at Jerry’s.  I learned that a lesser alternative to corner making is regrouping. It was a cold but sunny day. Everyone moved along at a good clip & nobody got lost. Thanks to Papaya Pete for being TEC. Thanks for the good company. Tony

  Tony asked that we swap rides as he had an outing, he was keen to attend.   14 Riders gathered on a cold overcast day including a virgin. Wouldn’t you know it, another bloody GS rider. The clap was duly dispensed.   The old road was a novelty. We actually kept to the 60klh speed limit for most of the way due to a slow car who did not have the decency to move over to let us past. Morning tea at Jerrys so no corner markers to that point due to it being a regular stop. Two friendly little piggies were seen along the way and another dropped in to join us for smoko.   After morning tea, I presented a safety talk about the dangers of the gravel, sand and mud that maybe hidden around the corners along Mandalong Road. Just to make sure all had understood the talk a demonstration on how to handle the mud, how not to get out of the mud and thanks Peter W and Co for demonstrating how to lift a bike of a rider’s leg. It seems the group paid attention as all came through the, a...

  18 odd seasoned riders enthusiastically departed McGraths Hill   at 9:30am  determined to make the best of the inclement weather conditions. Off to Lithgow for morning tea, all arrived slightly damp due to the precipitation along the way. Next to Macca’s Kelso, via Tarana for lunch where a couple of riders refuelled before journeying towards Mudgee, the diversion to Hill End was cancelled as it was thought to be better to arrive in Mudgee sooner rather than later…also allowing more time at the Oriental Hotel and prepare for the traditional dinner. Next morning plan B needed to be evoked because the snow ploughs were being prepared in anticipation of further rain and a number of roads back to Sydney were already suspect with lots of water making riding conditions challenging. Just short of 600k’s for the round trip tested our wet weather riding skills and hopefully all my riding gear will be dry before next Thursday’s ride, notable the long range weather forecast is for…...

The weather forecast had threatened us with a miserable day of cold and showers. As usual they were wrong and the day started bright and sunny if a little chilly. There were six starters at St. Ives for the ride to Mangrove Creek Dam. Because the dam is only 80 odd kms from St. Ives I decided to go the long way round just like Ewan and Charlie!!! Originally I wanted to go via Galston Gorge but I was out voted and so we went via the Berowra ferry and Old Northern Road to Wisemans ferry for smoko. Even that was too much for one of us who decided to go via the PITS and check if Suitcase was lurking there. The remaining five struck out for Berowra and the ferry. Unfortunately the ride leader had an error appear on his dash "FRONT TYRE BELOW NOMINATED PRESSURE PULL OVER" which I immediately did but the tyre looked fine so we rode on to the Seven-Eleven in Berowra where I checked the tyre pressure with John O's high tech gauge. It was showing 28 PSI so I inflated it to 36 PSI h...

  We had more riders than I expected for a south ride, most of the southern riders we not available for varying reasons, dodgy weather so I wasn’t expecting a full crew. The weather looked great at Mosman before I left, so much so that I didn’t pack wets, en route to the departure point it started raining near the airport, evasive action: M5 tunnel and then via Menai to Heathcote Maccas, all good not wet. While waiting for the 9.30 departure to Currarong it started raining, we all decided to have another coffee and I decided to scrap Currarong as a destination, the plan was to wait for a break in the weather, head south and make a decision on the way, either to continue south or bail at Appin or Picton roads. A bit of misty rain cleared and we went the old road and then via Mt Kembla onto Robertson for well-deserved hot pies and coffee at smoko.   From Robbo it was down Kangaroo Valley to Bombaderry, up the Seven Mile Beach road to Gerringong for lunch at The Hill restaurant. ...

  This Thursday   was a sunny morning, but very fresh, and according to those people who study their iPhones to follow the weather minute by minute, threatening rain in the afternoon. So we only had eight starters for the ride. Fortunately, everyone there knew the way, so corner marking was not a question. Peter of the Braces volunteered for tail end Charlie duty, a function that he takes very seriously and performs very well. Thanks Peter.   We set off up the old road through Calga and Central Mangrove for morning tea at Jerry's. One of our number departed to go back home from there. As I was making my way to the bike to get going again, there was a "conclave" huddled around a mobile phone trying to pre-empt the weather. A couple of riders decided that they wouldn't go the full route, rather taking a shortcut to the final destination via Millfield to get away earlier and hopefully miss the rain. The others decided that they would make a final decision once we got to ...

  6 hardy souls braved the double whammy of double D’s AND inclement weather and apart from a very serious heart starter half way down the hill to the Peats Ferry bridge a good time was had by all. As Ride Leader I thought I would see how many things I could do wrong and my score got pretty high. Think no briefing, no TEC (although I think Tony was a close 2nd on that at the back, thanks Tony), no corner marking, leaving the pack behind (either that or they were giving me too much rope 😜 ) and I led the entire pack into a speed trap whilst doing a tad more than the posted limit 👍🏻🤣 .  I didn’t even manage to avoid all the very frequent showers although here I came a close second with only one brief downpour actually catching up with us and a couple of sprinkles whilst riding on very wet roads showing we had just dodged a bullet! I had even done a chain swap on my bike the previous week and not tested it, belatedly discovering I’d managed to fit the gear pedal one cog tooth...

  Growing up as the eldest of seven, Mum used to say there were two types of people in this world, “Catholics, and non-Catholics”. Then, when we lived in Mosman, a fellow we knew there told us there were two types of people in this world, “those that live in Mosman, and those who wished they lived in Mosman”. More recently, I’ve come to believe there are only two types of people in this world, those that ride a BMW, and those that wished they rode a BMW   This is just a bit of background to explaining our day today. About 10 of us arrived at Maccas McGraths Hill this morning, a little disappointing I thought but, given the weather, which was quite wet along the coastal fringe, not surprising. We lost one, Frosty, before we had started. Ian had just joined us for a coffee and chat before meeting some racing types to discuss, apparently, racing. Anyway, we headed off up Bells Line, turned left at Bell onto the Darling Causeway then right onto Hartley Vale Rd, a sneaky little sho...

  Between 17 and 20 bikes were on this ride depending on where you where!!   The weather was pleasant but overcast at the 7-Eleven, Berowra.   As there were no virgins or other miscellaneous beings I opened the briefing with a riddle:   “What borders on insanity!!!”   There were e few feeble attempts at an answer, none correct.   “Canada and Mexico”   Some mild titters …. tough audience.   On to the business of the day. We’re heading to Pokolbin today to the Hunter Valley Gardens. Some bright spark piped up that we were banned from Hunter Valley Gardens because this tight-arsed mob don’t spend anything and they use and abuse the toilet facilities. We’re still going there I said. It transpired later that the venue from which we were banned was the Wollombi Pub, so fake news struck again.   The route for today was old road, Peats Ridge, Kulnura, Bumble Hill through Yarramalong with morning tea at the Triangle. Corner marking will be enforced....

  Good morning. Eleven brave and enthusiastic TR’s set out from McGraths Hill precisely on time. However two additional TR’s were still waiting at Berowra. Nevertheless Richo and Paul made it to Broke on time via the alternate route. Thanks to John for acting TEC and a welcome clap provided to Robert as our resident virgin. Now as mentioned during the brief I am navigationally challenged. Therefore my ride instructions brief. Turn right over the bridge then stop at Grey gums. After a short recess, ride to Broke sign and turn right. You will arrive at your destination!!  All of that aside the road delivered a wonderful sensation of enjoyment. It was terrific riding and average speed impressive if not for some annoying roadworks. Not much more to say really but it seemed to be over before it started. On our arrival we were pleasantly greeted by Paul and Richo but also Danny and Alan the Scott was there. Lots of usual chat about Trump and footy. Though Kath and Kim were later to ...

  Armidale Rally Report  Day 1  Sunday 23 March 2025 Departing  9am  from 7Eleven Berowra there were 11 bikes. We took the old Hwy to arrive at Jerry’s for morning tea and meet up with another rider from the Central Coast. Now we had 12 bikes and 1 pillion. It rained all the way to Jerry’s. We were looking forward to a coffee, but we found Jerry’s closed. After a disappointing stop at Jerry’s, we rode straight through to Maccas Singleton for a light lunch then it was onto East Gresford, Dungog to the Bucketts Way Motel Gloucester. On arrival at the Bucketts Way Motel we caught up with more people joining our group. The Bucketts Way Motel is currently charging $120 single & $140 double. We all met up at the Roundabout Inn for drinks and dinner. We booked the function room for 20. Nothing stays the same. The menu for dinner and the food was good, better than the last time I was there on an overnighter with the Thursday Riders.    Day 2  Monday 2...

  Including 5 brave ladies, we had 20 participants join us for the ride. Day 1 took us from Pheasants Nest to Tathra via Tarago for morning coffee and  Moruya for lunch. On day 2, we were guided around the great roads in the area by a local rider, Rob Armstrong. 370 kms of dream roads for riders. I managed to pick up an award for the most corner marking duties for the day! At the ride briefing, Rob reminded us all to get a calcium scan on our hearts.  Despite not having any symptoms, a calcium scan at a health check-up resulted in him having an urgent triple bypass operation! On day 3, we headed up to Bombala via the mountain road through the forest. After coffee in Bombala we headed across the high country to Cooma. Great open flowing roads through the hills and past the wind farms. After lunch in Nimmitabel we headed down Brown Mountain to Tathra via a detour through Candelo. On day 4, we headed for home with the usual break offs as varying riders made their own way hom...

  A beautiful autumn day loomed and as I approached Maccas Heathcoate, I was thinking.....there gunna be squillions of riders ready to saddle up and conquer the wonderful roads of the Southern Highland's. That was not to be.....seems the Mexican Syndrome had seriously kicked in.   As it turned out, there was a contingent of 4 lonely Beemers - 2 x GS's and 2 x XR's that departed for Kangaroo Valley via Waterfall, National Park, Mt Kierra, Albion Park, Robbo Pie shop and finally Kangaroo Valley. I had earlier made extensive enquiries of the Kangaroo Valley Tourist Office endeavouring to locate a park with picnic tables as we had previously experienced difficulties in this regard. Anyway a long story short, I located a stop just over the Hampton Bridge on the Kangaroo Village side with Car Parking and 3 Picnic Tables by the river. Unfortunately, while the location was great, it lacked shade and therefore not recommended on a hot day.   Anyway, usual banter ove...

This is not an obituary. It’s a memoir; a ride down memory lane with Phil.   Phil was quintessentially English, of Welsh heritage of which he was proud. He said he was a blitz baby, born in the early part of the war as the bombs rained down on Coventry. He was his own man, never unfriendly but with a certain poise and an individual that did it his own way. You knew he was close to his family. He was smart. Classy sometimes like James Bond, but without the malevolence. Occasionally he could remind you of Inspector Morse, silver-grey hair, smooth and particularly so when he went through his Jaguar period.   He was a very good rider; experienced, tidy. He liked fat touring bikes, like the Yamaha FJR and the BMW RT.   I can recall following him up through the Murray region. You go up through Yackandandah and the Keiwa Valley. There is a very nice long cut up through Granya State Park which eventually gets you, via some wonderful roads, to Walwa and Corryong before you tour in...

  Our first try for the Cowra Back Roads Weekender in November was vetoed by Huey, who threw a “double-front” across the mid-west and dumped 200mm over that weekend at Cowra and Bathurst. I’d rung the Royal Hotel on the Thursday evening and the publican said “well it’s just started to rain, so I guess you’re not coming. See you next time”. Our next time was indeed the 8-9 March weekend.   Huey tried it again with cyclone Alfred, but we squeaked past the rain and our weekend was cool, mostly sunny, and mostly dry. Seven starters set off from St Ives at 8am to our first stop at BP Kurmond, where precautionary donning of wets was permitted due to low cloud over the not-so-Blue Mountains ahead. Mist and mizzle surrounded us from Kurrajong Heights to Mort Street in Lithgow, where we turned to a pre-booked stop at the Tin Shed Café. Clearly there’s nowhere else to stop in Lithgow on a Saturday morning as the joint was packed, and we drew black looks from waiting patrons as we pushed...

  The ride this week was to Mount Panorama, Bathurst. It was amazing after all the inclement weather over the past week, rain, storms and cyclones that we were blessed with a nice day. The Good Lord must have been looking over us all because it was a perfect day for a long ride. Well, my bike says 372 kms round trip arriving home before   5 o’clock .   We had 15 bikes leave Maccas at McGraths Hill at the earlier starting time of  9.30am .  Except for a short stop for roadworks and a slow moving little white Kia that kept flashing its brake lights at every shadow it was a good run along the Bells Line of Road with the temperature at 22 degrees at Bilpin.  After morning tea at the Service Centre at Bowenfels Kim and Peter left to return home because of other commitments but we picked up two more riders Rob and Andy who were caught up in heavy traffic and missed the earlier start meeting point.  It was  12.45pm  by the time we arrived at the top...