Dungog Ride 2nd April 2026

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 Dungog Ride Thursday 2 April 2026



Left home at 7:30am to beat traffic, starting the ride from 7-Eleven Berowra at 9:30am. Rode through thick fog and 16°C temperatures via Berowra Waters Ferry, but overall, it was an enjoyable trip to Berowra.  Thinking I would be the first to arrive, there were already 3 other riding groups parked up including the regular Thursday ladies’ group on their little Pee Wee size bikes and always up for a friendly chat. 

It was somewhat surprising to see 20 or so riders turn up for a long ride and ready to go considering double demerit points kicked in at midnightfor the Easter Long Weekend, and with that in mind I thought it was worth emphasising in my ride briefing,  so with the double demerit points in force we were going to take it easy particularly on the Old Highway where there is a ridiculous 60 kph speed limit where it makes it hard to comfortably ride in top gear. Anyhow, we had one new rider Erikh from The Hills Branch and another Ulysses member Simon on his 2nd ride with the Thursday Riders, so we must have made a good impression the first time on a recent ride to Catherine Hill Bay.

The ride went smoothly going via Peats Ridge where we were able to open the throttle sweeping around past George Downs Drive to jump onto the M1 up to the Tuggerah Interchange to try and make up some time to access Old Maitland Road and onto Hue Hue Road. Our good smooth ride was abruptly halted when a water truck pulled out and for some unknown reason started watering a perfectly good, sealed road. Eventually the truck pulled to the side, and we were able to quickly turn left at Wyee, but traffic slowed us down on the section of road into Cooranbong via the Morisset industrial area. In hindsight I was thinking maybe we should have taken Jilliby Road via Mandalong but by all accounts, that road is in poor condition now after long periods of wet weather recently.

There was a 30-minute Smoko at the Oak Café at Freemans Waterhole and as often happens 5 riders bailed to make their own way back which is quite acceptable, there’s nothing in the Thursday Riders Contract to say you must ride to the destination. This left us 15 riders to continue to Dungog. Renegades Paul and Andy left before the Ride Leader, yours truly, and caused mayhem when two other riders followed them to Sandy Creek Road before realising their little oopsie.

After the fog cleared the temperature rose rapidly and by the time we got to East Maitland the temperature was now 28 degrees and rising but still a glorious day for a ride with nice scenery and nice smooth roads. There were only a few minor issues: Waze suggested turning right, but I chose to continue straight, the next one was mistakenly turning left for Patterson but was the street before into a residential area.  My intention to go via East Gresford was thwarted by a sign that said Dungog via Dungog Road that turned out to be a beautiful smooth road with nice green scenery and probably saved us some time.

We arrived at Frank Robinson Park, Dungog at 1 o’clock, a nice clean park that council have spruced up with new concrete and covered tables and bench seats. Sitting enjoying the banter over lunch, politics, religion then the conversation turned to the passenger train service between Sydney and Brisbane passing through Dungog. Richo or Kim remarked that they had never seen a train on this track, but just then a 1500-metre freight train thundered by. God there long those trains.

With that many options on which way to return home, everyone went off in different directions. One popular route was to return via Singleton and the Putty Road or Wollombi. My choice was to check out the road through East Gresford. Currently this road is in poor condition, many potholes, then it was onto Maitland and the Hunter Freeway and the M1.

For those curious to know, we did pass one mobile camera car, and I saw a police bike on the M1 in the morning and another in the afternoon. Including me I trust no one incurred double demerit points. Thanks to all those who Corner Marked and Peter of the High Vis Braces for doing a great job as Tail End Charlie. It’s a good thing to look after your mates and make sure, they’re pointed in the right direction. 

The earlier start and daylight-saving works well on this ride. With a couple of rest stops I arrived home at 5.30pmand covered 464 kms and refuelled on Pennant Hills Road. Up and back on a full tank. Good bikes those GS’s.

Cheers

Dave Sipple

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