What a fantastic day to go for a ride! Sunshine, no rain, temps perfect for riding and a great destination, not too close but not too far. This was obviously the consensus as 24 riders turned up at Berowra ready to go plus one who was a wee bit tardy – even MTC was early for the briefing. The destination as scheduled was Poppet Head Park, Kitchener. An interesting place with all the appropriate services for us older folk, a bit of an outlook over the dam and a display of the history on an interpretative plaque. One virgin, Peter, who claimed not to be, was given the appropriate recognition because I hadn’t seen him on a ride before. The briefing over, we set off at a good pace for our morning tea stop at Jerrys Café Kulnura. After a short regroup at Calga we headed on to one of our favourite stops where we met Mr and Mrs Plod quietly having their morning tea as well. They assured us that they weren’t planning to follow us to the next rendezvous point at Wollombi, so we fel...

  The original plan was to go to the Gardens of Stone but due to slips, the road is closed until further notice. The alternative destination chosen was to Glen Alice in the Capertee Valley. 11 Riders set out but only 10 made it to the start as one rider missed the turnoff for McGrath and ended up at Wentworth Falls! Another rider left us after smoko in Lithgow leaving 10 riders to head to Glen Alice which is 77 kms of great roads from Lithgow. Our lunch destination was at 'From the Paddock' , a farm market and cafe located on a farm in Glen Alice. They kindly allowed us to consume our own food at their tables, despite us only buying a few coffees. As some rider put on the rain gear at Lithgow, we naturally did not get any rain. The weather went from 22 degrees and cloudy in Lithgow to 29 degrees and sunny in Glen Alice. We dodged the rain all day and arrived home dry after another great day of riding. Thanks to our TEC Mark, nobody got lost. Peter Walshaw

 Eight brave souls congregated at St. Ives on a warm Saturday morning. Our fearless leader Geoff "Staysharp" Wiltshire was laid low by the dreaded lurgy so I became the default leader. Luckily Geoff had provided me with all the info I needed for the ride so it was just a matter of following his instructions. We were to meet Russ Pennell at the BP in Kurmond on Bells Line of Road. John Warner offered to be TEC on his Can-Am although he warned me he was having a slight problem with it where it restricted him to 100 kph. That was no problem as I didn't intend to go faster than that with my eleven points. We headed off slightly late along Mona Vale road to the M2, then on to the Abbott Road exit and  Old Windsor Road to Windsor, Turf Farms and Kurmond. Russ wasn't there at the BP so I wondered if he'd given up on us as we were a bit late. No problems as he turned up a couple of minutes later. We headed off straight away via Bell, Darling Causeway and right on to Hartl...

  The forecast for today’s ride was into the high 30’s ‘Out West’ so we always knew that it would be a hot one!  And the forecast proved to be spot on.   It was a balmy 25 by the time ‘side stands up’ came around  at 10.00am  at Heathcote Maccas.  It was a day destined to go smoothly with Laurent S rolling in a full 10 mins before our planned departure, that being 9 mins 50 secs earlier than his usual arrival time.  Laurent joined the already assembled crew of four (Peter W, Jim C, Dave S and myself as Ride Leader).   During the ride briefing, I dutifully announced that I was a ‘Virgin’ Ride Leader (this being my first time out front) which led to them all giving me the welcoming ‘virgin clap’, which seems to be a particularly unfortunate thing to give any poor virgin.  They all laughed and promised to treat me gently and with respect, even the day after!  And to their word, they did.  Some even sent flowers!   With a group of ...

  GONBUG Ride Report: Saturday 11 March 2023 All the Way Way to Woy Woy Fish n Chips then Pottering Along to Patonga . With no “victims” waiting at St Ives, and knowing that Suitcase would meet me at Pie in The Sky (PITS) at Cowan, I left just after 9 am, and all two of us twisted along the Old Road (not too many hoons), turned off at the Gosford exit, twisted downhill towards Gosford, then right turn along Brisbane Waters Drive, stopping at a fancy Yacht Club (future coffee stop?) then gooned past SPIKE MILLIGAN Pedestrian Bridge, and stopped in Woy Woy for FISH n CHIPS, complete with seagulls and pelicans, and excellent Op Shop (purchased 4 bright socks) then finally escaped through Umina Shopping Centre and turned onto Ettalong Drive then Patonga Drive past the turnoff to   Pearl Beach and down to Patonga – almost no traffic. Easy bike parking, plenty of customers at the Pub/Fish Shop. (Luckily we had already eaten). So, dessert (choc paddle pops) across at the Ferry ...

  RIDE REPORT ORANGE OVERNIGHTER Maccas McGraths Hill was the place to be  on Wednesday morning  as 24 riders gathered for  a 9.30am  departure to cross The Great Dividing Range to escape the heat in Sydney for the cooler Central tablelands of New South Wales. As it turned out the weather was ideal for motorcycling. Coming into Lithgow I received a phone call from TEC Peter Whiteside to say he was on the side of the road with John Randall at Mount Wilson with a GS that had sprung a leak in the fuel line and were waiting on BMW Roadside Assistance. In the meantime, our group continued onto Oliver’s at Bowenfels for morning tea. Before leaving for Newbridge we had to deploy our backup TEC, Peter Walshaw. The corner marking actually started from Lithgow and as Peter Walshaw pointed out to me that perhaps in the future we designate two TEC’s because in the case of the first TEC getting delayed with a breakdown it could happen that you could have a string of corner m...

  Yesterday’s ride report to Kiama. This was to be my first ride for 2023. I leapt out of bed earlier than usual  (more like a slow roll to the edge of the bed enabling my legs the use of gravity to travel to the floor) as I needed to check the battery / tyres etc. Duly went through my morning rituals. I won’t go into the details but suffice to say being mustard gassed may have been a more pleasant experience!  The weather looked good and BOM indicated no rain. Pulled on my riding jeans and waddled off to brekkie. It then proceeded to piss down with rain so waddled back upstairs cursing BOM and put my other riding pants on. Normally, I meet up with my riding mate Dangerous Davis but he decided not to go south of the border rather he would join the PADPAL bunch and then go and mow his lawns at his Wangi Wangi ranch. So much for mates! Arriving at Heathcote I find I am the only one there. I am starting to get a complex and wonder whether everyone is gunna do the PADPAL. Is...

Even though the Thursday Riders plan to ride to Kiama down south this week, I broke the rules and suggested we head off in the same direction, just a few days beforehand Never On Sunday is the usual rule for Royal National Park riding, but the rough plan was to avoid the “Royal” until the return journey – and that worked., at least for this little black duck. As usual, I insisted we take the scenic route via Cahill Expressway across the Harbour Bridge and across Botany Bay, past Miranda Fair, for coffee and art-stop at Hazlehurst Gallery – the Art Express portraits  by high school students from many diverse schools were stunning,  made the coffee taste extra smooth. Took the Motorway south, with easy traffic down Mt Keira, by-passing Seacliff Bridge, Wollongong and Albion Park -  fairly scenic,  just watch out for Speed Controls and Learner Drivers, and enjoy the rich farmland vistas and simply look out for the twisty off- lane to Bombo, under a rail bridge and over ...

  Broke via the Putty Ride Report It started with a phone call but this time even I have to admit Alan’s excuse was pretty good i.e. there’s a tree fallen on my house and it’s blocking my driveway. So suddenly I was leading the ride with less than 24 hours to prepare! Step 1 was to check the route given the appalling weather over the previous 24 hours. So I checked with Grey Gums but they didn’t know about the road but did know that their “facilities” would be offline on the morning of the ride “if the plumber made it through”. Mmmmm that could be problematic, did they have any suggestions and just like that I had the number of the Halfway Roadhouse which is a 10mins ride further up the Putty from Windsor. So a call to Dave (owner) resulted in a change of ride plan with morning tea at the Halfway Roadhouse. Step 2 was to check the return route and all looked AOK and PITS was open. Step 3 (which didn’t happen) should’ve been to check my route to Windsor. If I had got to that I would...

 Mad dogs, a Czech and an Irishman turned up at St. Ives on a scorching hot Saturday. Everybody else wimped out!!!  With no more riders appearing we set off at a leisurely pace into the furnace via Mona Vale Road, M2, M7 and Great Western Highway arriving at Sydney Motorsports Park at around 10am. As there were no signs indicating there was an event on at the park we rode right past the entrance and only realising we had missed it when Bondi appeared on the horizon!!! When we eventually found the right entrance we parked our trusty steeds and proceeded to get into our "cool" gear of shorts and sandals. The temperature was around 35C but we were ready for it with bottles of water, sunscreen and appropriate head gear.  The things you see when you haven't got a gun!!! We wandered past the various pits taking the odd photo:   RC30!!!! All you knowledgeable bikers can work out what they are ... apart from all being Hondas. There was a gold coin donation for entry. Not man...

  Ride report Sugarloaf Mountain On a great morning with a promise of 30+Celsius, 20ish riders gathered at Berowra and Michael, the son of Marty Ambrosious was welcomed, to a short ride with the group and one newby  was given 'the clap'. The route to Sugarloaf mountain was via. Kulnura, Yarramalong, Dooralong, Cooranbong, , Brunkerville and Mulbring. Several riders seemed so impressed with 'Jerrys' at Kulnura, they did not seem to want to leave!! As usual, the run down Bumble Hill raised  enthusiasm but the ride started 'thinning out' to the point where, when I arrived at Mulbring, we had run out of 'corner markers' so the last corner marker and myself had a break for a few minutes until Dave Sipple plus friend arrived but he did nor recognise me so flew straight past!  All was good and Andy and myself reached Sugarloaf which has attained a height of 412 metres and of course you are all aware that the name is derived from Brazil where sugar for export wa...

  This was my first time as ride leader on a Thursday Riders scheduled ride and turning up at Maccas McGraths Hill just before   9.00 am , I expected to perhaps be the only person crazy enough to want to ride over the mountains with the dodgy weather forecast and colourful rain radar. Good news, Ian Frost from the Central Coast was already there having had a quick run down the M1.   Over the course of the next 50 minutes we had a total of 17 riders (including 2 virgins from the Hills Ulysses - Quentin and Ivor) join the group, all eager to see how the day might play out. The weather was actually extremely kind with perhaps only a few mm falling over us for the duration.   At 10.00 we all headed off via the Grasslands, then Bells Line of Road, arriving at the Bilpin rest area opposite the Public School for morning tea. We then continued on Bells Line of Road, past the weigh station and on to Lithgow for a regroup coming into town. Right onto the Great Western Highway ...

Six riders and two-and-a-half*-in-a-tin-top started out from St Ives on Sunday 5th at around 9.15am. Another fine sunny day with just a hint of autumn and some possible afternoon showers forecast. Coffee and chat at a very busy PITS, and here we collected Erica and Mr Suitcase. Discussions on ride route determined that Suitcase should lead, and so we departed via Old Highway, Peats Ridge, Bumble Hill, and a comfort stop at the Triangle. Then up Hue Hue Road to Wyee, across Rutleys Rd and up the Old Pacific Highway through Swansea to Belmont. The 16 Foot Skiff Club was busy but we managed to snare a nice table by the windows and enjoyed our lunch and dissertations. Departed the Club around 1.45pm and retraced our route back to Doyalson then mostly eased out onto the Expressway. A brisk ride ensued with a following breeze back to the Brooklyn Bridge where I waved ta-ta and opted for the Old Road and a more leisurely pace. Home by 4pm with big clouds building in the south-west, but no sho...

My mother had a pillion on a Harley when she was 17. Went to the Dam up in the Watagan Range, got home with virtue intact but decided she would not be able to trust herself on a Harley Ride again. Met my dad years later & had 2 babies during WW2? Maybe thought her clock was ticking too fast! Fast forward to Sandra, another WW2 child who pillioned at 14 & wanted to relive that for 80th birthday. Her kids found GONBUC & Alan B's details to arrange fantasy ride on a suitable carriage such as behind Spyder Man. Arrangement involved donation to UCARF only. Too many laws around taking paying passengers for me. A little help needed to throw the leg on & off to Estuary for coffee. Perfect spot at Brooklyn overlooking Hawkesbury River. Onwards to Terrigal Skillion via Old Hwy, another dreaded double demerits weekend, lunch with views of The Haven. Very humid day so straight back on Freeway. Excellent days riding with appreciative company. If you have friends needing to “thro...

A motley crew assembled at St Ives on a fine and sunny morning, and at 7.30am-ish proceeded leisurely to Brooklyn via Hornsby and the Old Highway. What a delight to be out on the weekend roads before the crowds. Parked right outside the Café. A tasty breakfast was enjoyed, provided by the staff at King Tide Café. Boats and ferries chugged about and trains rumbled past. Sunshine sparkled on the cool water. Life is Good. Then we rode home. I went via Bobbin Head and guess what? Almost no bicycles! Hah! What a great day.

  8:00am   looked outside, Gloomy, Raining, weather report, should stop   at 9.00am Cold and raining. I will have to go, as I am the ride leader, volunteered by Andy, strongarmed by Rod. Arrived at Berowra 9.30 still raining,  A few hardy souls under shelter, someone commented Warriors or Fairies. Decided to change Morning tea from the Triangle to Jerry's as there is more shelter Finally, just 7 riders, plus maybe Jim, who was running late and would catch up at Jerry's.  Was it me, the destination or the rain?  Radar says dryer going north. Lies.  No Virgins, except a virgin Ride Leader.   Set off at 10.01, it rained the whole way to Kulnura,  One rider (not to be named) decided that a lounge room in Manly, was more appealing than riding for another 4 hours getting wet  Jim didn't get to Jerry's so we assumed he wasn't coming. The rain got heavier, Bumble hill and Yarramalong came and went, left at Hue Hue Rd and the rain kept coming Doo...

 A beautiful day on the Northern Beaches. Six riders assembled at St. Ives anticipating a great days riding. There was no ride leader so we decided as per the ride calendar to head for the PITS and see if anyone else would like to join us. Lo and behold Suitcase was there on the table of knowledge expounding his theories on all manner of subjects. After coffee and sustenance and not being able to persuade any others to join the now seven riders headed down the old highway to Calga. Luckily Vaughn had brought along his phone with the Wayz app installed which showed where the sneaky boys in blue were hiding. THEY WERE EVERYWHERE so we crawled along at the speed limit. Unfortunately one of our group who was well behind the main group didn't see the motorbike at the end of the straight just after the Road Warriors cafe. Bingo a bluebottle getting his quota!!! We turned left at Calga and headed for Central Mangrove where we again turned left and headed towards Spencer (The Centre of the...

  Fear and Loathing in Watkins Avenue. This was the epic ride of the year, so far. It set the pace and created precedents. It was the one everybody wanted to be on.    The ride was a charity do, raising funds for UCARF, the Ulysses charity dedicated to research and treatment of arthritis. Many Ulyssians suffer some form of arthritis, some to a debilitating degree. Occasionally the pain is compounded, when you find yourself in a group dedicated to discussion of “Arthur” and to the exclusion of anything more interesting, like intestinal worms, haemorrhoids or the Ukraine. In any case, we managed to raise some $550.   A Ride Report must contain details of which way everyone went. Unusually for a Thursday Ride, everyone went the same way. 23 people and 22 bikes, counted, at Berowra. Off we went  at 10.02am  via the old Pacific Highway. We went via Somersby for the extra bends. The route was based on maximising bends. If we couldn’t find bends, we would find hol...

 The UNB Ride Calendar is now updated for Jan - Jun 2023. Please check the Ride Calendar Page and click on the date for info on each ride.  And please send any update info or new rides suggestions via the UNB Newsletter email link. Thanks.

 A long day planned - 480 kms - for our annual UNB Shooters Hill "Road to Nowhere" ride today. 8am start from St Ives and a cool and cloudy one to begin, but weather improving as we went. Vaughn stayed in his wet gear to ward off the showers and this worked well. Down to the M2 and straight out to Old Windsor Rd with just a couple of catch-ups, and through grass farms to a pause at BP Kurmond. Then up Bells Line in alternating cool and misty, sunny, foggy, with mostly dry road and almost no traffic. A quick ride through to the Ampol at Mt. Victoria. Coffee stop and connect with Vaughn's cousin Craig who was coming with us for the day. On down to Hartley and left onto Jenolan Caves Road. Still some roadworks and one-way lights at Hampton, then open roads towards Oberon. Left at Titania Road across to Edith Road then right onto Butter Factory Lane and shift up an notch. From here the "Road to Nowhere" is about 30 kms of excellent forest highway across the top of t...