Put this in your diary for every last Sunday of the month – this is the sort of venue which people of all ages can enjoy – trains, boats, cars and planes and horses and food. Three of us departed St Ives with a plan –  1. Ride the Comenarra Parkway from end-to-end  soaking up the autumn colours. 2. Wind down into Tree Tops Adventure Park just past Koala Park – a beautiful native forest with plant nursery and café and toilets and lovely walking paths.. 3. THEN head out to the Model Park at Luddenham, avoiding Motorways. Well – that worked pretty well, and we were greeted by Flappn Jack Warner on his 3-wheeler – hadn’t ridden for a few weeks – his steed, in protest, almost didn’t start!! Did I say it was a perfect autumn day. PerfectO. Where to go first? Always a decision – wouldn’t want to miss maybe some spills on the dirt-track, or some magnificent tumble turns up at the flight – hill. Food was the winner – a volunteer-run canteen with lower than Woolworths prices, all ...

  Wouldn’t ya just know it, we get beautiful riding weather and it’s ANZAC Day Double Demerits. Still 7 riders turned up to make the best of a bad job. 5 were well known to the group, one (Elliot) was newish and the last (Bonny) had been itching to get on a Thursday Ride for over 2 years and a public holiday on a Thursday was the perfect opportunity.   The route for today’s PADPAL was driven by the need to get off the main roads as soon as possible and to avoid any back roads that actually led anywhere the hordes of “long weekenders” might want to go. Judging by the constant stream of biker groups heading north through Berowra we weren’t going to be alone on these roads either. The other comments worth repeating was made by everyone upon arriving at the 7-11 being firstly “ I wish the traffic was like this every day” and secondly “good luck with getting anyone to lead today”! So the group decision was taken to share the lead and to largely retrace the steps of last weeks PADPA...

  Hello Thursday Riders, Breaking news, very first net zero ride achieved on the North Coast Ride, April 2024. We had a broad spectrum of riders, pillions and non-specifics (they/them/their) on the ride, 8 all identifying as females (1 riding, 5 pillions, 1 DIDO, and Audrey the black Griffon who identifies as a Princess) and 14 riders. Once we assembled on the McGraths Hill summit which happens to be in the car park of Maccas, I did the roll call, I knew that once we picked up Stephen Davies and Frank Henry en route we would tick all the boxes on Thursday Riders Diversity Target 2025, well ahead of our target date of 2025, I was a little overcome in achieving this milestone. Part of Thursday Riders E.S.G. policy encompasses “diversity and inclusion”, I have been positively engaged in a counselling course specifically focused on D&I to address my “subconscious bias” and to strive for best practice ESG scores. The North Coast ride was an opportunity to put into practice my “new s...

  3 riders gathered at Berowra on an overcast deary day The roads were wet and the clouds ominous Paul donned his wets and led to Jerry's for Morning Tea I put on my thermal layer as it was cold, as Rob took the lead is to Millfield via Wollombi   Lunch at the Central and I led us home, via  Freemans waterhole, Hue Hue, to Yarramalong , up Bumble hill and the old road to The Pie. Great ride, yes I know we do this ride regularly, but great roads and the destination is really unimportant, when you are riding, the road in front of you is the only thing that matters Shared, lead, TEC and pack duties Enjoyable day I did 352k, those that stayed home, missed a good days riding Peter (Tracer) Take Care Peter

9 riders arrived at Maccas Heathcote by  9:30 ,  more than I had expected  National Park closed at Heathcote station entrance, so that ruled out that route, Headed off to go along the beaches via Lawrence Hargraves drive, Stanwell Tops and over the Sea Bridge, very scenic, but a slow ride, still very impressive scenery.  Headed up Mt Keira, dappled sunlight into the bends and gravel made it interesting, planned to also go up Mt Kembla, but missed the turn, so onto the M1 to the Jamberoo exit, TEC Peter followed the wrong bikes and rang to say he would catch up at Morning tea, which was at the Ken Irvine Oval in Jamberoo, Nice oval/park great toilets, quite and peaceful. Finally Peter arrived as we were contemplating leaving. One rider left after morning tea , down to 8 Ride leading is a lot more difficult than just enjoying the ride, one eye on the other riders, one on the road and where we were going. Just using headset with Andy for the 2 nd  time, great will ...

  What a forecast! Would anyone turn up? After a very slow trip to McGraths Hill TJ and I arrived to see some anxious riders waiting for their leader, and from their greeting I deduced that they weren’t expecting me to turn up. After a hurried briefing and a sensibly quick change into wets 8 of us headed off with TJ at the tail. It didn’t start raining until almost Mt Tomah, then a steady drizzle almost all the way to our planned morning tea stop at Oliver’s South Bowenfels. We only had 1 mutiny along the way but picked up one at Kurmond Rd so still 8 riders. By now we weren’t just wet, we were cold and wet. TEC stopped into the Lithgow shops for some extra layers. Then the big debate over morning tea, to abandon or to modify. One decided to abandon and returned the way we came. Now we were 7. Oberon was ditched in favour of a shorter ride via Hampton. Riding down Hampton Rd became interesting as a pea souper of a fog descended giving extremely poor visibility. We turned left into ...

Ride Report  28 th   March  202 4  to  Dungog  NSW   It rained during the night so I made a mental note to give the Thursday ride to Dungog a miss…… then I realised I was leading the !@#$ ride. I dragged my sorry beetroot head out of bed, donned my trusty  Rukka  waterproof riding gear and headed to Berowra hoping no other moron would turn up. I was wrong there were fifteen morons hiding under the awning at the 7-Eleven with steady rain falling. Don’t these people have something better to do on a wet Thursday!!! On Wednesday I received a couple of texts inquiring where the morning tea was. I told them Melbourne so they should have arrived there by now but they both piked out because of the inclement weather??? Back to the ride briefing. There were no virgins, except for one dishevelled creature claiming his virginity back due to lack of use or memory. I told the assembled group that DOUBLE DEMERITS were in force … much mumbling of I didn’t kn...

Team leader Mitchell here to report on our day ride to the Hunter. Sixteen enthusiastic riders meet at McDonalds. After usual debate about morning tea and lunch menus or the route, it was agreed bring your own and Putty road. In addition there was the “we didn’t think you’d show and please don’t run out of petrol” jokes endured by the lead!  Anyhow all else was forgotten after we experienced blue skies and traffic free, excellent regional roads at a healthy pace. What could be better. Before we knew it we arrived at Grey Gums had a drink and a munch then headed back out on the road. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves! A couple of roadworks stops didn’t matter and we all passed through Broke and arrived at Pokolbin Park together. The toilets were exquisite and the view not too bad either. The usual chaos ensued deciding the best way back to the Pie. There were a few concerns about fuel challenged bikes? Anyhow I went to the nearest servo at Cessnock and speed with a posse to ...

  The 2024 Moonan Flat weekender was a pleasant and fairly quiet affair with seven UNB riders attending. Five of us left St Ives at 8am Saturday and met Al Scott at Wollombi then went on to Singleton Bakery for an early lunch stop. From Singleton we separated and four of us enjoyed a short dirt ride of about 20k’s over the Albano Road to Rouchel and past Glenbawn Dam while Alan B and Terry went round via Aberdeen on the tar, and we met John Hutchison at Moonan Flat. I had booked both bunk rooms at the Victoria Hotel at Moonan Flat and we filled all seven of the beds. Arriving variously from around 2pm, we sat and yarned through the afternoon and enjoyed a few drinks and an excellent dinner at the restaurant. Yes our weekender clashed with the Ulysses AGM week. What a terrible decision – to ride or fly to Perth and trek down the scenic west coast of WA to Mandurah, a 5000km journey from here at least – or to sit and enjoy the afternoon at a quiet country pub in the glorious f...

  Despite the hot weather forecast, 17 riders turned up at Mcgraths Hill and 14 of them made it to lunch. Due to the road into The Garden of Stone still being closed the destination was changed to Glen Alice in the Capertee Valley. The ride up to Lithgow was frustratingly slow due to road works and trucks but after smoko at Maccas we had a clear run to the Capertee Valley. Lunch was at the cafe 'From the Paddock Farm Market' which is worth a visit if you have not been there before. As I needed to get back to Sydney, I abandoned the group and headed for home. As I pulled out the temperature was a pleasant 38 degrees! I assume everybody made it home safely with most returning the way we came and some continuing home via Rysltone and Denman. Many thanks to our TEC Peter. Regards  Peter Walshaw

As you are aware, 10th March 1788 was the date on which La Perouse and his two ships departed Botany Bay after their six weeks encampment at what is now known as Frenchman’s Bay. Sadly, they were never seen again, but the wrecks of the two ships, La Boussole and L’Astrolabe, were discovered about 40 years later near the Solomon Islands. Our ride on Sunday 10th March 2024 took us from St Ives along the Link Road, through Northbridge, over Long Gully Bridge, then via Cahill Expressway to Botany, where we followed the Foreshore Drive, past the huge Shipping docks, past Botany Cemetery (holding many First Fleeters’ graves) then on to easy bike parking at La Perouse near Bare Island and the Museum. There was no commemoration of 10th March, despite previous ceremonies which I have attended – sad. We wandered around the Museum’s 3 sections – specialising in a. Communications b. Indigenous history c. La Perouse’s six-week visit (26 January – 10 March). Randwick Council hosts Bastille Day (avec...

 Eight riders gathered at St. Ives for this coffee ride to the Corrugated Cafe in Peats Ridge. Actually it was nine riders as there was a young woman checking us out in case she wanted to join us. Needless to say after seeing this all male mob of geriatrics she shot through pretty quickly. The plan was to ride straight to the Corrugated Cafe and not pass GO at the PITS. I dropped in there to check if the mighty "Suitcase" was around and lo and behold he was, with coffee and fag in hand. I rode on to the Peats Ridge Ampol where I filled up with 98 which was 40 cents cheaper than anywhere else en route!!! No cartel???? The rest of the mob arrived at the Corrugated Cafe including Brett on his beautifully turned out Honda 1100F. Coffee and cake were partaken of and much bullshit was shared. Eventually the weather had to interfere when it started raining and all riders beat a hasty retreat home. A very pleasant morning with great company while it lasted. Cheers Alan In case you mi...

  During the week, Rod had called to discuss the weather and to gear me up for a likely limited turn-up to today's ride.  The forecast was for temps of 39deg. And who wants to ride in that?  Well, four of us did!   When the alotted departure time of  10.00am  arrived, the Heathcote Macca's carpark came alive with the sound of BMW exhausts - three triples and a four-pot with me as ride leader on the RT joined by Tony (with the four-pot XR!) and Peter (GSA) - both having travelled two hours from the Northern Beaches for their McMuffin! And Jeff (on another GS) having travelled a similar distance from The Hills district.   So, a ride with four silly buggers! What could go wrong?  Well, nothing actually! We all left on time, arrived on time, we lost nobody enroute and enjoyed solving real-life issues over coffee (grand-children, siblings, and yes, Trump got a mention!).   There aren't a lot of options for 'fun' heading South so the roads were lar...

  With temperatures expected to soar during the day the 9 riders at Berowra were under no illusions regarding the ride comfort wise, it was already quite warm at 9:30am. The suggestion was made of a ride to Spencer via Ebenezer Church on the basis that there was shade at the church and some shade along River and Wisemans Ferry roads. It also should result in a loop to the Pie in time to escape the worst of the heat. Ah the best laid plans of mice and men eh! Naturally the suggestor had other things planned so couldn’t possibly lead such a ride and since I had managed to avoid leading for at least a couple of weeks I put my hand up. Clearly I had learned nothing from the last hot day ride I was on which involved ferries. Anyway, the ride group was all experienced Thursday Riders who knew where Ebenezer Church and Spencer were so I announced a TEC (thanks Alan) to gather up any stragglers but no corner marking because sitting stationary out in the heat just wasn’t on. With that very ...

Thursday morning at Maccas McGraths Hill and filling in for John R whose GS is off the road wai6ng for parts to repair a fuel line issue. Today’s ride is going to be a bit of a zig zagging kind of a ride, something different for the Thursday Riders I’m thinking. Anyhow, it’s 9.10am and the first bike rolls in and it’s Paul M on his GS. By 9.50am we have 15 riders and it’s 6me for a briefing but first we welcome two newbies, Ivor riding his KTM 390 and Peter riding his Hayabusa. The weather appeared overcast at the start, but the forecast was a rather op6mis6c one, no rain, with the sun to come out reaching temperatures of around 35 degrees mid-aQernoon. The briefing suggested a change to the normal exit from Maccas rather than traversing the turf farms we were hiSng the DriQ Way a very straight sec6on; you could be forgiven for thinking you were somewhere between Cobar and Broken Hill. As we were leaving, Andrew T on his Tenere 700 arrives just in 6me to join the ride. We now have 16 r...

9:00 am Sunday 18 February 2024 Sunday is never the best day for a ride going South but the cookie crumbled that way, so I turned up and so did six other riders!   Three of them admitted they already ridden there recently, but they had travelled inside highly-tolled tunnels!  THIS ride would be different, and there could be a test at the end, to check they had been enjoying a well-loved area - a great ride out of Sydney. We followed Ring Road 3 all the way to Blakehurst, right-turn and crossed Tom Ugly’s Bridge, then before reaching Royal National Park, stopped for coffee, lunch supplies and to re-inflate a flat front tyre (mine) – good timing. Order restored, soon joined the Main Highway, past the Tram Museum on our right, then left into Royal National Park, ( no fee if not stopping) enjoying all the “twisties “   stopping briefly for the view south (prior to overcrowded Bald Hill Lookout ), then up to the highway leading to M1 and by-passing all the small town...

I woke up this morning. I thought “that’s a good start”.   I stumbled to the window and looked out over the lake. It was overcast. It was not raining. I thought “ummmm”. I dressed, walked outside, looked at the sky and again thought “ummmm”. It was that sort of day.   There was a WhatsApp message from Rod M. You know Rod, aka “You can take the boy out of the country…” Rod. He’s riding. There was commitment in his message. I had to turn up; never mind the weather.  This was the first sensible use of our WhatsApp site I have seen.   So astride the trusty GS, I dawdled down the M1 under the dank grey skies. It was dry. It was overcast. I turned off the M1 toward Peats Ridge, so that I could ride in and out of the trees and to be out of freeway traffic. The grey skies turned to a gentle wet mist…a drizzle not dissimilar to that around a large waterfall. But you’re not really interested in all that because we’re not even on the ride yet!   At Berowra, 12 good souls t...