Australia Day Weekend – Saturday 25^th January 2002

Saturday morning, bright and sunny and at 9.00 am the fuel line up begins at the Walwa General Store. Taking on the hydro carbon were: Ben (leader), Wayne, Tim, Rob, Danny, Dean, Pete, Liz, Darryl, Renzo, Geoff (rear rider). Then down the road at Tintaldra Dave M, Dave W, Bronwyn and Darryn. An impressive array of machinery and riders numbering sixteen in total.

Let the games begin is called and off we go to do a southern loop of the Snowy Mountains, home to dams and other works, mountains and pipelines, valleys and rivers and most importantly, ROADS of the twisting variety, some smooth, lots rough, and all demanding commitment. As Danny often says, "Ya gotta be committed" as he makes that counter steer arm movement.

Through Tooma and on to Corryong we fly, then around to Khancoban and the start of the steep climb with a stop at the dam. Rob decides to drop his forks through the triple clamps a tad, after fussing over static sag and (all) other suspension settings before the off. Up to Cabramurra for a fuel stop for the shorter range bikes. On this section a contact of the wildlife kind was made by Ben as his foot brake lever and footrest bracket were rearranged by a wallaby intent on crossing in the path of the low flying CBRR. The wallaby was still moving (a bit) as I passed in the rear gunner position but was gone the next day.

Kiandra, on the Snowy Mountains Highway and a turn south towards Adaminaby where some confusion reigned. Some pulled into the toilets on an unscheduled stop and most of the ride followed. Dave M had the R6 reserve light go on and so finished the run to Cooma at a very un-Dave like speed. It seems he may have tipped the bike a little at the toilet stop exposing the sensor which triggers the reserve light and trip meter as the bike only took ~15 litres at Cooma. A leisurely lunch was taken in the busy main street.

On to Dalgety, the country here more open, and then to the “T” junction just out of Jindabyne where I came upon Darryl and Pete corner marking. But Darryl had a very flat rear tyre. Ben gets the message and returns to the scene were 3 repair options are produced. The best by far is the secret New Zealand kit that Pete has. Ben does the insertion thing. A couple of air cylinders gets Darryl about 10-15 pounds and the tyre is finished off at the Chit Thai Cafe/ Service Station at Jindabyne where more fuel, food and drinks are taken. The weather is now very warm indeed but some clouds are gathering on the higher peaks.

The Chit is near the start of the road to Charlotte Pass with its view to Mount Kosciuszko, 2228 m, Australia's highest peak. As rain was threatening only a few hardy souls ventured up, the toll also keeping the numbers down. Ben, Liz, Pete, Renzo and I braved the weather which turned out not too bad with some dry road between the showers and lightning show. We engaged in a quick walk along the boardwalk to check the view across the beginnings of the Snowy River to the peak, still with some dirty snow in patches.

Back on the bikes to return to the Chit and move on to Thredbo where the rain got very heavy and progress became measured indeed. The road through the village was covered in a grey slurry which coated the bikes and offered no traction at all. Renzo noticed the turn off here and went into Thredbo to avoid the mud but found he had to come back to the entry point and so dropped off the ride for a while, popping into my mirrors a little later, bike coated. We regrouped at Tom Groggin, the southern most point of the day's activities.

North on the Alpine Way to Khancoban, more fuel then Dave W, Dave M, Darryn, Neville and Bron went their way to Cudgewa and Corryong. The rest then indulged in that final blast along the open sweeper type road to Walwa, passing a policeman with radar talking to two other bikes. Lucky us.
My rear tyre woes were not helped by the catch up activities being indulged in by the bikes at the rear of the group. Despite being drenched around Thredbo I was dry by Walwa and so into shorts, thongs. Those smartarse New Zealanders who had some sort of cricket win to crow about. At tea, we were joined by the Corryong/Cudgewa group. Drinks, band, and sleep after about 570 km for the day.

Geoff Jones  (Yamaha R1)