Highlights Melbourne Cup Weekend - Towong 30^th Oct – 2^nd Nov 2010

John Rousseaux (rear)	Honda CBR1000	Ha Du	Honda CBR600
Ian Payne	Honda CBR1000	Ben Fuller	Suzuki GSXR1000
Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000	Rob Jones	Suzuki GSXR1000
Peter Jones	Honda CBR1000	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX10
Boyd Witzerman	Honda CBR1000	Dave Ward	Kawasaki ZX6
Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000	Rob Langer	KTM 950 SE
Kurt McEnaney	Honda VTR1000	Henry Wright	Triumph 675
Ron Johnston	Honda CB1000F	Kate Stewart	4WD
Ben Warden (lead)	Honda CBR954	Barb Peters	Car
Pina Garasi	Honda CBR600		19 starters

Two hours before the meeting and the magazines aren’t printed and I am just starting to write. Let’s see how far I get in one hour …

Nineteen starters was a terrific turnout considering the absolutely woeful forecast leading up to the Saturday departure at Yarck. The Bureau of Met was forecasting a weather “event” with “torrential” rain likely to fall, anywhere from 25 mm to 200 mm. Well, Saturday was certainly wet from Whitfield on, with low cloud in the hills leading up to Whitfield. The forecast was enough to scare off a couple of starters – Rob Jones’ mates and Pierre Ong. Ern also pulled out with family commitments. The good thing is that Sarah and Ron, our hosts at Towong, have provided a part refund – a totally unexpected bonus. In fact, they were very generous with their time and commitment of service to us.

The good news is that the wet weather remarkably disappeared from Sunday onwards. But the ominous looking clouds over Khancoban on Sunday morning were enough to scare off Rob Jones and Ben Fuller. With a strong wind the roads were rapidly drying and we had no rain for the rest of the day. Rob and Ben even went for a lazy 350 km ride.

The group was distributed across three locations with Rob Langer, Rob Jones, Ben Fuller, Ha Du, Boyd Witzerman and Kurt McEnaney in the Khancoban Pub accommodation; Ian Payne, Paul Southwell and Dave Ward in motel rooms in Corryong, and the remaining 10 in the Towong bed and breakfast. Each night we agreed where and when to regroup – for instance, Khancoban servo, 9.30 am leave.

Boyd got off the Spirit of Tasmania that Saturday morning and Cliff chauffeured him to Yarck.

Before I forget, here is the route for the weekend, much like planned on the web, except we did swap Day 2 and Day 3 to avoid the potential wet roads, heading north on Day 2 chasing the sun.

Sat 30^th : Melbourne, Yarck, Mansfield, Whitfield, Myrtleford, Rosewhite Rd, Happy Valley Rd, Tangambalanga Road, Tallangatta, Granya Gap, Walwa, Tintaldra, Towong. 434 from Yarck

Due to the rain we chopped out the loop down to Mitta Mitta and Dartmouth Dam. Despite the rain, the road surface was extremely grippy (Pina’s incident the exception – see later). As everyone had new tyres, progress was still rapid and the rain was only really a problem for those who did not have proper wet weather protection – Henry – no waterproof pants (a decision he deliberately took to save room) and Peter Jones who was more comfortable without them.

At Towong we had various drying facilities so by the next morning everyone was back in dry gear. I suffered a little when the pot belly wooden fire was fired up to the max to perform drying duties. It raised the room temperature by about 10 degrees above the outside ambient temperature and another ten degrees near the ceiling where I was sleeping in the loft bed. In the end I slept on the floor, opened the windows and had weird dreams and a generally rough night.

Sun 31^st: Towong, Khancoban, Cabramurra, Elliot Way (Sue City), Tumbarumba, Rosewood Road, Tumut, Bondo, Tumorama, Adjungbilly, near Gundagai, Tumut, Rosewood Road, Tumbarumba, Jingellic, Walwa, Towong. 554 km

That was the plan but we were foiled by a huge tree fallen across the road half way to Cabramurra and so I did the route in reverse up to Tumbarumba. My wallaby friends at the gate were there to greet me as per every time I visit. Amazingly, I didn’t hit any wildlife on this trip though I nearly cleaned up a galah. The ground was so wet that we saw a couple of turtles crossing the road on different days. One year we saw hundreds of very small ones. With the grass over a meter high and seeding, the Major Mitchell cockatoos and galahs were a force to be reckoned with, lining the roads and feasting on the heavy grain heads, toppled over with their own weight. A lot of cockies had dirty bibs as they become covered in mud.

The ride ended up being 630 km long and we arrived back late. It was unanimously thought to be a fantastic ride with the roads being in exceptional condition everywhere. Even the road out to Bondo had worn smooth offering even more grip. Dave had Pina on the back on the ZX6 and was using every last rev of the 16,000 available.

Kate had fallen down the stairs and twisted her ankle and was getting around with a stick. John had had a rest day luckily and was able to attend to her needs and keep her safe.

That night we all ended up down in the pub for a meal, commuting to and fro in the blue van provided by our hosts. This has become a tradition and despite two vehicles available for ferrying everyone to the pub, the preference was the blue van.

In the pub we met Cindy Lee and her boyfriend Steve and the deal to transport Pina’s crashed bike back to Melbourne was done. See later for more info.

Mon 1^st: Towong, Khancoban, Alpine Way (Tom Groggin, Dead Horse Gap), Thredbo, Jindabyne, Charlotte's Pass, Jindabyne, Dalgetty, Berridale, Adaminaby, Kiandra, Cabramurra, Khancoban, Towong. 480 km

See Henry’s article for his impressions of the day on his naked 675 Triumph. Amazingly I thought the day was completely dry but having no fairing certainly seems to make you more attuned to the slightest amount of rain. Again a great day with some very exciting riding mixed up with the Huns and another group of BMs and Jap bikes. Two kilometers of downpour on the Alpine way equates to one minutes riding; barely even worth mentioning! And the last 5 km up to Charlotte Pass were in light rain. Three minutes later and you are back on dry roads again.

Tue 2^nd: Towong, Walwa, Granya Gap, Tallangatta, Tangambalanga Rd, Happy Valley Rd, Rosewhite Road, Myrtleford, Whitfield, Mansfield, Yarck. 495 km to Yarck.

Home by 5 pm, front Pilot Pure destroyed. That is the second Pure that has worn very fast, particularly considering the rear Pilot Road II 2CT was less than half worn and not “dripping” rubber like the front Pure. Other riders were seeing similar wear rates on the Pures. Rob Jones was wearing the older Pilot Power and it was wearing very well – like they always did. Note: purchasing tyres directly from America is turning out to be a very attractive proposition with the Australian Dollar on par with the US dollar. Speak to Paul Southwell for more information. His latest purchase was five tyres.

I took Wednesday off and changed the front tyre.

Overall the weekend was a huge success with only a couple of minor incidents. Misho did incur a speeding fine which could prove awkward but he is resourceful.

The Corner Marking fell over on Day 1 near Tallangatta and we lost Ha for a period. Alas, the excitement of Pina’s crash meant our new Tasmanian friend left the corner to tell me the news. I sent him back but in that short period Ha shot through. No damage, just she continued a long way before figuring out something was wrong and coming back. We all learnt from the error.

All bikes performed admirably, modern machinery 100% reliable. No issues with mechanical breakdowns, flat tyres or stretched chains. Though another day would have seen tyres a major concern for various people including Peter Jones who destroyed a new rear tyre in 4 days, the first day mainly wet!

The drought breaking rains have produced some spectacular sights. Lake Hume is now at 100% (2% last year) and is overflowing at the weir, the first time in 10 years.

Thanks to Barb Peters who looked after the luggage carrying duties for a few of us – much appreciated. She also supplied breakfast for a few, reducing the pressure to eat at Khancoban and its long delays. Bringing your own cereal or other breakfast food is the way to go.

Brilliant ride with no major incidents. Fantastic roads and great company, often leaving us in stitches of laughter, tears rolling down my cheeks. My hour is up.

Ben Warden