The Western Loop
The Western Loop
After getting up at first light last Wednesday, I made my way along Mona Vale Rd and onto the M2 / M7. As it is late Autumn here in Oz, it was not unexpected that the air temperature was a chilly 2*C / 34*F.
After taking the Richmond Road exit I made my way to Richmond and onto the Bells Line of Road.
The Bells Line of Road used to be a quiet 2 lane country road that wound its way over the Blue Mountains. It used to be in reasonable condition and was an enjoyable ride, even if it was longer / slower than the nearby Great Western Hwy.
It is still a 2 lane road but with increased traffic, and as a result of the abnormally high rainfalls we received in 2023 and early 2024, it now has significant road damage and even some landslides.
So much so that there are now two major road work areas, each several kilometres long, reducing the road to a single lane with stop / go traffic light controls.
You can be lucky and get the green lights at both work areas and not have to stop at all, or you can be unlucky and get the two red lights and have to wait 15~20 minutes at each work area.
I was half-lucky in that I got the green light at the first work area but got the red light at the second work area. Oh well, a 15-minute delay wasn't too bad, although standing in the morning cold while everyone else was sitting in the warm comfy cars did not fill me with much joy.
Once past the two work areas, I made good time in reaching Bell, where I took the turn-off to the Darling Causeway and onto the Great Western Hwy, then down Victoria Pass and along the highway to South Bowenfels.
My pre-ride Googling had helped me identify the location of the South Bowenfels Catholic Cemetery, but I was not sure if there was a suitable sign at the location, and regrettably, after a fruitless 15 minutes of riding around in circles, no sign was found.
However, the Grand Tour rules cover this eventuality by stating that we are to do our best to prove that we were at the location and that a latitude / longitude GPS picture with a rally flag and motorcycle may be used as a last resort.
To achieve this requirement, I used an app on my phone that embeds the Lat / Long co-ords into a photo's pixels, rather than just using the photo's metadata.
I also took a leaf from the Iron Butt Association's certificate ride verification method by obtaining a Digital Business Receipt which shows the town name.
From South Bowenfels, I made my way to the Wallerawang Bakery for my morning coffee. Usually, I also enjoy one of their terrific rock cakes with my coffee but decided to try one of their Portuguese tarts this time instead.
From Wallerawang, I rode along the Castlereagh Hwy to Mudgee, a distance of about 120 km. The sun was shining, the breeze was soft and there was very little traffic. Perfect riding conditions.
After grabbing a quick burger for lunch and refuelling the bike in Mudgee, I took Goolma Rd to Wellington, a distance of about 90 km. Again the sun was shining, the breeze was soft and there was very little traffic.
The highlight of this leg was the huge Wellington Solar Farm. At the moment, it is only 40% completed but when it is finished (soon) it will cover an area of approx. 13 sq km / 5 sq mi.
An interesting side note. Sheep farmers are more than happy to have solar panel arrays installed on their land as it generates additional revenue for the farmer and still allows the sheep to graze under the panels. A classic win-win situation.
Cattle ranchers are not so willing as the solar panels are not high enough off the ground for the cattle to graze. If they raise the panels high enough for the cattle, then the panels are too high for the service electricians to work on them.
My original plan had been to push on to the town of Molong, about a 45-minute ride away, but as a result of the 2023 rain events, when the Boree Hollow and the Molong Creeks flooded, many of the buildings in Molong suffered ground-floor damage and much of the tourist accommodation is still being repaired. So much so that I could not book a room in town for the night.
The next town on my route after Molong would have been Forbes, about 2 hours ride away, but this would have meant riding on isolated country roads at dusk/night, something that I prefer to avoid due to the increased risk of a kangaroo strike.
As Wellington had not been impacted by the '23 floods, there was plenty of suitable accommodation available, so after an early check-in at my motel, I made my way to the nearby Maccas for a chocolate sundae ice cream, and just sat in the sun and watched the traffic go by.
Usually, I like to make an early start to a day's ride, say 07:00 clutch out, and then have breakfast around 8:30 somewhere along the way, but as the weather forecast for Thursday was for the possibility of an early morning fog, followed by a bright and sunny day, I planned for breakfast in Wellington and a late start instead.
By 09:00, most of the morning fog had burnt off, and it was an easy ride to Forbes, and from Forbes, it was a quick ride down the Mid Western Hwy to the bonus town of West Wyalong.
My pe-ride planning using Google Street View had identified a suitable bonus sign at the Services and Citizen's Club, so that is where I headed. There was easy street parking outside the club, albeit in a Bus Zone, and I had a clear view of the bonus sign. Unfortunately, I fell into the trap of not properly checking the bonus photo after I took it, and this is the result.
If you zoom in, you can just about make out the town name.
But Lady Luck had not deserted me completely, as on the way out of town, I caught a view of this " Welcome " sign in my bike's mirrors, and for some unknown reason, I did a quick u-turn and captured this bonus photo as well as the Service Club photo.
From West Wyallong, I headed to Temora, approx 70 km away along Goldfields Way.
This road has only 2 corners. After about 35 km, there is a left-hand corner as you enter the village of Barmedman and a right-hand corner about 300 metres further along. Then it is another 35 km to Temora.
Why the road builders put these two corners in the middle of a straight road is beyond me as it would have been easier to just leave both them out.
From Temora, I made my way along Burley Griffin Way and the Hume Hwy to the town of Yass for my next overnight stay.
The weather forecast for Friday was very much like Thursday, as in morning fog followed by a sunny day, so I again planned for a sleep-in and late breakfast before departing at 09:00 and heading home via the Hume Hwy.
Unfortunately, as Yass sits in a valley surrounded by hills, the fog was heavier than in Wellington and I knew that it would linger around for longer.
I had expected this level of fog and had assumed that once I crested the hills near Yass I would be in clear sunshine, which is what happened. After riding for about 10 minutes, the fog cleared and rays of bright sunlight broke through.
However, as I approached Goulburn, about 1 hour's ride to the east of Yass, I entered an unexpected area of low cloud / freezing fog which lasted for about 30 minutes (40 km).
According to my bike's gauges, the air temperature was around 1*C (33*F) and with the humidity level around 99% the water vapour was freezing on my bike's screen and my riding glasses, making for difficult riding conditions.
The result was that visibility was down to maybe 30 metres / 30 yards, and beyond that, it was a white-out.
Significantly reducing my speed on the highway was a possible solution, but there was a real risk that a car could rear-end me in the fog.
Another idea was to stop at the side of the highway until the cloud/fog dispersed, but as there was no break-down lane, there was some risk with this idea.
My thinking was that with all the truck's marker lights on, following traffic would see him before they saw me and that this would (hopefully) provide me with a "safe" envelope.
By the time I reached Marulan, the fog had started to thin out, so I pulled into the north-bound truck stop, refuelled the bike and headed to the cafe for some hot coffee.
When I left Marulan, the fog/cloud had disbursed and I had a smooth run to the outskirts of Sydney where the Hume Hwy splits into the M7 or the M5.
My usual preference is for the M7 but there had been a multi-vehicle crash and extensive delays were happening, so I took the M5 instead.
The M5 runs in an East/West direction on the south side of Sydney and feeds into the Airport Tunnel, then the Domain Tunnel and then the Harbour Tunnel before exiting onto the Warringah Freeway, which ultimately leads to the Northern Beaches area and my home.
I am always amused by the signs at the entrances of these tunnels that advise motorists to wind up their windows and put their air-con on re-cycle.
Last time I checked my bike does not have either of these features, so I guess the Dept of Main Roads either doesn't care about motorcyclists or they think we can tolerate the polluted air in the tunnels that car drivers can't.
Mind you, the upside to breathing all the polluted air is the glorious sound a sport-bikes exhaust makes while travelling inside a long tunnel. Music to my ears.
All up, I covered around 1,160 km on this trip with 2 bonus photos, and at that rate I doubt very much that I will achieve a podium finish for this year's Grand Tour.
My plan (fingers crossed) is to get one more GT ride in during June, before the worst of our Winter hits in July & August.
In the meantime, " keep the rubber side down, the shiny side up, and may your lid never skid "
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