The world was already flooded with light from a hot sun as I made my way to the Shell at Moore Park, it was 7AM. We rolled into a relatively empty Berowra and collected the motley bunch together. When the dust settled, we were (Hope i didnt miss anyone ) –
HarryD – BMW K1200R
ConRod - Yamaha Zeal250
Pizza - SV650
Dan – Blackbird
Tony (Dan’s mate) – VTR1000
Andy - Diavel
George – Daytona 675R
Mario – R1
Chief – CBR250R
Blaze – Street Triple
Gabriel – VFR800
Luke – Ninja 1000
Mick – GS650F
Seen006 – CBR250RR
Blackster – ZX-6R
Browny – Blackbird
Wayne – Blackbird
Pete – Z1000
And we set off down the OldPac. I lead the biker snake at a relaxed pace, enjoying the twisties and the lack of traffic. After Mooney Mooney, the ConRod hit the front and revelled in the honour of leading the pack. It was a steady, comfortable pace and before long, we piled into Jerry’s at Kulnura for much needed coffee and b’fast. Browny joined us here, which was worrying in itself but even more worrying was the presence of 2 HWP cars. After enjoying a leisurely bfast with plenty of we took off to ensure we stayed ahead of the popo and not behind. I followed Luke & Andy out of Jerry’s and we quickly made time and caught up with the lead pack, buzzing unsuspecting Mick, Chief and Pete in the process . I was really enjoying the brisk pace of Luke and Andy when suddenly something hit my left hand and I noticed my newly installed bar-end mirror hanging limply and about to fall off. I hit the anchors and pulled over to adjust it but it was only the start of my mirror woes for this trip . I only had 1 bar-end mirror on the bike and I knew it wasn’t the best placement but I wasn’t expecting it to come apart so early. Anyway, I carried on, we re-grouped at Wollombi and after crossing the dirt section, I’d just started revving it on the long sweepers when the fucking mirror came off again. This time I just took the fucker off and stuffed it under the seat and went mirror-less, racer style! Anyway, I didn’t let the lack of mirrors deter me from enjoying the fantastic sweepers coming into Broke. I love that section of road. The surface is smooth and grippy, the corners are wide and sweeping and visibility is endless so you can actually see round the corner which allows you to take much wider (and faster )) entries into corners. I caught up with the group just as the last folks pulled into Broke where there was already animated discussion in progess about how fukn cool the sweepers were!
We re-fuelled and set off for the 10mile. I had already declared to everyone that I was mirror-less so any punters looking to overtake me should be careful as I won’t be expecting them. That must’ve scared the cool kids as no-one overtook me on the whole 10mile, I should use that trick more often to stay in front . Andy was leading into the 10mile, followed by Wayne and then me. I don’t know who or how many were behind me as I cudn’t see! Andy was setting a cracking pace, moving around the bike to compensate for the limited lean angle (compared to a sportsbike). No matter how many times I’ve follow Andy on the Diavel, it’s always a bit weird to see him moving around so much on the bike coz it’s not the kind of bike you’d see people hanging off of. Talking of hanging, I was just about hanging onto the end of Wayne and was enjoying it immensely. The riding was fast and furious for me and involved lots of hard braking, peg scraping and gunning it out of corners. This is not usually the kind of riding I enjoy, preferring not to hang off too much and concentrate on being smooth through corners but this was bloody awesome fun right now and I decided I could leave smoothness for another time. Wayne, meanwhile, looked smooth as silk and was all over Andy’s back wheel when Andy wisely kicked him through and then Mr Confused left us dazed and confused in his wake as he made the big bird appear like a lightweight supersports, his knees sticking way out in the wind occasionally dragging along the tarmac, the trademark Ventura sail-bag bouncing along merrily. We were well and truly Houdinied by the soft-spoken and hard-riding Central coaster. We caught up with him again a few kays down the road when he’d backed off. Later he said to us “I went up ahead and then said to myself, I came to ride with the group so what the fuk am I doing out ahead on my own, I could do that any other weekend”. Glad you backed off mate, it’s always good to ride with you . We reached the turn-around point and slowly the rest of the pack roared into sight – Luke, Mario, Pizza…..Gabriel, Conrod…Dan, Browny, Tony…..they kept coming and coming…and I though Fuck, how many of us are there?! Finally Blackster & Sean brought up the rear with Sean’s loud 250 downshifting so many times while slowing down that Andy remarked “How many gears does that bloody bike have?!”. We were quite a sight with 18 awesome bikes parked neatly in a line on Putty Road .
We set off back up Putty Road, one of the best things about the 10mile turn around ride is that you get to do the 10mile twice . The return trip was different, a lot less hectic,I was riding alone and there wasn’t a single vehicle along the whole stretch to spoil my ride. Wayne buzzed me going round an open right hander, which I wasn’t expecting at all, having no mirrors and all but it wasn’t scary and I continued along my merry way. I eventually caught up to Gabriel and he was puttering along at a decent pace so I stayed put behind to observe his rear end . He certainly seemed very comfortable and sounds like the suspension work is paying off in enhanced confidence in his riding. Pizza and Mario swapped bikes as we truned off Putty Road towards Broke and Pizza buzzed Luke at an unmentionable speed and Luke took off in hot pursuit, probably thinking that some thief was running away with Mario’s bike. I followed Luke into Broke and it was great watching him stretching (not parting thankfully) Ivy’s legs.
It was stinking hot by now and leathers came off in a hurry as we all huddled under the shade of the giant tree at Broke Service station. We spent an enjoyable and leisurely hour at lunch and while the softies took refuge in the comfort the air-conditioned bistro, the real hard men of the north spread out under the tree in various poses of leisure and exhaustion. The second lap of 10mile was quickly cancelled and we set off back to base with visions of home and ice cold beer. I set off in the middle of the pack but found myself leading by the time we entered the tight stuff before Wollombi and firkin hell I enjoyed that section . The road is narrow, hemmed in by lush green vegetation and twists and turns around corners that are blind as bats. It’s also bumpy and has leafs and vegetation strewn across it at times. Really challenging and heaps of fun when it comes together. Halfway through, as I came round a left hander, I saw a black R1 parked on the opposite side of the road, which looked like it had taken a serious tumble. My heart skipped a beat as I thought, Oh Fuck, Mario! But thankfully it was some other bloke’s turn today and I carried on. Browny was somewhere behind me and as I didn’t have mirrors I don’t know if I was holding him up or losing him in the distance but I think he enjoyed that section as much as I did. Wayne walked upto me as we pulled up at the lights for the dirt section and said his goodbye, he was taking off back to Newcastle.
I brought up the rear leaving Wollombi and followed Sean for a bit. He seemed to be going well, taking corners nicely and generally not doing anything stupid so I carried on and hung behind Blackster for a bit who looked pretty dashing on the sexy ZX-6R. They do look like a neat package, Blackster and the feisty Ninja and I hope we see them both on many more SR rides . Some of us peeled off the highway while the rest of us regrouped at Road Warriors on the oldpac. Stories of the day were thrown around and we cooled down with drinks while letting the sweat evaporate off our bodies. At one point, a loud bike-scream pierced the air and we saw a guy pass by pulling a massive mono on his sportsbike all the way. We also saw 3 cop cars and 2 cop bikes in the 20mins we were there so we took it pretty easy on our way out, not that the oldpac is a place for shenanigans anyway . It was a long, hot and tiring slog through traffic to get home but it was so fucken worth it!!
HarryD – BMW K1200R
ConRod - Yamaha Zeal250
Pizza - SV650
Dan – Blackbird
Tony (Dan’s mate) – VTR1000
Andy - Diavel
George – Daytona 675R
Mario – R1
Chief – CBR250R
Blaze – Street Triple
Gabriel – VFR800
Luke – Ninja 1000
Mick – GS650F
Seen006 – CBR250RR
Blackster – ZX-6R
Browny – Blackbird
Wayne – Blackbird
Pete – Z1000
And we set off down the OldPac. I lead the biker snake at a relaxed pace, enjoying the twisties and the lack of traffic. After Mooney Mooney, the ConRod hit the front and revelled in the honour of leading the pack. It was a steady, comfortable pace and before long, we piled into Jerry’s at Kulnura for much needed coffee and b’fast. Browny joined us here, which was worrying in itself but even more worrying was the presence of 2 HWP cars. After enjoying a leisurely bfast with plenty of we took off to ensure we stayed ahead of the popo and not behind. I followed Luke & Andy out of Jerry’s and we quickly made time and caught up with the lead pack, buzzing unsuspecting Mick, Chief and Pete in the process . I was really enjoying the brisk pace of Luke and Andy when suddenly something hit my left hand and I noticed my newly installed bar-end mirror hanging limply and about to fall off. I hit the anchors and pulled over to adjust it but it was only the start of my mirror woes for this trip . I only had 1 bar-end mirror on the bike and I knew it wasn’t the best placement but I wasn’t expecting it to come apart so early. Anyway, I carried on, we re-grouped at Wollombi and after crossing the dirt section, I’d just started revving it on the long sweepers when the fucking mirror came off again. This time I just took the fucker off and stuffed it under the seat and went mirror-less, racer style! Anyway, I didn’t let the lack of mirrors deter me from enjoying the fantastic sweepers coming into Broke. I love that section of road. The surface is smooth and grippy, the corners are wide and sweeping and visibility is endless so you can actually see round the corner which allows you to take much wider (and faster )) entries into corners. I caught up with the group just as the last folks pulled into Broke where there was already animated discussion in progess about how fukn cool the sweepers were!
We re-fuelled and set off for the 10mile. I had already declared to everyone that I was mirror-less so any punters looking to overtake me should be careful as I won’t be expecting them. That must’ve scared the cool kids as no-one overtook me on the whole 10mile, I should use that trick more often to stay in front . Andy was leading into the 10mile, followed by Wayne and then me. I don’t know who or how many were behind me as I cudn’t see! Andy was setting a cracking pace, moving around the bike to compensate for the limited lean angle (compared to a sportsbike). No matter how many times I’ve follow Andy on the Diavel, it’s always a bit weird to see him moving around so much on the bike coz it’s not the kind of bike you’d see people hanging off of. Talking of hanging, I was just about hanging onto the end of Wayne and was enjoying it immensely. The riding was fast and furious for me and involved lots of hard braking, peg scraping and gunning it out of corners. This is not usually the kind of riding I enjoy, preferring not to hang off too much and concentrate on being smooth through corners but this was bloody awesome fun right now and I decided I could leave smoothness for another time. Wayne, meanwhile, looked smooth as silk and was all over Andy’s back wheel when Andy wisely kicked him through and then Mr Confused left us dazed and confused in his wake as he made the big bird appear like a lightweight supersports, his knees sticking way out in the wind occasionally dragging along the tarmac, the trademark Ventura sail-bag bouncing along merrily. We were well and truly Houdinied by the soft-spoken and hard-riding Central coaster. We caught up with him again a few kays down the road when he’d backed off. Later he said to us “I went up ahead and then said to myself, I came to ride with the group so what the fuk am I doing out ahead on my own, I could do that any other weekend”. Glad you backed off mate, it’s always good to ride with you . We reached the turn-around point and slowly the rest of the pack roared into sight – Luke, Mario, Pizza…..Gabriel, Conrod…Dan, Browny, Tony…..they kept coming and coming…and I though Fuck, how many of us are there?! Finally Blackster & Sean brought up the rear with Sean’s loud 250 downshifting so many times while slowing down that Andy remarked “How many gears does that bloody bike have?!”. We were quite a sight with 18 awesome bikes parked neatly in a line on Putty Road .
We set off back up Putty Road, one of the best things about the 10mile turn around ride is that you get to do the 10mile twice . The return trip was different, a lot less hectic,I was riding alone and there wasn’t a single vehicle along the whole stretch to spoil my ride. Wayne buzzed me going round an open right hander, which I wasn’t expecting at all, having no mirrors and all but it wasn’t scary and I continued along my merry way. I eventually caught up to Gabriel and he was puttering along at a decent pace so I stayed put behind to observe his rear end . He certainly seemed very comfortable and sounds like the suspension work is paying off in enhanced confidence in his riding. Pizza and Mario swapped bikes as we truned off Putty Road towards Broke and Pizza buzzed Luke at an unmentionable speed and Luke took off in hot pursuit, probably thinking that some thief was running away with Mario’s bike. I followed Luke into Broke and it was great watching him stretching (not parting thankfully) Ivy’s legs.
It was stinking hot by now and leathers came off in a hurry as we all huddled under the shade of the giant tree at Broke Service station. We spent an enjoyable and leisurely hour at lunch and while the softies took refuge in the comfort the air-conditioned bistro, the real hard men of the north spread out under the tree in various poses of leisure and exhaustion. The second lap of 10mile was quickly cancelled and we set off back to base with visions of home and ice cold beer. I set off in the middle of the pack but found myself leading by the time we entered the tight stuff before Wollombi and firkin hell I enjoyed that section . The road is narrow, hemmed in by lush green vegetation and twists and turns around corners that are blind as bats. It’s also bumpy and has leafs and vegetation strewn across it at times. Really challenging and heaps of fun when it comes together. Halfway through, as I came round a left hander, I saw a black R1 parked on the opposite side of the road, which looked like it had taken a serious tumble. My heart skipped a beat as I thought, Oh Fuck, Mario! But thankfully it was some other bloke’s turn today and I carried on. Browny was somewhere behind me and as I didn’t have mirrors I don’t know if I was holding him up or losing him in the distance but I think he enjoyed that section as much as I did. Wayne walked upto me as we pulled up at the lights for the dirt section and said his goodbye, he was taking off back to Newcastle.
I brought up the rear leaving Wollombi and followed Sean for a bit. He seemed to be going well, taking corners nicely and generally not doing anything stupid so I carried on and hung behind Blackster for a bit who looked pretty dashing on the sexy ZX-6R. They do look like a neat package, Blackster and the feisty Ninja and I hope we see them both on many more SR rides . Some of us peeled off the highway while the rest of us regrouped at Road Warriors on the oldpac. Stories of the day were thrown around and we cooled down with drinks while letting the sweat evaporate off our bodies. At one point, a loud bike-scream pierced the air and we saw a guy pass by pulling a massive mono on his sportsbike all the way. We also saw 3 cop cars and 2 cop bikes in the 20mins we were there so we took it pretty easy on our way out, not that the oldpac is a place for shenanigans anyway . It was a long, hot and tiring slog through traffic to get home but it was so fucken worth it!!
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