TRIP 2 – 516km – Home to Lithgow & return.

"I have been wondering lately about the old saying about using the right tool for the right job, and also what would be the opposite of the saying about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut?"

Me, during this ride.

Wednesday 12/09/2012

I leave home at around 8:30am and head southwest along the tar and stop after 23km to refuel my spare fuel container at Freemans Waterhole. The man in the fuel station asks where I am going and I say Lithgow and back and he laughs and says it’s a long way on that, pointing out to the Postie. I have time I reply. I continue through Cooranbong and am soon up into the Watagan Mountains on unsealed, corrugated gravel roads. The corrugations shake the GPS loose from its mount and I am forced to stop and secure it tighter with a rubber band. I turn off the main forest track at The Pines and head towards The Basin on Walkers Ridge Forest Road. Once again the GPS proves invaluable as I simply follow my preset black line and ignore all of the tracks which fork off left and right into the surrounding forest. I pop out of the forest onto George Downes Drive at The Letter A and follow the route I traversed on my test run some seven weeks ago for about 7km before I once again turn off onto the gravel and begin following the Great Northern Road. I only travel about 6km before I stop for morning tea in the Mogo Picnic Ground, which I have all to myself. This point marks the one third the distance mark. I am now travelling through Yengo National Park and the descent to the riverflats below is a slow going steep twisting and turning affair. As I near the bottom off the hill and speed up, I come to grief on a tight corner where deep gravel sends my front wheel away from under me and the bike and I slide along on our sides in the gravel. It’s a relatively low speed get off however so there is not much harm done except for a broken front brake lever. I motor into St Albans where I stop and splint it with electrical tape. From St Albans, I am on the flats and following the Macdonald River downstream to its junction with the Hawkesbury River, opposite Wisemans Ferry, and I realise that the crash has made the throttle sticky so that when I take my right hand off the throttle we still barrel along at speed. Was this a handy feature or a dangerous one? I couldn’t decide. I travel upstream along the northern bank of the Hawkesbury, drifting away from the river along a ridge, before a steep switchback brings me right alongside the river again. Again I court disaster, as at one stage I drift in some deep gravel and as I instinctively try and plant my feet on the ground to steady myself, I find that my right hand bootlace has looped around the kickstart. Mental note to self, elastic sided boots for next trip. I cross the Colo River at its junction with the Hawkesbury at Lower Portland and begin following the Colo along its southern bank, very peaceful and very scenic. At Upper Colo I leave the river and climb up onto another big ridge, surrounded on both sides by Wollemi National Park. Around 3pm I toy with the idea of a bush camp, but realising it is only 35km to Bilpin, I decide to press onwards to and through the tiny settlement at Mountain Lagoon, past my three quarters of the way distance point and pop out onto the Bells Line of Road in Bilpin. After some quick reconnaissance I decide to camp in Bilpin Park, which looks to be a bit of a grey nomad stop, but before I settle in it is a quick 11km dash back along Bells Line of Road to the pub at Kurrajong Heights for a pair of King Browns. Back in Bilpin Park I roll out my swag and then realise I am right by some kind of stink pipe ventilation thang, and relocate further into the reserve. Dinner is heat and eat noodles and my company is the radio. I am completely tired and a nearby dog barks incessantly for three hours and not even socks stuffed in my ears can soothe the noise. Eventually all is quiet and I drift off.

 

Distance = 206km

Max Speed = 79.0km/h

Moving Time = 5h 30mins

Moving Average = 37.5km/h
 

Thursday 13/09/2012

After a quick pack up, I am back on the Bells line of Road for only 2km before I turn off onto Bowens Creek Road, ignoring the No Through Road sign and proceed once more beyond civilisation. The road quickly deteriorates and I promise myself I won’t go into anything that I can’t get back out of. The road is literally cut into the cliff in places with a vertical drop on my right hand side. I travel for one kilometre and then the road switches back in the opposite direction for another kilometre and then does the same again, all the time slowly descending to Bowens Creek, an amazing example of road building. Superb Lyrebirds cross my path at two different locations. As I cross the bridge at the bottom I bump into a Council work crew who are installing a new gate to restrict access to the road I have just travelled. We chat for a while and they even invite me to stop for lunch. I decline and head off up a similar, although better maintained, road to Mount Irvine where I rejoin the bitumen and pass through Mount Wilson. All very pretty, avenues of exotic trees and then avenues of native trees and then forests of tree ferns and manicured secluded acerages. I rejoin the Bells Line of Road for my last blast into Lithgow and am buffeted by incredibly strong winds. As I chug uphills and then fly downhills, all the time watching my mirrors to juggle the upcoming traffic I wonder as to the appropriateness of my chosen steed. Is 110cc really appropriate for journeys such as this? Certainly I am out of my depth on this road. As I curse my lack of power, my next ascent seems even more pitiful than the last and I take refuge on the shoulder, eventually chugging to a stop near the crest. My main tank has run dry. I flick to reserve, restart the bike and descend into Lithgow. First stop the bike shop where I buy a replacement brake lever, and then to my father's uncle's house. Made it !

 

Distance = 57.1km
Max Speed = 74.8km/h
Moving Time = 1h 56mins
Moving Average = 29.3km/h

 

Saturday 15/09/2012

After a day and a half off the road, spending time with family, I am up at 6:30am and after a light breakfast I make my farewells and head off to fuel up. My fathers uncle escorts me to the edge of town and points out the back way out of town which takes me through Hartley Vale and up to Bell, where I rejoin the Bells Line of Road. It is very cold and I stop at the heavy vehicle weigh station and put on some more clothes. I cover the forty kilomtres to Kurrajong Heights pretty quickly, but suffer the same old fast road shortcomings, mainly due to my inability to keep up with traffic speed. I stop at the Bellbird Hill Lookout, just prior to the big descent down into Kurrajong, and am treated to the spectacle of the release of a truckfull of homing pigeons. Down I go into Kurrajong, where I branch off onto Comleroy Road, then Blaxlands Ridge Road which delivers me back to Lower Portland where I rejoin my outward bound route and get off the bitumen for the first time today which slows me down. I have a bit of trouble with my “rocket launchers” as one keeps slipping down on the rough gravel roads and I stop near the Webbs Creek Ferry opposite Wisemans Ferry for a cup of tea and a bit of an adjustment. I continue on, retracing my steps back to St Albans and then on gravel for 40kms back up to George Downes Drive at Bucketty. I continue on and turn off onto the gravel again at The Letter A and head back through the Watagan Mountains to Cooranbong where it is sealed road all the way back to home. Needless to say I am knackered and it’s an early night for me.

 

Distance = 253km
Max Speed = 78.8km/h
Moving Time = 5h 37mins
Moving Average = 44.9km/h
 

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