14th to the 18th April 2006

Ben rides to Uranquinty solo

Over the Easter long weekend I rode up to see my ‘ol mate Matt at Uranquinty. As luck would have it, he was moving into his new house on that same weekend, so we got to catch up over moving furniture, setting up his stereo (yeah, baby!) and generally doing stuff….

As more luck would have it, a Goldwing club was having their AGM in Wagga Wagga that same weekend, so I was in with a good chance to see some more Goldwing’s at their show and shine.

Because I had a little more time to get there and not a lot of time to come home, I decided to take the long way there…

Ballarat -> Waubra -> the back roads past Mt. Beckworth to Evansford -> Talbot -> Maryborough -> Dunolly -> Llanelly -> Bridgewater -> Serpentine -> Durham Ox ->Kerang -> Barham -> Wakool -> Deniliquin -> Conargo -> Jerilderie -> Urana -> Lockhart -> Tootool -> The Rock -> Uranquinty.

659km in 8 hours. Nice ride. I wanted to see what it was like to spend a day in the seat, and mission accomplished, the only stops were for fuel and bladder. I can eat and drink very comfortably on the bike, so I eat on the wing… so to speak.

This time I took a camera….. did not take as many photos as I intended, so I will really need to focus on that next time, slow down, stop and take more photos, I really enjoy it, so make it part of the tip…. anyway, here are some of the photos I took.

  
  
  
  
 

I did not get any photos of the way home. I was on a mission to just get home. The first part of the trip was nice and relaxing. We went though The Rock, then some back roads (I really do love these the most!) to Urangeline East (heh, look it up!), then south to Walbundrie, down to Howlong, then at Chiltern I got on the dreaded Hume Freeway…. Nothing free about it, everyone that drives it pays in some form or another. Sadly, many have paid with their lives….Anyway, this time I survived, but doing this road on the end of a long long weekend is not fun. I got off at Seymour just in time, it was really getting crazy! This put me at Puckapunyal at dusk, I was a bit tense looking out for roos but did not see a one. Then things got dark around Emu Flat, the sun set, the wind came up big time and the general riding conditions got pretty bad. I am really struggling getting enough light out the front of my bike for any speed over 80kph. Thankfully I picked up a car that was heading my way, I pulled over, let him pass, then got in behind him….he must have known the road pretty good because he set his cruise control for 104kph and that’s what we did, up hill, down hill, and around corners. I rode in his cone of light, it was fantastic! Sadly he turned off before Daylesford, so I just slogged my way home….. in the rain….heh, “It was a dark and stormy night…” 530km in 6.5 hours…. you know your alive! The bike never missed a beat. I took more stuff than I needed, so could have done it lighter, but these are the things you learn.

So, there you have it. It was a really great trip.