Long Ride - Day 7



Imagine how little I could see.

 Bega to Beechworth (456 kms)

Oh my, how could such a great start to a day turn to plop so quickly?

It started with a great sleep in, followed by left over pizza for breakfast, then leisurely packed up the bike, before heading out for fuel. The local constabulary were keen to check me out, at first I think he thought I was a gang member with all the patches but once I explained everything he was keen to get me on the good roads, suggesting I take the Snowy Mountains Highway to where it joins the Monaro for the ride to Cooma. He keenly gave me tips on the best bits and where to take it easy, he even told me the regular spots where the highway patrol hangs out. Why can't all coppers be like this good bloke?

Once on the Snowy Mountain Hwy the road started rather sedately and I thought the constable was having a laugh, but at least the scenery was stunning and certainly made the ride worth it. Then came the turns, and boy did they come, one after another and a great degree of difference between them all.

All of a sudden I was on the approach to Brown Mountain, my police mate had told me about this and warned me it was restricted to 60kph, and policed heavily. What a pity, it was one of the best bike roads I have been on, plenty of corners, great road surface and very little traffic. But who in their right mind decided to make this a 60 limited road. Bloody hell.

It did allow me to stop at one of the best lookouts I have seen, and enjoy the view with 2 caravans of old couples. They seemed terrified that a 'biker' had stopped where they were, until they saw the patch on my back. I couldn't stop them from chatting after that. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I even tucked ion behind them on the road and cruised along at their very leisurely pace. This was a blessing. Not far down the road a smallish kangaroo hopped out in front of them, it must of decided the Landcruiser wasn't worth taking on and quickly got out of the way. If I'd been on my own I'm sure I would've been spread on the road wrestling with Skippy.

Once back on the Monaro Highway I left the 'nomads' behind and quickly headed toward Cooma on this familiar stretch of road. The people of Cooma were just as receptive as the first time we were here, but I couldn't hang around, the weather was starting to look awful and I was desperate to get to Jindabyne before it set in.

Too late, I didn't make it as far as Berridale before it started to bucket down. I stopped at the first place I could find shelter and put the wet weather gear on, I thought I would make the whole distance without having to use them.

Once at Jindabyne, it was nothing like I imagined it to be, perhaps the movie of the same name doesn't do it justice.  It's modern and actually quite nice, this place might be on the cards some other time.



The better section of the Alpine Way.



Not far along was the toll gate for the Alpine Way, you only have to pay if you are visiting one of the ski resorts.  It was here I was told that there was still snow at Thredbo, what worried me was that I would actually be climbing higher than that. Hopefully the rain would wash the roads clean if need be.

There was clearly snow on the nearby hills but thankfully none on the roads however, the rain was making the conditions slippery enough and considering that the best part of this road is almost 40 kilometres of hairpins bends it was tough.  Added with patches of extreme fog it was certainly a tough ride.  Then there were the 'roos.  I came out of a fog patch to find 2 big buggers hopping along beside me.  Thankfully they stayed there, but it was enough for me to slow down, and just in time because around the next corner another decided his time was up and stepped out in front of me.  I had one of those moments, the ones were you think your time is up.   With the rear brake locked and the front almost at that point I was able to keep the bike upright, but by god it had been close.

From here on it was a sedate ride, and in fact the 40km took me almost 3 hours to complete.  I would love to take on this road in the dry, it is easily the best road I've ridden.  I don't know how many corners, but it would have to be well into the hundreds, and the elevation change is staggering, 1200 metres between the lowest and highest point, which is 1600 metres (from here you can see the highest point of the Australian continent).  This truly is a great road, despite everything trying to keep you off it.

As I crossed over the border and into Victoria the roads became somewhat sedate and were still a challenge with steady rain.  Ladies, I've found the best exfoliation method around, wear an open face helmet at 100kph while it's raining ... the upper half of my face is as smooth as a babies bum.

While the roads were reasonably boring the scenery again was stunning, I really can't understand people going overseas for holidays if they haven't even visited stuff like this on their back doorstep.

After 9 hours of riding I finally reached the beautiful little town of  Beechworth, one of Ned Kelly's haunts.  After checking into the motel and having a 40 minute shower (trying to get some of my body parts to reappear, it's amazing what the cold can do) I went for a walk around the town and bought dinner ... fish and chips, and they were good, very good.  The whole time I was thankful for three things I had brought with me to guard against the rain ... the Buff to cover my face, the Ugly Fish glasses that definitely did a great job and most of all the Bibble Bar wet weather gear, by far the best wet weather gear I have ever owned and the best value for money.

I hope the weather is better tomorrow for the run to home.