Long Ride - Day 16 - Coolah to Bathurst

Long Ride day 16 - the final push to Bathurst.

There's no doubt about it, I expected to wake this morning with a thumping headache but it didn't happen.  There was no sign of the ghoulies last night either, the Black Stump Inn is reported to have two visitors that many of the local and staff have seen.  Some have seen one or the other, some have even seen both.  The most common thing with the people who have seen the ghosts don't like talking about them.

 

I was up a couple of times during the night visiting the loo, which was at the end of a hallway and around the corner, I really expected (and wanted) to see something, but it didn't happen.

 

As promised the guy who actually owns the pub was waiting for us when we packed our bikes and took us to his house.  The lads from American Pickers would've loved it, there was crap everywhere, including what must've been a few dozen chooks.  In amongst it all was a Triumph Rocket 2300cc monster.  It was in pretty good condition and gave some indication as to what was coming.

 

We were ushered through a shed that was packed to the rafters with what to many would seem like rubbish and then there they were.  A couple of Honda fours, one was even an ex-police bike from South Australia, complete with its lights and siren.  Some were in pretty good condition and some were very rundown.

The Black Stump Inn has an affiliation with
bikes in more ways than one.

Then around a corner was a BSA Bantom, and another, and another.  There were BSA's everywhere, and thrown in were a few AJS's and Vincents.  Bloody hell, I couldn't believe it.  We were told that British bikes were the preferred but the collection included almost everything.

 

There was even an original mid-70's Honda Goldwing, very ugly, yet very collectible.  Next to it was a Yamaha 750cc V-twin, essentially the forerunner to the Virago and Star range of bikes, so something I was pretty interested in.

 

I asked if there were any trail or motocross bikes and was shown a huge pile of bikes, literally a pile of bikes.  Apparently every now and then one will get pulled out, repaired and running and then given to one of the grand kids.  It was sad to see these bikes like this, as many are significant and collectible themselves. 

 

My first ever bike was a little MX80 Yamaha.  I think it was 1981 or 82 model, and I had it in 1986 I think.  It was a great little bike and I would like to restore one of these, although they are pretty hard to find.

 

What a great place to stay.

I asked if there might be one amongst all of the bikes and was told that there was possibly one around the corner.  We fought our way through a pile of washing machines and toilets, and was shown a small frame with no engine.  It had yellow guards and tank.  The guards were plastic indicating it wasn't the same as what I had, mine was all steel.  I was disappointed it wasn't the same bike and I don't even think the same model, yet I asked how much he would sell it for.  The response was "oh well, I'm not really sure if it is for sale, I might need it one day",  I knew immediately that this guy was a hoarder, so there was no point even going on.  Yet, I was pretty appreciative that he had taken the time to show us his "collection".

 

We went back into town to get breakfast before heading off to Bathurst.  The local bakery seemed like the perfect place and the breakfast pie was sensational.

 

While there we noticed a familiar figure walking towards us.  It was the big hairy man (I'll still keep his name to myself) from last night.  He wished us well and hoped that he would see us again one day.  Considering his past he was a genuinely nice guy and it was good to see he was getting his life sorted after so many years.  Good on him.

 

We headed off into a morning of glorious sunshine and were glad it wasn't too cold.  The idea was to ride to Mudgee, roughly the half way point, and refuel.  It was a pretty simple little ride and enjoyable in the sun.

The Mudgee Museum ... originally an Inn built in the 1820's.

Approaching Mudgee it was clear that it was a town that had done a great job to hang on to it's heritage and as soon as I saw a Heritage Museum I made the others stop.  They joked that it was the great steam engine out the front, apparently everyone knows I like a tractor, especially if they are steam.

 

We went in and a kind old lady from the Mudgee Heritage Trust gave us a brief explanation of the place.  It turns out it was actually an old Inn that had been built when Mudgee was first settled.  I was amazed to find that Mudgee was the second oldest inland town in New South Wales, possibly Australia, behind Bathurst.  In fact, settled in 1821, Mudgee was actually much older than Melbourne.

The Sunshine Harvester.

We took a look around at the collection.  There was some pretty amazing collections, but also horribly hideous ones.  I loved the collection of old machinery out in the backyard of the land, there was an old Packard Ambulance, I hope to hell they are restoring it.  There was also a beautiful little Austin A40, similar to what my old man used to own.  As well as a Sunshine Harvester, I wondered if the kids at Sunshine Primary School, who helped raised money knew that there school and suburb was named after this machine.

 

As I walked on there was an old church, I walked in expecting to see religious artifacts, and was horrified to find the entire place was filled with dolls.  I think I let out a gasp and almost soiled my undies.  The little buggers were creepy and all staring at me, for god sake, who the hell thinks that these things are cute and worth collecting.  They were bloody horrible, I know I'll have nightmares tonight.  I couldn't wait to get out of there.

OMG ... have a look at these evil little buggers.  Creepy!

We left and refuelled and then headed for Bathurst.  We took the Peel Road, which was sensational.  It took us up and over a number of mountains and deep in the valleys.  The corners were good enough to be taken at decent speeds, yet funnily enough, the whole time we were on this road, all I could think about was some of the conversations from last night, and the barmaid swearing like a trooper, telling people not "hang shit" on her or she "punched ya f'en lights out".  A couple of times I almost ran off the road I was laughing so much.

 

As we came over the last major hill we got a glimpse of Bathurst and a giant sign painted on the side of a hill, it said, Mount Panorama.  We were here.  The Mecca of Australian motorsport.

 

Obviously every room has a motorsport feel at the Ridges.

We past a number of stately homes towards the racetrack.  It's certainly not the first time I have been here but this time it felt more special and we were staying at the Ridges hotel, which is right on The Chase at the end of Conrod Straight.  That's right, on the very track.

 

We checked in and unloaded the bikes and immediately hit the race track.  Bar a few times per year these roads are actually public roads that service the numerous houses and business that skirt the track, so a 60kph speed limit had to be obeyed ... bugger.

 

After a few laps the general feeling was one of amazement at how steep the run up and down the mountain are.   It really does make it impressive to think how fast the guys who are racing drive over the top of it.

Bloody hell this thing is steep.

 

By now it was starting to get a little cold and dark and rain was threatening so we decided to call it a day, get something to eat, and then hit the hay.  Tomorrow we will check out the National Motor Racing Museum and then if the weather is OK head towards Parkes to see "The Dish", before turning south again and head for Cowra.  The weather forecast is looking terrible so who really knows what will happen?

 

Today we completed around 287 kilometres, taking the total to 6,290 kilometres.