Australia Day ride

Edited 27.01.2011

Since the weekend looks like rain I went for a small ride today, Australia day public holiday.

Clear Mountain road.

I rode out via Bunya Road and Clear Mountain Road, both of which are terrific. Then I skirted North Pine dam and wanted to go north but not via Mt Mee. Without any map or GPS I simply ended up back on the road to Dayboro so figured ok I will try another day.

I joined a convoy of motorcycles up Mt Mee for a slow and somewhat bumpy ride up and over the top. I slowed down to let the convoy move on to get a good ride down the hotmix section down the northern side. I am determined to skip Mt Mee in future by whatever route I can work out to the east after the dam to join old Gympie road later and ride on North as I just don’t like Mt Mee a whole lot and with the 60k limit on the ascent it is ripe for hidden camera vehicle as mentioned by one reader below..

I forgot there is no fuel in Woodford (there lies a business opportunity!) so back tracked to get a few litres of non premium at D’aguilar general store (now all they sell?). I was on reserve and did not want to push my luck riding over to Kilcoy even though my maths said I would have made it no problems.

Somerset Dam road

I took the back road via Villeneuve but had to get back on the highway half way as the road was closed from flood damage. Somerset dam was a dirty brown from all the flood water, just a couple of ski boats braving the murky water.

Somerset Dam

Leaving there the road to Northbrook parkway was terrible condition with some wash outs and a lot of gravel on the road . When I arrived I found the road back to Mt Glorious was closed so had to detour via Fernvale and Ipswich highway for a bum numb 60km finale.

Oh well I was still home well before lunch and that is the good thing about riding the roads north of Brisbane.

Surf and Turf

Took the CB for it’s second proper outing last weekend. I wanted to ride North or West however the roads were cut in some places due to floods and the south again looked the more dry option.

Riding over Curumbin range in the morning there were so many motorbikes there that I wondered if this route was in danger of becoming over popular. Turned out there were simply many riders everywhere that day being the first fine sunny weekend in months.

Looking for a way to vary the ride but not go too far I turned East before Murwillumbah and rode over Nunderi and to Cabarita Beach on the coast where it turned a bit cloudy for a small time. I used to take the ‘coast road’ alternative to the old pacific highway before the new motorway was constructed and always fancied living at Hastings Point. Nearly purchased an apartment there when I was working at the Gold Coast.

Shame about the old Cabarita beach hotel being knocked down, Hastings point seems mostly untouched while Pottsville is being developed rapidly now and will soon lose it’s village charm.

After arriving back at Mooball I rode south on the Tweed Valley way which is the old Pacific highway until it’s end and I was forced onto the new Pacific highway which I blasted down a short way and exited at Byron Bay to follow Coolamon Senic drive back into Mullumbimby and then back to Billinudgel and then returning over the Tweed Valley way.

I enjoyed Burrinbah range and then skirted Stokers Siding onto Bakers Rd to arrive at the Tweed Valley art gallery café for lunch. The gallery café has good food, good coffee and gives visitors a teriffic view on the Tweed river and the valley to the border ranges. The prices are really not more than pub lunches and if you have a partner riding pillion then I am certain they will enjoy stopping here.

After there I took a leisurely paced ride back through Numinbah valley and Advancetown to Nerang. Despite the familiarity of this way home it still is very scenic and offers riders some excellent curves.

The CB performed perfectly. Very satisfying motorcycle to ride because it delivers all the usual enjoyment to the rider at less pace meaning the ordinary roads and average corners become better. 

Rain and Forum thought police reloaded

Much of the state I live in has become a disaster zone with floods equaling the worst on record and rain forecast to continue into the next month. Things are looking grim for many people.

If you would like to help please donate to the official relief fund.

As for riding there is not a lot anyone can do.

I am considering pulling some parts of the CB and getting them polished or perhaps sending the seat off to be raised. Tackle some stuff now rather that later when the rain eventually stops.

Meanwhile not being able to ride I am spending far to much time looking at accessories for motorcycles on eBay and doing things I said I would never do again, like post on motorcycle forums.

I wrote about forums back here so why am I mentioning them again? Well like a fool I was bored watching the rain and visited a couple of forums.  Let me repost my original words from 18 months ago:

Ever notice many of the internet motorcycle forums have members who act as 'thought police'.

I have been known to frequent a number of motorcycle forums despite realising they waste far too much of my time. I am stepping away from them now as each forum seems to have one or two members who have an extreme difficulty in accepting not everyone shares their point of view about certain aspects of motorcycling. These folk then tend to spend a huge amount of time ramming home their point of view, killing off any free discussions that go against their point of view. These overbearing characters drive people off the forums they inhabit as members start to feel they need to moderate their comments or hesitate to engage in threads or eventually not bother to post because they think it may simply get a narrow minded sarcastic response.

And so 18 months later what did I find? The same bullies and bitter old men are in residence snapping at anyone who posts contrary to their beliefs, even if they say the sky is green don’t you dare say it is blue. Sigh, and so I have just deleted my bookmarked links to all forums so I hopefully in another 18 months will remember why I don’t have those links before I get other ideas.

Easter this year is a 5 day weekend, woohoo! Now that is a seriously good amount of time for a ride if the weather is permitting. I am already putting together a 5 day route to the Tableland way and return. 

The Motorcycle Paradise Facebook page is going very well and already averages 2000 visits per day despite very little exposure which is far more than this blog which averages 300 visits a day. I am glad I started the Facebook page as I feel that is the future despite the limitations of the current format. Not that numbers mean anything as this is just my hobby, a desire to share with others.

I hope you are safe from the flood waters or if affected then help gets to you quickly.

Regards, IC.

CB1100 Wiki

It’s pouring rain here again so I am spending a lot of time on the computer surfing motorcycles rather than riding them.

I have put my collection of CB1100 links and information onto a new Facebook page that I will support. Click to view.

It’s small so far but a start given there seems to be no forum outside Japan for the model. If there is one then feel free to announce it on the Facebook page please.

And if you have not seen the below already then something to while away some time as the rain sets in for another week.