In the groove

Seems every week recently is mostly fine except Sunday which is forecast chance of rain or occasional showers. So I shifted gear and went for a Saturday ride.

Wasn’t the best of weeks for me so a good ride was needed. I decided to do the tried and proven loop to Kyogle riding down via Mt Lindsey and the Summerland Way and returning via UKi and Currumbin valley. There are two perfect radius corners near the Mt Lindsey border crossing that brought a smile to my face this morning. The sort of corners where instead of ending as they might normally they extend on to give you the extra hang time defying gravity. On the Summerland I could enjoy some trees with their new spring foliage and these two roads just really work for me.



I had a very good run for nearly the whole ride and this was mostly due to the timing as I woke up early and could not get back to sleep so was riding through the suburbs before any traffic and was at Kyogle by 9.30 even with stops.

Summerland Way

There is something to be said for getting out very early but of course the negative is fatigue. I took a long break at the Tweed valley art gallery café Murwillumbah for a very early lunch and could feel myself just wanting to stay put.

Vegie burger!

The best thing about the CB1100 besides it’s looks is the way it is still enjoyable to ride at less pace so I could ride back relaxed but not be bothered. Some naked bikes don’t feel happy unless you are going a bit quicker and of course real sports bikes always want to be ridden faster. While at times I want to play I also just like to wander along and think about stuff and enjoy the surrounds. It’s not for everyone but I enjoy having less focus on covering ground and more on being in the groove with the flow of the road.

North America tour planning update no.1

I have been planning my 2012 tour when time permits and finished a draft outbound/first half route.

I have been thinking about this ride and other major tours for at least 12 months before deciding to bring it forward to next year for reasons mentioned in my first post on this topic. During that time I decided on a rough route for a extensive tour of either North America or Europe. It came down to choosing which continent to tackle first and I have selected North America.

So my starting points where to ride were a mix. Having been to British Columbia previously I have held a long time desire to return and ride there. Then the American Rocky mountains and roads of New England have also been on my wish list as well as the Smokey mountains south. The more I read the more places I made a mental note of, a number of roads in Oregon and California and then Nova Scotia and before long I had shifted my thinking from a one or two small trips to a cross country ride. So then I took some time out for a reality check about this idea.

Australia is a big place and I am used to riding long distances. I also am very a very experienced traveller with countless trips under my belt, even a 4 month driving tour around Europe many years ago. I like riding solo but prefer company when not in the saddle but alas if that is not to be then I am confident enough now days to do my own thing. My last big tour here was 7,000km in two weeks and I am estimating this to be 20,000km over a generous 10 weeks. To sum up I cannot come up with anything major that concerns me or would foreseeably be too big of a problem as long as my health remains good.

And so with all that bedded down I start to research in more detail. Renting a motorcycle for more than a few weeks is prohibitively expensive and so as mentioned I have chosen ‘Get Routed’ as my preferred shipping agent to get my motorcycle to the USA. Dave of Get Routed has also given me some links for arranging insurance for riding there. My registration will allow me to ride in North America and I need to check exactly what paper work I need to carry but nothing seems too difficult on this front.

Then to routing and I have been reading various motorcycle routes and best roads type internet sites and slowly putting pins on a google map. Motorcyclerides.us and Motorcycleroads.com have been two of a number of sites I have found very helpful but have been reading many in the last 6 months. I have had no luck in plotting my route in Google maps as it stopped saving my data which seems a known and unfixed bug for some users. My old mapping site Motowhere.com also crashed a few times as it has a problem with elevation data so I am now using RidewithGPS.com and you can view my draft outbound route by clicking here but be warned – it is a huge route and takes a minute to be calculated by the program so you may get a time out message on your browser. Just ignore this, I use Chrome and after 30 seconds it will ask if you want to keep waiting, click yes and soon after the route will display and you can zoom in.

Sorry file is not available at the moment only the map picture above.

This is only a draft however it is a good indication of my intended routing for the first half with the destination of Sydney, Nova Scotia on the other side of the world being definite. Most sections of road have been chosen from riding/driving sites for either being twisty, sweeping bends or scenic and the major highways that show on this map will be further routed away from where practical as I dislike riding both those and in large cities. Some sections are firm, there are many famous scenic road sections that I have locked in but I would have liked to visited more places around the Great Lakes and this section is really the part most possible to change.

My return route will sweep down the East and beyond to the Smokey mountains and across Arkansas before arching north to dip into Colorado before returning to the West coast and back north to Oregon.

Your comments and suggestions much appreciated as always.

Scattered showers

That was the forecast and when I woke to blue sky I thought they had predicted the worst case as usual.

This time however it was true and by 8.30 refueling at Mudgerraba you could see the rain blowing in from the sea to the south. When my friend from Ballina way arrived he had ridden through some of those scattered showers and so I decided to ride up Springbrook and try Numinbah Valley.

They continue to resurface Springbrook and it is a really a very good ride. From Pine creek road I could see the rain in Numinbah valley and so a switch to Beechmont was made. Two uniforms in a white unmarked Commodore with dark tint working Hinze raceway. They barely looked at us and continued to patiently await some crouch rockets. I always play it safe on that road which is the Mt Glorious of the south.



Had a nice ride on Mt Beechmont and decided the rain had swept in so the coast should now be dry. We swung through Gilston and onto the M1 south and then up Tallebugera valley and over Currumbin valley to Murwilumbah which had all dried. Threw out the Tweed valley ride I had in mind and decided to visit Burringbah range and refuel at Burrinbah servo then revisit Burrinbah range and ride to Uki via Stokers Siding.

On the way some twit in a Mercedes sports car spat the dummy when my mate passed him and so set off trying to keep up and then upon failing made it clear he was not letting me pass by driving in the middle of the road and swerving across to other lane if I moved to pass. Once upon a time I would have cared, now I just yawn and position myself well away so when these idiots crash (and they will) it does not involve me.



My usual lunch at the Uki pub has gone up a few dollars, inflation is running wild in this country.



Rode back via Numinbah valley and stopped for some photos.

The pale straw grass was illuminated by the afternoon sun like it was ready to set itself alight. I am back using a compact camera again. Yes I seem to have changed cameras a lot of late, thankfully eBay lets you sell things easy. Today is all from a Olympus XZ1 which is brilliant little compact camera with a bright lens and sharp sensor than allows subject isolation I am using it with the VF2 electronic viewfinder. The whole interchangeable lens thing just didn’t work for me nor does spending hours working in that Adobe Lightroom software. I just prefer to capture what my mind is imagining on the spot or not at all. So from now on its back to straight from the camera with only some cropping to frame correctly.



The muffler system now sounds near perfect but the chrome plating is really starting to discolour bronze and I hope this stops soon. I am very happy with the Firstgear jacket and must do a more detailed report on it some time. The BMW pants I am wearing are not holding up so well and look very aged and have shrunk considerably more than any garment should in the legs meaning they now ride up too much. Disappointing given their brand name and price tag. I am back using the Nolan N43 helmet again. I was getting pressure points with it and some focus issues with dual visors but a thorough clean has helped with the vision and I tried using my buff as a head scarf and you know that really does give so much extra comfort!



About 9 or 10 weeks until riding New Zealand south island but I am already hard at work most nights planning next years big tour to North America!

Hope you also managed to stay dry riding today. Regards, IC.