25kms of twisty goodness.

[dogtired]

The reason...
Do you need a reason to ride?
We're all on the same page here aren't we?

The route...
http://goo.gl/maps/QcJrF
12 and a half km's up the road from me is the sleepy hamlet of Thorpdale where men marry their sisters and sheep are nervous. I knew the trip would be fraught with danger, but it needed doing, and I was just the man to do it.

Pre-trip planning...
None.
...
Actually I tell a lie, I made sure I had my wallet, smokes and lighter with me. I remember the fiasco of 2009 that was the trip to Willow Grove where I had to rub two sticks together to have a smoke half way. I wasn't going to let that happen to me again.

The ride...
I approached "Tokyo Rose" in a confident swagger, waving lustily at the smoking hot woman who lives 2 doors down the road. Mounted the bike, dismounted, went back and got my helmet, by this stage the smoking hot woman down the road is laughing and waving back at me... I pretend to ignore her. Get my gloves and helmet on, then try and find the ignition key in my pocket with a gloved hand, take the glove off, find the key, drop the key, get off the bike to pick it up, decide i need a smoke first and light it only to have my modular helmet flop down and knock the lit end of the cigarette inside my jacket, extinguish my jacket then mount the bike again, all the time ignoring the woman down the road who at this stage has bought her kids and two neighbours outside to watch me and is still waving frantically and giggling.

I pointed my new to me 27 year old red and white freight train at the hills and gave her a bit of squirt, and ummm... interesting experience when your used to only having 60 odd horses on tap, and the horses in this thing are draft horses, seriously, this thing pulls like a schoolboy. I took a few corners to get the feel of the bike, it felt solid and predictable. At the half way stage I started to worry about my helmet, it was making my cheeks hurt, I was wondering if this was due to the excessive speed I was carrying, or was it because of the huge shit eating grin I had on my face. I powered up the first 5 miles, all uphill, past Hobsons, past Curwens, potato crops dotting the land like a giant gingham tablecloth. Rocketed past cattle staring in mute admiration at both the bike and the good looking bloke on it. In what seemed like no time at all, (well actually it was no time at all really, I was only going 12 kms) I arrived at the sleepy hamlet of Thorpdale fresh as a daisy, any fresher and I would of made love.

I needed sustenance after the hard haul up the hill, so it was a quick coffee and a ciggy and I was fully recharged to continue on my adventure, this time on the return leg.

A spirited ride down the hill awaited me, I was off avoiding suicidal magpies, cattle trucks and cars. It was here I got to test the ABS (alleged braking system) of the '86 FJ and found it adequate for my needs. (sorta...) By this stage I was getting the feel of the bike and enjoying the sheer horsepower under me, occasionally twisting either foot a little bit sideways to "feel" the tarmac with the slider pad on the outside of my boot.

in all too short a time my adventure was over, I pulled into familiar territory of my neighbourhood and parked "Tokyo Rose" in the driveway went to the fridge and pulled out a hard earned beer.
I deserved it.



heh, every ride for me is an adventure.

[ribbert]

Dogtired, love the writing style. Very entertaining.

I went through Thorpdale not long back. Sounds like there might be more than the odd house with an old couch on the front veranda. I headed out (Melb) to Noojee, past Blue Rock Lake and came into Traralgon from the North. Did a big loop through the Tarra-Bulga National Park on Grand Ridge Rd then up through Mirboo Nth, Thorpdale, crossed the highway at Trafalgar and headed NW again home. Really pretty country down there and while I don't mind dirt roads I was pleased to see bitumen again that day.
With what seemed like a couple of hours dirt behind us and what turned out to be another hour of dirt ahead of us we stopped in the middle of nowhere amongst massive trees, forest that felt like it went on forever in every direction and that silence you only get in such a place, boiled the billy and enjoyed a sumptuous lunch we had brought with us and not a single vehicle passed by.
The only link to the real world at that moment was the FJ singing to me.

Ain't it just great the places a bike will take you.

I've heard it said that someone desperate enough for smoke and realising they are hours away anyone or anything seriously considered dipping something in the fuel tank and pulling a plug lead with the motor running to ignite it, I've heard.  I believe that person now leaves a lighter on the bike and several spread around clothing and luggage.
I also believe the RACV do not consider this a roadside emergency.
Noel

[dogtired]

I headed out (Melb) to Noojee, past Blue Rock Lake and came into Traralgon from the North. Did a big loop through the Tarra-Bulga National Park on Grand Ridge Rd then up through Mirboo Nth, Thorpdale, crossed the highway at Trafalgar and headed NW again home. Really pretty country down there

Went out that road yesterday, through Willow Grove, past Blue Rock Dam, then onto Noojee for a pie for lunch and chatted with a fella with a 955 Triumph Daytona while I ate it. We must of had some decent winds up there recently, the road was a mess of bark and sticks. Our local gums are shedding their bark and there were 20 foot strips of it all over the road for 10 or 15 kms or so. After lunch headed back through Rokeby to Warragul and then home. A bit over 100km for the round trip, enough to keep me amused for a while.

...<snip> boiled the billy and enjoyed a sumptuous lunch we had brought with us and not a single vehicle passed by.
The only link to the real world at that moment was the FJ singing to me.

Ain't it just great the places a bike will take you.

Great area up in the hills there, very few people and very few coppers. I stopped a couple of times for a look around, and just listened to the bush and the birds singing.
"how's the serenity?"

I've heard it said that someone desperate enough for smoke and realising they are hours away anyone or anything seriously considered dipping something in the fuel tank and pulling a plug lead with the motor running to ignite it, I've heard.  I believe that person now leaves a lighter on the bike and several spread around clothing and luggage.
I also believe the RACV do not consider this a roadside emergency.
Noel

   

[ribbert]

Went out that road yesterday, through Willow Grove, past Blue Rock Dam, then onto Noojee for a pie for lunch and chatted with a fella with a 955 Triumph Daytona while I ate it. We must of had some decent winds up there recently, the road was a mess of bark and sticks. Our local gums are shedding their bark and there were 20 foot strips of it all over the road for 10 or 15 kms or so. After lunch headed back through Rokeby to Warragul and then home. A bit over 100km for the round trip, enough to keep me amused for a while.

Great area up in the hills there, very few people and very few coppers. I stopped a couple of times for a look around, and just listened to the bush and the birds singing.
"how's the serenity?"

   

I have been first customer of the day at the "Red Parrot ' in Noojee many times after an early morning sub zero ride from Melbourne. Bacon and eggs never tasted so good.

Leaf litter can be a fair bastard after a big blow, especially those 1" diameter sticks and twigs and spotting them through the mottled light of tree cover and full sun can be difficult.

You appear to be a man after my own heart, the further from home, civilisation and any evidence of it, other road users and coppers, the better the riding gets.
I frequently stop, like yourself, just to enjoy the special quiet that only exists in such places. I take yet another photo of my bike in the foreground of some magnificent vista, a photo that to anyone else will look just like the thousands of others, devote a moments thought to those poor souls who have never discovered motorbikes and will never experience this, then remount and move on to the next spot.

Serenity? I can't help thinking of it everytime I come through Bonnie Doon, of course there is none there but plenty to be had elsewhere in this great State.

Victoria is 17% Forest and 15% National Park, that's a whopping one third of the State locked up with purpose built riding roads and serenity by the truckload, all within an hour of two of Melbourne.
See how long it takes you to get somewhere like that from Sydney's CBD!! And, when you finally do get there, they're busy.
Noel

[The General]

"how's the serenity?"

   

See how long it takes you to get somewhere like that from Sydney's CBD!! And, when you finally do get there, they're busy.
Noel

I too reckon "The Castle" is one of those great movies. Also loved him sayin "Tell`m his dream`n"
Those Southern Alps do sound great. Love readin about individual rides. Thanks