Sydney - Townsville

[Brad]

This one's probably targeted at Brett and Rusty... here are the links to what I'm proposing... open to comments and suggestions.

Saturday - Sydney to Kyogle. Sure this is a massive day, but I figure I'm having the Sunday off with family so I wanted to get there in time to catch up with my sister.

Monday - Casino to Toowoomba. This will be a midday departure after I spend the morning with my Nan.

Tuesday - Toowoomba to Hervey Bay. Hervey Bay is a stop off with the out-laws... I'm in no real hurry to get there... if you can pick up what I'm layin down. The route from The Woomba to Gympie comes from a mate from Oakey...

Wednesday - Hervey Bay to Mackay. Again, a massive day... since I plan to be home Thursday night, I prefer to do a big day Wednesday and give me a shorter day Thursday. My GPS and Google Maps are having a disagreement as to how to get to Monto... GPS usually wins out since it's what I'll be using on the road...

Thursday - Mackay to Townsville. Get me the fuck home.

[TrevlynJ]

So seeing as you'll be home Thursday, does this mean you're coming out for the Friday Night Ride?

[Brad]

So seeing as you'll be home Thursday, does this mean you're coming out for the Friday Night Ride?

Probably not. Forgetting that 3,000k's might make me a little saddle sore, Jane's working Friday night... kinda why I want to be home Thursday.

[Brett]

the run from Grafton North as you have plotted is as boring as can be but there aret too many other ways to cover the distance in a similar time.
I would rather go from Casino back to Kyogle and then out to Woodenbong. Thats a great stretch of road...one of my favourites.


I have a feeling that the Clarence way is dirt in a few sections and the route you have across to monto would need further investigation unless your info is 100% solid. Looks like an unsealed road to me but I am only going off Google maps.
Also be aware that there is a lot of water along that atea and many rural roads are still under water in the gullies.

I will have anotherlook at your maps tonight.

[gixerdude]

I did the same section into Monto a bit over a year ago and def a few unsealed bits then. Might be sealed by now tho because they were doing it in parts when I drove it. there is a pub in monto. Maybe look it up and give them a ring. local knowledge would be good with all that water around. That's my 10 cents worth. just wish I was on that ride too. Good luck and enjoy!!!!!!!

[RustyGT]

What follows are opinions only, not gospel.

Your first day is way too big.

The run from Singleton to Gloucester is fun but it is rough.
Lot of towns and roadworks and single lane bridges.

The buckets way up the bottom of thunderbolts is also rough.
Going north it will be steep as well.

The above roads not only require some physical effort, which may not be a problem for a young fit bloke like yourself.
But quite a degree of sustained concentration, the mental effort required should not be under estimated.

As i found on the recent trip, there is a big difference in mile munching the freeways, and doing the grind in the twisties.

Armidale Glen Innes is dull.
Although i'd like to do the Gwydir to Grafton.

Both Brett and myself did Armidale Ebor Grafton.
Crosses the same range as the Oxley and the roads are similar in terrain.
Except that the Ebor Grafton Rd is not a highway so has no speed advisory signs and is single lane in places.
Even where dual lane wide it often has no centre line, so you have to do your own corner navigation.
This is where the mental effort comes in and can wear you out.

I'd be more inclined to target Grafton or less on the first day.
Get up early and knock off the last couple of hundred or so early.
Then have the rest of the day off.

Not sure about Gin Gin Monto.
As the lads have said a lot of those secondary roads are dirt.
Childers Gayndah Monto Bilo Rocky is fine and a good run.

The Rocky Mackay stretch is notorious and with good reason.
Not much fun late in the afternoon after a long day.

R.

[Brad]

Thanks guys... I'll revisit the plan more thoroughly next time I have access to better internet. For now I'm just playing with the GPS...

Rusty, I am now thinking about maybe making a dash out on Friday afternoon... I'll talk the the facilitator about his end of week plans that week, but I doubt we'll be working past early afternoon. I could easily knock over quite a few k's before the sun gets low, shortening the Saturday run... it'll also take some pressure off.

Good idea Jas... thanks.

The run up through Monto was just to try and avoid the Bruce. No, not you Bruce... the highway. I'm open to suggestions.

So far, based on the feedback I've modified the routes in the GPS to reflect the run through Kyogle/Woodenbong to Warwick, and Armidale/Ebor/Grafton...

[Brodie]

Jut in case you're still considering the gin gin - monto, don't. It starts as decent bitumen for about 5 or 10 k's then its a dirt goat track for the rest. I got caught out a few months ago on my way home to bilo thinking I'd found a new shortcut haha.

[Brad]

Well, I'm home... a recap of the trip later this weekend.

[Brad]

Some stats from the GPS...

Moving Average: 91.5kph
Moving Time: 30:48
Odometer: 2819.7km

I left the GPS on for fuel and lunch stops...

Overall Average: 77.5km/h
Total Time: 36:21

Notes and Omissions...

Add in 202km and about 2hrs for a leg when I had the GPS off on my way into Hervey Bay.
Jane had the GPS in her car for a trip to the shops before I took the stats.
I accidentally reset the max speed before I saw what it was... about 110km/h??

[Brad]

I have a couple of thank you's...

For the help with route planning... particularly Rusty and Brett. I'll talk more about the route and what I thought later... but it was nice to have confidence in the roads before I left.

I stayed at the Hoskin residence last night... their home is very comfortable and their hospitality fantastic. Thanks guys.

TJ came down to Ayr and escorted me home... made the last hour a lot less work, and it was nice to catch up.

[Brett]

cheers mate

you are welcome anytime..

[TrevlynJ]

Dunno what it is, but that run from Ayr to Townsville is the worst stretch of road in the world. All you want to do is get home, no matter what. Speed limit? What's that. You're like a horse with the scent of water in its nose, bugger the consequences, you just want it over with. Glad I could be of assistance.

[Brad]

Ahhhh... I think you mean Gympie to Townsville??

[TrevlynJ]

Yeah, that one too.

[Brett]

singleton to windsor..

[Brad]

singleton to windsor..

Oh yeah... didn't that just suck?!?!

[Brad]

HERE it is... the final rundown.

Overnight stays as follows:

Dungog
Alstonville
Lillian Rock
Casino
Toowoomba
Hervey Bay
Mackay

Changes I'd make to the route:

Woodenbong to the Border: I think I should have taken the southern loop, not the northern one... it sucked major balls... road was not so much potholed, as the collection of potholes resembled a road. See note about GPS below.
Gayndah - Eidsvold: GPS was set to avoid traffic (oops)... the route it took me from the A3 and onto a very narrow butumen road. There was no traffic, tho.
Obi Obi: Best taken UP (going south). It's one way dirt, one way bitumen. Guess which way I went?? And it was very wet.
Gympie - Hervey Bay: Should have headed towards Tin Can Bay like I planned... the Bruce was 90km/h anyway.
Marlborough - Sarina: I'd go left at Marlborough and go via Sarina Range... but by that late in the day I didn't feel like taking on an unknown range in the wet with an aching arse.

The trip breakdown...

Left St Marys after an end of course lunch... was about a 3pm departure by the time I got fuel.
Putty Road is fantastic, especially the part just south of Singleton.
Dungog sits in a bowl, it's a gorgeous little settlement. Roads in/out are rough, but not uncomfortable on account of the corners.
Buckets and Thunderbolts way are all they are reported to be.
98RON fuel is available at Walcha!!
I was running behind by the time I got to Grafton, I had a BBQ to get to, so the decision to use the highway was an easy one... saw my first cop of the trip on that road.
Alstonville to my sister's place was thwarted by traffic... damn hippies and tourists. The road out was clear, tho.
Kyogle - Casino - Kyogle was boring, up until this point I had been truly spoilt.
I was enjoying seeing Nan and left Casino a little late.
Kyogle - Woodenbong - Warwick leg was wet... rain, drizzle, damp roads.
Warwick - Toowoomba was on sunset and the last half hour was dark. Toowoomba was cold. Other than that the road was very boring.
Toowoomba - Esk - Kilcoy was foggy, wet, misty, rainy... nice roads, tho.
Malaney - Montville - Kenilworth - Gympie is another great road (although DOWN the Obi Obi is 3.8km of dirt steep descent). This leg was dogged by damp conditions.
Gympie - Hervery Bay is boring as batshit. 90km speed limit makes you even more bored/tired/fatigued than normal.
Around Biggenden there was some really nice, 55km/h marked corners with a really good surface... after the run from Gympie to Childers, I was so excited by this.
Burnett Highway is no where near as fun as the roads of the preceding days, but was a novel way to avoid the Bruce for a while.
From Rocky north it was back to the Bruce. Which sucks.

The conclusion...

I had a fantastic trip. Biggest things to go wrong was the rain and a wasp sting. The FZ1 is perfect for the twisties, it soaks up the bumpy back roads, it's comfortable, nimble and stable. I thought the wind would be a drag (lol), but experimenting with my hand over the headlight has led me to believe a screen would just make it noisy. Besides, it didn't give me a sore neck and the wind at 105km/h seems to be perfect to take the weight off my arms and back.

The combination of the Pilot Power front and Pilot Road 2CT rear is fantastic. 6,000km into the rear tyre and there is little sign of any wear. A Pilot Power rear would be getting fairly worn by now. I used a shitload of front tyre in the first 1,400km... so I'll be thinking about that next time.

I was going to use this trip to prove riding the bike south is better than trailers. In the end I've decided it's not so simple, tho. It's romantic to think I am hard enough to ride endure Townsville to Gympie to enjoy the twisties that lie south of there. In reality, I am not. So for my thinking, the simple answer is Townsville to Hervey Bay with bikes in trailer, leave the car and trailer with the out-laws, and ride south from there. It's the perfect compromise. Lets face it, the only thing we'd be missing is the sore arse.

[Brad]

Oh, I should point out I used only the OEM FZ1 seat, no other aids. The first time I noticed a sore arse was getting into Hervey Bay.