!!! WE DELIVER !!!!

motorradrudi

Tour Pro
Hi Pete,

great story (but I need more time to translate :D ) - wonderful pictures! I've seen you had a nice tour!
Thank you!

Greatings from germany
Rudi
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
With the weather a bit on the shonky side --big, black clouds crowding the otherwise blue skies--we're going for day-rides, which also means, that we won't have to carry the camping gear.

Many haver been up the Tawonga Gap, but not like this, I bet.

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Burning tyrees dropping onto the road have molten deep gouges out of the bitumen, now the traffic peels big gobs of grovel out of those scars

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Not too badly affected was the Hotham road, pretty good actually, let's have a poke around ....

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Through desrted Hotham Height and out the other end towards Dinner Plains, the bush is alive...

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...and just before gitting Omeo, it's down the Cassilis Road towards Swifts Creek, as that part of the Omeo Hwy is as boring as batshit.

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Swifts Creek Bakery comes up trumps on the egg 'n bacon rolls, as usual :thumbs: before it's back the same way through Omeo and north to the Blue Duck Inn/ Anglers Rest.
Once more, visibility is stunning due top the dry, time for another twisties-party, they're tight enough to make it a challenge even on the little bikes....again, no traffic at all.

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Despite the "closed till 4.30" sign at the door of the Blue Duck, the publican quickly checked on us, huddled for shade under the big poplar tree, transferring fuel again...

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Another short piece of Omeo Hwy twisties....

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...then up the Bogong High Plains Road into the back of Falls Creek, 30-odd k's of dirt....which wasn't the problem, but the corrugation shook the fillings out. Still, beautiful country up there, even if bone-dry.

Let's enjoy it....impressions along the way.

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Close to Falls Creek, the dam feeds the snow-making guns during winter

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Along the last few k's before the bitumen...

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Somehow there was no hurry this time....no downhill scream chasing cages back to Mt. Beauty.
The supermarket was still open, some tucker and a few ice-cold stubbies found their way back to the tent, feet up....the 2 little bikes closeby like pets... talking into the night....
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Grey Gentry said:
Cough..Gee seeing all these great pics..means that I won't have to ride these roads and see them for myself...cough.


:lol: Thanks :lol:
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
motorradrudi said:
Hi Pete,

great story (but I need more time to translate :D ) - wonderful pictures! I've seen you had a nice tour!
Thank you!

Greatings from germany
Rudi

We've had a perler of a time (now...translate that one :lol: :p )
If it wouldn't have been for the bushfires and all the road closures, it would've been 2 weeks instead of one.
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
"Just a half-day tootle---back early afternoon " ....taking it ewasy loading up the bikes and gear for the trip home tomorrow morning.

Ok then...

Many moons ago we'd done a road from MittaMitta to Tawong/ Mt. Beauty with the trusty Nissan 4WD, let's see if we can find the start of it from the Mt. Beauty side.
The guy at the servo mumbles something about Trappers Gap and lots of dirt/ bushfires/ wildlife and all that, but describes the "entry" from Tawonga....we'll give it a whirl.

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...and it turns out to be quite a good track.

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Lots of leaflitter though, which makes things pretty skittish sometimes....Ooooops :lol: :lol: :lol: Skittish alright, sideways in fact :lol:

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I promised "WE DELIVER"....into the last wombat hole, if needed :lol: :lol: And yo, that was Yours Truly scuttling that postie :D

No harm done but most probably prevented worse, coming around a sharp righthander 2 bends down and....

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And it's getting HOT...popping out the MittaMitta end of the road...time for a break, the sweat is starting to run.

No doubt what this place is... :lol:

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As things took longer than planned, it's onto the Mitta Mitta back-road, right along the currently flooded Mitta Mitta River, following upstream to Eskdale, a beauty of a litle wiggler...

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Not wanting the long way around through the Lockhard Gap and the dreaded Red Bank Road up the Kiewa, we'd found a tiny, wiggly line on an old Shell map the night before, leading across the range from Eskdale into the Kiewa Valley around Dederang.

Time for asking around in Eskdale to get some local info.
The pub sounds a logical choice :lol: ....and it's cool !!

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"Oi, Geoff...here's a bloke for you, wants to go across the range to Dederang, you know every wombat-hole up there?!!"

Geoff looks trustworthy enough after his umpteenth beer that morning...
"to the end of the bitumen... Smyth Rd....T-intersection turn off right, right?...then a bit left, right?
2 cattlegrids, then turn off across the NEW grid and follow the road, get's you right over the top...."

Piece of cake, right...right? I'm riddled....but what the hell. right?

Off we go... to the end of the bitumen...there's a bit of dirt, a side-road to the right, then more bitumen ahead....where to now??
An rusty, clapped-out Commodore comes along, stops...the guy's a bad stutterer, conversation impossible, we might finish up in Afghanistan.....

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A minute later a guy in thongs and T-shirt comes barrelling out of a Sahara dust-storm on a 250 Yammie, stops...."I'm not from here"
Ahhh, Christ !!
Thinking about timing, petrol, distances...we'll just turn into that side-road, a sign proclaims Smyth Rd., which was part of that clear-as-bells jumble in the pub... through some farming country, up a side-valley, across some cattle-grids, but no NEW grid, hmmmm.
The road finishes a few k's later at another grid and some fencing "Private Property, Keep out !!!".....and just to the right is a brandnew, galvanised-sparkling cattle grid....framed a couple of barely legible signs, one displaying "Dederang".
Got it !!

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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
A barely discernable track leads across a paddock, disappearing in the bush beyond...

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a couple of young guys with a 4WD spraying blackberries are a welcome break to re-confirm the track....until they get into a discussion about the "upper" and 'lower" tracks, one with a very steep descent into the Kiewa valley, the other one with a "rough bit" up top.

"anyway...up on the ridge turn right, at the sign to the Winery turn left, downhill.... but there IS that rough bit, you know?"

!! Right!! Let's get out of here, I'm sick of this shit, let's just go and see what happens...
A little creek crossing with big, round rocks is the first challenge....no probs. At the split we stick to the left track, the "lower' one with the "rough bit".
The track deteriorates quickly, it's semi-overgrown, the green strip in the center hides all sorts of rocks and roots. It's getting rougher...and STEEPER!

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Time for a break and a jiggler-session....and a good gulp of water.

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It's rocky, rough and steep now, we're climbing towards the ridge.
2. gear dies in the arse, even first is struggling sometimes...this must be the "rough bit" the guys were talking about.
Right at the top, right??
It's getting even hotter, the scattered trees allowing quite a bit of sun through...
A short, steep stretch, then this:

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:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: Shiiit !!
No way !!! :evil:
I go in for 5 meters, the little thing bucking wildly, then 1. gear just dies, it's just too steep, the motor just quits and stalls. :roll: :roll:
Even a proper 250Mxer would have it's moments here...
Yup, THIS IS the "rough bit"....but for how long??
It only looks about 80-100meters....and they didn't mention anything else....???!!
Let's get to it then...bike back into 1., I'm pushing.....the little thing jumping, bucking, slipping and sliding uphill on those loose rocks, sometimes the bike goes quicker than I can follow, then I'm on my knees, back up and follow the handlebars, thanks God for the auto-clutch !!
After clearing the worst, half pushing and half getting dragged by the bike, I can hear myself going desperately for air, it's all black and stars in front of my eyes, rivers of sweat drenching everything....even the Draggins are soaked down to the knees, the kevlar like coarse sandpaper now.
One up, another to go.
This time Goodie tries to hold the rear of the tanker down to stop it from hopping around and stepping sideways all the time....it only works for a short stretch. Stopping is no option, both pusher and pushee would slide back down the hill, the bike has to be kept on th throttle....forward and upward the only way to make it work.

More blackness and stars....
300 easier meters in 1. gear and we're at a junction...and there's the sign to the winery and Kiewa Valley. Beatcha, ya BASTARD !!
The rest should be a walk in the park.....:chug: :chug:

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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Time to strip starkers, we're BOILING....
A gulp at the water bottle....not much left.
Looking down the track we slowly start to take in how steep it is....
not rocky and really rough, but rutted, roots and rocks everywhere and....steep!!

The medical textbooks proclaim that 85% of the human body consists of water....I reckon they're full of shit!
Sticking around any longer, I'll prove it, too :lol: ...finishing up as a 5-minute wet-patch only in that heat...
The gloves take 2 mins to put on, they're soaked...does kevlar soak up water, too?.... the Draggins feel as heavy as lead...
We're in 2 minds about going down there, perhaps taking our chances on a return through the "rough bit" might be worth it ???

We haven't got enough water...
Let's go!
The helmet goes over like a drenched sponge...disgusting... it stinks like the gloves, too...

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It proved a rough afternoon, partially manhandling the bikes downhill, the rest with feet-down, slipping and sliding sideways...engines turned off (going too slow for engine braking and that damn auto-clutch :) ), 4.8km in 2.5 hours, right along the top of the spine of the ridge...water was rationed to tiny sips.

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In hindsight we should've perhaps turned back and take a punt on that "rough bit"....
A really interesting bit was this...not just a hell of a lot steeper than what it appears in the pic, but also with a 20deg slope towards the valley,
with both feet on the pegs there were a dozen near-offs in that short stretch alone :shock: :shock: :roll:

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We nearly got off and kissed the ground when we finally got to the gate at the winery and the bottom of the valley....

Farkkkk, what a ride :rofl: :rofl: !!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say that the first servo, then supermarket and ultimately the pub made a fortune on us :lol: ....and that's the 2. time around that I could just about prove that "85% body- water" is a load of baloney. :wink:


There was just enough daylight left to load the bikes onto the trailer, the "half-day tootle" had blown-out somewhat :wink: :wink:

Lateron the black clouds broke and gave the place a decent soak, we couldn't care less...

!!! Delivered !!!
 
N

nil_orally

Guest
What a blast of a trip!

I reckon the rehydration concerns were just a cover for the stopping for all those photos.

Nice report, Pete.
 

farawayman

Long Timer
I’ve decided that I don’t want a postie after all. I know what those roads are like. :shock: :shock:
Good report Pete. Hope the heart rate has returned to normal.
:clap: :clap:
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Thanks guys....yeah, some of it was a bit rough....but Christ, it's FUNNNNNN :lol: :lol:
Tony: dead on the $$, some of the shots came about simply because we HAD to stop :lol: (not a bad result for a week's ride, though :p :p )
 
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