A frosty Day to Longwood

goodie

...
It's been too long between rides! I'm itching to go - the invite to Longwood lunch with the Open Road Tourers is very tempting...... but the morning is sooooo cooold... :cold:
Should I? Shouldn't I? Aaaah, lets go!
 
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goodie

...
Pete and I are going on our own, meeting the group in Longwood. We want to explore some little roads along the way. The first hour is only transit - and anyway, the fingers are too cold to hold the camera - but then: the first rays of sunshine trying their best

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KingStrom

Long Timer
You guys were keen, Shane and I headed out later in the day to Glenlyon General store for lunch and it was a bit fresh even then and we left home at noon!!!lol
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Heated grips??

Bwhahahahaaaa


Forget 'em !!:evil:

They might as well melt the rubber, but there ain't no ounce of warmth coming through on a crunchy morning of crackling, white paddocks at Yarra Glen on one of the shortest days of the year.

Not much better on the Killingsworth Rd. out the back of Yea, skimming just above the low river flats of the Goulburn River and its dormant arms and lagoons.



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But what a sweet road it is....here some of the shortish sealed section.


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Impressive!


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Above the river-flats on the Molesworth-Caveat gravel.



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There's some promise amongst the fog and huge granite boulders...yo, we're in 'bogie-country!



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The fog is finally losing the battle....the magic starts here! :glu:clap:



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The bustling metropolis of .....Caveat!!


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I'm getting to like this lil' Husky!! :eek::eek::chug:



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Typical Strathbogies...boulder country!
And balm for the soul with empty roads and farmtracks, and a near total absence of people and traffic of any kind!! :drool:
Just north of Terip Terip


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Tacking north


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Dancing the bends on the Longwood-Ruffy Rd.




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Nature-built



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Human-built



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Looks like they'll be popping the roof-nails at the White Hart Pub in Longwood soon...


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Thanks to the OpenRoad Tourers for an enjoyable lunch, the laughs and yarns...a happy hour-and-a-half filled with
stories of bikes and travels, roads and places.
(sorry to hear that an another Strom bit the dust on their way home, at least the rider came out of it with just a bit of bark lost and some bits that'll turn
pretty colourful soon).



Turning back towards home, the sun is hiding behind a thin veil of clouds, everything turns pale, opaque or pastel.
Gap Rd. climbs into the nearby hills.


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Past Upton Hill and it's wind-turbine, Upton Rd. follows along the spine of a line of hills past an ever increasing sprawl of vineyards.
The views to the north and south are spectacular, even on a not-quite-perfect day.


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The easy gravel...and magic views... continue along Tarcombe Rd.



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...while the Wickett Hill isn't a wicked hill anymore.
It hasn't lost any of its charme, though... which also includes a short but rough-ish, shallow + slimy-slippery creek-crossing, just enough to keep most roadie-riff-raff out :bt:bees:

The near invisible, deep, sandy patch at the bottom of the hill has been stabilized with some coarse rock...no more "shiaaat" and eyes-like-dunny-lids anymore.



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glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Hughes Creek


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It's been yet another fabulous Strathbogies/ Switzerland Ranges tootle, a million miles away from the daily grind, noise, panic, rush and tension....and yet only a couple of hours from Melbourne.


The Highlands Rd. to Ghin Ghin and Yea is a fitting lead-out, the light of the late afternoon painting the hills and boulder-piles into a grey-pink, flocks of sheep moving as slow as the clouds... some dead, white trees reaching into the skies.
Fingers turn white and numb again while flowing with the returning weekend traffic.... pink hills turning to grey, grey turning to black.

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'til next time!
 
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