Contents
Introduction
On the (long) weekend of March 5-7, 2021, members and hangers-on of the PVVMC had a superb 3 day motorbike ride to Tumbarumba and Quandialla. A real escape from (contrived) reality!
The ride was organised by the Panorama Motorcycle Club – Vintage and Veteran Group members Peter Williamson and Rob Smith. The trip was designed so that workers who could not get the Friday off, could still do an overnight trip to Quandialla. Little did Peter know at the time of planning, that this flexibility would come in handy when the doctor treating his bung fingers unkindly set his appointment for the Friday. In Peter’s absence to and from Tumbarumba, Rob Smith excellently filled in as captain — keeping the unruly riders under control ?.
The intrepid riders for the 3-day rider were
The route took us on day 1 to the Tumbarumba Hotel via Crookwell, Boorowa, Jugiong, Brungle and Tumut. Day 2 ended up at the Bland Hotel, Quandialla after riding through Jingellic, Murray Valley Highway, Albury, Lockhart, Coolamon, and Temora. On day 3, Shamus took his ailing Kwaka straight home via the highway. Several other riders accompanied him. The remaining riders travelled via Young, Boorowa, Crookwell and Taralga. After lunch, the Blue Mountains and Sydney riders turned off at Porters Retreat, while the 3 remaining riders returned to Bathurst via Black Springs, and Rockley.
The full planned itinerary can be viewed here.
Incidents
What happens on the trip, stays on the trip. But, a few incidents worth mentioning include:
- Shamus’ bike got noisier and noisier as the hours ticked by. We’re hoping it is not a costly repair
- Chris wanted to see how accurate his fuel gauge is. He found out! He ran out of fuel near Blayney.
- Ever wondered what ‘fragile’ meant? Richard was the definition of fragility on Sunday morning after 101 too many ports Saturday night. Even a pin drop was painful for Richard. See the picture of him at Blayney, before he decided to go directly to Willo’s instead of via Crookwell and Taralga. Good decision!
- Our 8:30am start on the Friday from McDonald’s turned into a 9 o’clock start after our fearless captain had to return to get his glasses. But this set the tone for the weekend, with all days not starting until 9 or later…very civilised…
- …and especially welcomed after the drinking session of Saturday night — two groups, one on port (followed by even more copious quantities of port), and the other on Chocolate Soldiers (as recommended by Seb — rum, kahlua and milk)
- Richard survived parking in Crookwell…his BMW came out unscathed.
- Willo survived the section from Boorowa to Crookwell without the ignominy of an accompanying Honda Goldwing.
- Barry got a flat just out of Boorowa. Luckily Peter Gore had a compressor in his bag of tricks, allowing Barry to get back to town to get the tyre plugged. [And who doesn’t carry an air compressor with them on their bike??? ?]
- Last time we did the Boorowa-Harden section, our bikes ended up looking like Ward Pally Austen, covered from handlebar to axle with white road mix. This time, we were held up for about 15′ by a stop-go man.
- The Sir George, at Jugiong, where we stopped for lunch, was so busy…and it was only a Friday. Where do they all come from? Jugiong only has a population of 222, and it seemed like they were all at the pub. The meals were delicious, but the prices seemed to be aimed at the Canberra market.
- A few riders turned round after a few hundred metres along the Brungle detour, and headed to Tumut and Tumbarumba the conventional way
- Peter G, Barry and myself went via Greenhills Rd to Tumbarumba. Good roads, smooth surface, consistent corners, hardly any traffic — recipe for fun!
- Permits were created for our impending trip to Victoria the next day. We weren’t asked for them, as expected, but saved the risk of a $6000 fine or thereabouts.
- The traditional Sambucas all round at Tumbarumba Hotel. Yum! (for those who like aniseed flavour)
- We stopped at the bridge crossing near Bethanga as 101 different porsches went by…some sort of rally presumably. The next day (after we had left of course), a motorcyclist was killed. Always a wake-up call.
- I followed Chris while in Victoria, probably for about 30km. Not once did I see his brake lights come on — very frugal!
- Nipper and Neil ‘enjoyed’ their scenic tour of Albury, while the rest of us filled up at the nearby Mobil garage.
- A few of us got caught at the lights at Albury, but somehow managed to get to Lockhard before the others, without actually passing them — good onya Google Maps.
- On the same section, Rod had the misfortune to have a copper tail him for 20-30km. Frustrating!
- Willo may have tried to get us to lose ourselves, from Lockhart to Temora, but little did he know that I had Google Maps talking mildly in my ear. The group behind me, didn’t miss a beat, and we made the 101 different turns without a mishap or double back. You’ll have to try harder next time Peter!
- Daniel, the publican of the Bland Hotel at Quandialla, has to get a shout-out. He is an excellent publican, and makes us so welcome (and we rewarded him generously ?????). The delicious and country-style breakfast before we left on Sunday morning was most appreciated.
- Lunch at Taralga on Sunday was with almost every other motorbike rider in the region. The pub was teaming with all sorts of bikes.
- We parted with the ‘city folk’ at Porters Retreat…an almost end to a wonderful weekend.
- The remaining riders — Willo, Peter Gore and myself — stopped at Rockley Pub to say hi to Terry and others. Here’s hoping Terry’s carpel tunnel surgery is a success.
- An alternate report by Greg Donald can be viewed here.
Statistics and Maps
Day 1
- Map
- Maximum speed: 170.1 kph
- Average speed: 96.6 kph
- Distance: 470km
- Moving time: 4:52:02
- Elapsed time: 8:30:40
- Elevation gain: 7,123m
- Elevation ranged from 252m to 1026m
- Temperature ranged from 10ºC to 30ºC
- Average temperature: 23.8ºC
Day 2
- Map
- Maximum speed: 150 kph
- Average speed: 97.3 kph
- Distance: 455km
- Moving time: 4:40:36
- Elapsed time: 6:58:02
- Elevation gain: 4,574m
- Elevation ranged from 136m to 676m
- Temperature ranged from 11ºC to 32ºC
- Average temperature: 22.4ºC
Day 3
- Map
- Maximum speed: 153 kph
- Average speed: 94.8 kph
- Distance: 382km
- Moving time: 4:01:52
- Elapsed time: 6:32:52
- Elevation gain: 5,032m
- Elevation ranged from 248m to 1241m