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One of my goals is to start documenting my adventures on video. To do that, I’ll need an action cam—which I haven’t picked up yet—and I’ll also need to figure out how to edit videos properly. This morning, I took the first step and downloaded Kdenlive, a free and open-source video editor. By the afternoon, I’d whipped up some intro, outro, and title banners, then dumped a bunch of clips into the timeline... and, well, nothing happened. Right--I have to do the editing. That part’s on me. So, I dug out some old phone footage from a ride I did through Tallaganda last year and decided to see what I could come up with. Somehow, I managed to stitch together a semi-coherent video. Not too shabby for someone completely winging it! Faking it ‘til I make it? Definitely. But hey, it’s a start.
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The morning started off well enough, but it wasn’t long before a string of mishaps brought my planned ride to a soggy, frustrating end. Read on to find out how it all unravelled. Everything was just about ready to go for my circuitous ride out to Boorowa and back home.  I had preplanned my route so I would hit some of the dirt roads, which had previously been recommended to me. Sure, the weather didn’t look great, but I figured if I could push past Gunning, the skies would clear and I’d be in for a decent day. The Boorowa forecast promised 24°C and only a 10% chance of 0mm of rain — basically code for “don’t worry about it.” By the time conditions were expected to shift, I’d be well on my way home. So, with cautious optimism, I packed a light rain jacket to wear under my riding gear in case things took a turn. Dressed and geared up — SPOT tracker, goggles, helmet — I was ready. Or so I thought. I decided not to bother refuelling at Eaglehawk since the tank was almost full. Instead, I topped it up from my 5-litre jerry can, reset the odometers to track fuel consumption, and turned on the SPOT tracker. Or tried to. Once, twice, three times — nothing. Flat batteries. Inside I go, only to discover we’re out. Great. Looks like I am stopping at Eaglehawk after all… to buy batteries. I rolled the bike out into the drizzle, fired up OSMAnd+ with my preloaded route, and it actually worked — I’d finally figured out how to convert the GPX file properly. It’s about 5km to Eaglehawk, so I figured I could assess the rain jacket situation once I got there. About 3km in, I regretted not putting it on earlier. The drizzle had crept through my jacket, but I held out — no point stopping on the highway when I could get sorted under shelter. By the time I arrived, my gloves were soaked and my shoulders were damp. No backup waterproof gloves, so nothing to do there but hope I’d dry out later. I grabbed fresh batteries, got the tracker running, and set off again. Heading towards Sutton via Majura Lane — a dirt stretch — I quickly realised my pants were soaked through. Wet undies. Excellent. I reassured myself they’d dry out eventually. The new Motoz Tractionator Enduro IT front tyre wasn’t exactly inspiring confidence on the slick dirt, especially at 25psi. Still, I pushed on — it wasn’t far to Gunning, and I could adjust things there. Along East Tallaganda Rd, still not feeling stable in the wet, I told myself I’d reassess at the next dirt section. The drizzle seemed to be easing the further I rode. On Dicks Creek Rd, I finally decided enough was enough — I dropped the front tyre to 18psi and the rear a bit too. Much better. By the time I reached Boutchers Dr, the rain had all but stopped and the road was looking good — damp from last night, but solid. Even the sun showed up, and I started to dry out. Turning onto Greenwood Rd, I saw they’d finished the new higher bridge — hopefully it floods less now. On to Yass River Rd and, of course, back into the very rain I’d just escaped. The road turned to dirt again at Elms Rd. A few kilometres later, I turned left onto Berrebengalo Rd, cruising comfortably... ...until my phone rang. My wife. Huh. What could she need? FFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKKKK! Our daughter had a sore leg and couldn’t go to vacation care. I had to come home. Ride over! FFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKKKK! I turned on to Lade Vale Rd and hit Gundaroo Rd. Just a few kilometres from Gunning — so close — but I had to turn back. I wasn’t getting to Boorowa. The frustration was mounting. And of course, the rain was waiting. It felt like a tiny cloud was gleefully following me, dumping cold water right down my neck. Again. Now I was wetter than ever, and my hands were freezing. Fortunately, I had merino liner gloves in the tank bag. Bless merino wool — warm even when wet. Another call from my wife, but I missed it, juggling two sets of gloves. A few minutes later she rang again — I answered. Our daughter had miraculously recovered. I could go on with my ride. Grrr. I was soaked, halfway home, and the day felt like a write-off. No point continuing now. May as well head home, warm up, and dry out. But I had one last idea. I pulled over and called back. If our daughter was magically fine, she could go to Vacation Care — and my wife could drop her off on the way to work. She agreed. When I got home, everyone was still there. My wife was finishing up some online work before heading out. My daughter was cheery as ever. Me? I was cold, dripping, and trying very hard not to be grumpy. My shirt was damp halfway up from the hem, and my undies were a disaster zone. I stripped off and jumped in the shower. Took ages to warm up. Next time, I’m definitely taking rain pants too. So here I am, at the computer, alone and a little out of sorts, venting to all of you. Here’s the map of my aborted Boorowa ride. Time for a new front tyre on the mighty DRZ. I decided to give the Motoz Enduro IT a go. I’ve always run the Pirelli MT21, but after seeing the Motoz recommended on the DRZ Facebook page, I figured—why not? From this point, lot's of cursing and swearing ensued! Lessons learned:
Here’s another one of my one-off designs. This time, I’ve laid out what I see as the equivalency between motorbikes and bicycles — something that’ll likely spark a few debates. On the front, there’s a small explorerist emblem over the left chest. What do you think of the chart — do you agree, or would you draw the lines differently?  The day has finally arrived, and I can proudly take off my P-Plates! For me, the biggest perks of no longer being a provisional rider are:
I was fortunate enough to get a chance to escape for a ride, so I made the most of it and invited a few friends to join me on a journey to a place I’ve been wanting to visit for quite a while—Jugiong. Jugiong is a small town on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, near its confluence with Jugiong Creek, in the Hilltops Council Local Government Area of New South Wales, Australia. It’s located just off the Hume Highway, around 30 kilometers southwest of Bookham and 40 kilometers northeast of Gundagai. But of course, I wasn’t going to take the Hume Highway. My plan was to take the scenic route over the Brindabellas and travel on dirt roads. Luckily, I had created a GPX route to Jugiong a few months back, so I only needed to make a few tweaks to get it ready. I met up with Bernie (on the Tenere), Dave (on a DRZ), and Greg (on a DRZ) at the Weston Creek Ampol, which is a popular meeting spot for riders heading into the Brindabellas. With our tanks topped up, we made our way to Curries Rd for our first stop, where I aired down the tires. On the way up Curries Rd, we passed two groups of female trail runners, and at the top, one of them offered to take a group photo, which I gratefully accepted. It’s not often I’m in any of my ride photos! We continued along Two Sticks Rd and turned onto Brindabella Rd at Piccadilly Circus. From there, we descended past the turn-off to Brindabella and kept heading along Brindabella Rd for a while. When the road started heading south, we took a shortcut through the forestry at Wyangle Rd, which led us to Billapaloola Rd. We headed north toward Wee Jasper Rd. I think it was here that we hit a section of asphalt, which then turned back to gravel—this is visible in the photo below. It was here we came across a devastating accident. We stopped to assess the damage, and soon Foordy and Bernie joined me. Dave, seeing us stopped, probably overthought the situation, and with the gravel switch and everyone pulled up, he may have locked up his front wheel and went down. Now we had two crashes to deal with. Luckily, Dave’s crash was low-speed, and his pride was the most hurt. We got his bike upright and inspected the damage. Dave straightened his barkbuster, but there was nothing to be done for the car involved. After that, we rode into Brungle, a small village. I spotted my first funny road sign there: Killimicat St. I wish I’d stopped to take a photo of it! Turning onto Brungle Rd, it wasn’t long before we spotted the Tumut River. We followed it for a while until it joined the Murrumbidgee River. Along the way, I noticed an old church that had been converted into a house. I didn’t know about it, so I’ll have to look into its history. We continued following the Murrumbidgee River, passing a mix of cattle and sheep properties. By this time, it was getting quite warm, and I noticed the wind picking up. As we ascended Bundarbo Rd, the wind really started to pick up. Foordy and I stopped for a minute since we had somehow lost Bernie and Dave over the last few kilometers. When they caught up, we found out that the strap on Dave’s bike had come loose, so they had to stop and readjust it. Bundarbo Rd is a bit tricky on the maps, as it follows the ridge of a steep hill. With the wind nearly gale-force, the ride along the ridge was both exhilarating and challenging, trying to keep steady. It eventually descended back down to the bridge over the Murrumbidgee and into Jugiong. We stopped for lunch at the Sir George Hotel, which was a real highlight. The food was excellent, and I’ve since learned that this spot has a great reputation, drawing people from all over the area. Next door is the Long Track Pantry and Cafe, which is also well-regarded. After years of driving up and down the Hume Highway, I never knew this little township off the highway was worth stopping for. After a relaxing lunch, we headed to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church to satisfy my quest for old churches. The weather was heating up, so we decided not to visit the other former church or the waterworks lookout. Instead, we refueled our bikes and started heading home. On the way back, we had the same challenge of riding along the ridge of Bundarbo Rd. This time, instead of turning toward Brungle, we continued straight through Gobarralong, following the Murrumbidgee River once again. At Nanangroe Rd, we turned away from the river and made our way toward Adjungbilly. We passed through several properties, and a few times I questioned whether we were on a public road or private property. It didn’t help that there were many signs warning of private property at cattle grid crossings. But these signs were mostly referring to land off the road, as the road itself was still public. We quickly passed through Adjungbilly and turned back onto Billapaloola Rd. Here, I had to stop for my now obligatory photo at the turn-off to WOFTAM Rd. It always makes me laugh—simple pleasures. We then turned onto Wee Jasper Rd, and at Tumorrama, I stopped at the memorial hall (opened in 1967). Tumorrama consists mainly of the hall, the fire shed, and the Holy Advent Church across the road, which I had visited on my last ride out that way. We took a shortcut on Fairview Rd, which was a more direct route to Wee Jasper Rd. It might sound strange, but Wee Jasper Rd took a longer, winding path. This shortcut felt even sketchier than before, as it led us through more private property and even onto some double-track at one point! Eventually, we made it back to Wee Jasper Rd for the winding descent into Wee Jasper. I stopped to take a photo of the Catholic Church while I waited for the others to catch up. In the town (if you can call it that), we stopped so Dave could empty the remnants of his (well, mine actually) fuel bladder into his bike. After that, we had several kilometers of asphalt, including some fun twisty roads out of Wee Jasper. We turned onto Sawyers Gully Rd for the last stretch of dirt. I decided to ride harder since I knew the road was straightforward. I was impressed that Foordy stayed on my tail for most of it. On the final stretch to the junction with Mountain Creek Rd, I was pushing around 110 km/h, and I could still see Foordy in my rearview. I was really impressed! When I stopped at the junction, Bernie pulled up beside me. It turned out he had passed the others earlier and was enjoying the chance to open up the throttle. Eventually, Foordy and Dave arrived, and we refueled before saying our goodbyes. We decided not to stop at the Ampol at Weston Creek on the way back. It was an awesome day, and everyone agreed that it was a fantastic ride. Thanks to Bernie, Dave, and Foordy for tagging along—it truly made a great ride even better. Ride Maps CBR to Jugiong (182Kms) Jugiong to CBR (178Kms) |
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