Crazy Idea for your consideration . . .

[oodeano]

Not necessarily now but not in the hottest part of the year this might be fun - late October perhaps?

Meet at Mittagong. Wombeyan caves road, bicentennial national trail and onto the 'tops' 70 km firetrail. Excellent ride - and it goes past the Dingo Dell camping area!!!

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/CampingContent/N0016?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0016&Type=K

I'm willing to mount my 40L esky (I think it's a 40?) full of ice and food where the top box should be. I can also get my two neat little gas bottles, light and cooktop into the soft bags - tie my frying pan and saucepan. Everybody attaches a tent and a couple of medium size logs (or a bag of supermarket firewood) as well as the obligatory sips and marshmallows to their bike and off we go!!!

Set up camp, sips into the esky - off for a bit of an explore - maybe back to the caves for a look - I've never actually stopped there? I'm sure there's a bunch more trails!! Come back to cold sips and a steak in the frypan. Marshmallows and sips by the fire into the night!!

Bacon and egg sambo's in the morning and a bit more exploring before strapping everything on for the ride out.

Woot-woo - sounds like a freakin hilarious weekend to me!!!

Thoughts?

[p10dc]

Crazy idea you say? Is the most sensible idea I have heard in a long time (and that includes the business plan for 2008 :twisted:)
Let's give some tentative dates.
If we plan well ahead would it be possible for most interested people to do it on a Friday-Saturday instead of Sat-Sun?

[graham downunder]

Sounds like a plan to me , just like the old rallies we did 25- 30 years ago. I will not be able to make it as the Vstrom will be 1/2 way round Australia around that time.

[Ad73]

Great idea, Easter was my last camping trip so am keen to go again soon. Make a date and I'm there. Pretty flexible regarding either a Friday-Saturday or Sat-Sun trip.

[Giddy Goanna]

Not necessarily now but not in the hottest part of the year this might be fun - late October perhaps?

Meet at Mittagong. Wombeyan caves road, bicentennial national trail and onto the 'tops' 70 km firetrail. Excellent ride - and it goes past the Dingo Dell camping area!!!

http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/CampingContent/N0016?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0016&Type=K

I'm willing to mount my 40L esky (I think it's a 40?) full of ice and food where the top box should be. I can also get my two neat little gas bottles, light and cooktop into the soft bags - tie my frying pan and saucepan. Everybody attaches a tent and a couple of medium size logs (or a bag of supermarket firewood) as well as the obligatory sips and marshmallows to their bike and off we go!!!

Set up camp, sips into the esky - off for a bit of an explore - maybe back to the caves for a look - I've never actually stopped there? I'm sure there's a bunch more trails!! Come back to cold sips and a steak in the frypan. Marshmallows and sips by the fire into the night!!

Bacon and egg sambo's in the morning and a bit more exploring before strapping everything on for the ride out.

Woot-woo - sounds like a freakin hilarious weekend to me!!!

Thoughts?

Sounds great oodeano.

For a practice run, come along to Thrasher's Terrifying Trek (aka TTT rally) this weekend (25/26 Aug.) located on Thrasher's place at the end of Little Wombeyan fire trail.

See you there

[Auntie_BB]

I've always had plans of doing the TTT ... one day.
A few years back I seriously considered throwing a chunky treaded rear tyre on the back of my old K100RT and joining in the fun.
Must admit I'm getting a tad too cautious in my old age, not too mention a certain fondness for staying relatively clean, to want to try it this weekend. After all the rain we've had you'd better take a snorkel with you for the final river crossing.

[oodeano]

I'd like to go out for the ride but I think I'd rather do it with a smaller group - not 50 drunken yobbo's falling off their dirt bikes because they have cartons of booze strapped on them . . . not that I think that's what it will be :rolleyes:

I wonder if it's dried out much - I'm thinking showers on wed/thurs and road tyres might not be the best combo either. . ?

There's some pics at ADVRider - from post 175 onwards...

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=216894


Anybody feeling brave . . .

[p10dc]

Just read the thread on ADVRider... not my kind of stuff, I'll rather stick to Dean's idea.

[p10dc]

Are we still going ahead with this idea? can I suggest 26-27 October?
Is Friday and Saturday but if most people can't do Friday maybe Sat-Sun.
I can't earlier as I'll be travelling (again).

[oodeano]

Not to leave the other crazy idea out in the cold - I'd still like to do it . . . but here's another one I had to get out in the open!

The company I work for basically shuts down over christmas (I hate christmas - another story) and I have a brother that lives in Perth. Put the two together!!

For about 7 days actual holiday pay I can get 16 contiguous days off over the xmas period - incl public hols and weekends. Seems a waste not to use it?

Just tentative thoughts at the moment . . .

Leave the 20th, 4 big days across the guts - just grunt it out and get it over with. Maybe three really bigguns and a finisher?

24,25,26 in Perth - last xmas before my brother and family move to London. My folks will be there too - fun!

27 through the 6th to get home - 11 days with NYE somewhere along the way?

Like I said just had to get it out there . . :)

[Auntie_BB]

Perth is a BIG trip.
I did it 7 or 8 years ago, and trust me, you'll find it a bit hard going on the 650, especially if you're fully loaded and wanting to set a quick pace. I found it tedious on my big ol' fully faired, km-eating k-series bimmer. You'll be terribly exposed to the nasty cross-winds on the 'wee'. Oh, and it'll be hot too. Adelaide is always filthy hot at christmas.

Having said that I think it's something you should do at least once.
And I mean once, 'cause having ridden over and then having toured around the beautiful SW corner, you won't want to even contemplate getting back on the bike for the 4-5 day trip back.
I had my bike crated up and sent back on the train :cool:

I can give you details of the places to stay overnight, and the 'mustn't miss' touristy things to do along the way. One of the highlights for me was a flight in a 3 seater plane over the Great Aussie Bight - banked in a turn, gazing down along the wing to a humpback whale and her calf, bobbing in the surf. Amazing.

[oodeano]

I actually did it last Nov - one way. Trucked the bikes to Perth for the red bull air race and rode home. Spent most of the time in the SW corner.

3 $200 lunches and a $200 dinner at winerys - bit excessive... Plane flight over the super-pit in Kalgoorlie - where the TomTom cradle broke. Half day boat trip through the islands off Esperance. I spent a couple of days in Port Lincoln and went out on a yacht to see the Tuna Farms. GOR on the way home.

I remember thinking it was long on the way at the time but I look back on it fondly and thought I'd do it again one day. I hadn't planned on it this year but . . .what the heck?

Our list of stops went:

Bunbury, Prevelly (mouth of Margaret River) * 3, Augusta, Walpole, Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Balladonia, Eucla, Streaky Bay, Port Lincoln * 2, Adelaide, Warranmbool, Wangaratta, Sydney.

We did get up at 10am - leave by 11, stuff around. If you did one big day across the middle and cut off a couple of stops it'd be good. Even just get up and go instead of pissing about in the mornings . . .

I kind of got used to riding on a 20 degree angle to the left for a day . . . then to the right for a day. Only had 2 days of the bad stuff.

I'd kind of like to do a trip over the top half - but that's a VERY long one and no doubt better in the cooler months?

What did it cost for the crating and train ride for your bike if you don't mind me asking?

Maybe I'll just wander up and down the east coast. I'd like to do some alpine regions when they're not cold - perhaps xmas will be a good time for that?

[Auntie_BB]

What did it cost for the crating and train ride for your bike if you don't mind me asking?
You don't seriously expect me to remember that do you? It was years ago.
Very dubious guesstimate: $550 for crating and shipping (by train) from Perth to Adelaide. Probably more like $700 thesedays.

I've been waay north too. Best to try that in the cooler months and avoid the wet season at the same time. So many stories to tell. We really must have Sydney Ride 3 so we can all catch up and talk bike again soon.

My office will probably close for two weeks over xmas, so I too will have extended leave <yay!>. I am planning on heading north to my sister's property just south of Brisbane. If travelling by myself I'd probably just head up Thunderbolts, the New England and then take either the Waterfall Way or the Gwydir back to the coast.
However, if I have a travelling companion or two we could zig-zag our way over the Great Divide numerous times and rediscover some unplottable dirt roads I once found in hillbilly country north of the border.

C'mon. Christmas is the time for heading north, chamfering footpegs on the 35km/h corners on the Oxley, spending time in the sun and the surf and getting drunk and terribly sunburnt. It's not the time for mind-numbing stretches of flat, cornerless roads.

[oodeano]

Stop twisting my arm!!

Thing is, I'm from Brisbane - I've probably done 15,000 k's between here and Brisbane and I'll be doing another lot of them on the APEC weekend - THIS WEEKEND in fact . . .

Not to Brag (much:)) but I think I could add some roads to the map between here and Vegas . . . :cool:

On a positive note, my folks would not be home for xmas - I consider that a bonus - house to myself!!! Brother James might be home - he's the only one of us that still has a boat . . . I feel a cunning plan coming on...

I also found out this afternoon that I will be going to Perth for work at the end of this month - 24th from memory? I'll have seen my brother and fam before he moves OS for the next 4 years and not have to go for xmas . . . leaving my 16 days free . . .

What part of south of Brisbane is your sister's place? My folks live in Shailer Park - 25 k's south of Vegas on the freeway.

One more crazy idea while I'm at it . .

My brother is moving to London (Not James that some of you have met - other-brother Tony - don't feel sorry for him - I've heard what he's earning . .) - that would make a nice base to buy an cheap SV/DL for a 2,3 or 4 week run at the Alps over the euro-summer next year - spend a week in London after to sell it? From reading Ogre's thread in the ride reports section it sounds more like skinny road traffic congestion hell than bendy roads to belt up sometimes.

Though that doesn't mean I haven't had two pictures of Stelvio Pass on my wall for almost a year now . . .

These are just linked from the web as my site appears to be down at the moment? I'll edit the links when/if it comes back up . . .

From The Bottom:

http://www.teamcunning.co.uk/stelvio.jpg

From The Top:

http://www.teamllama.co.uk/images/Stelvio.jpg

[Auntie_BB]

Shailer Park! You've gotta be kidding. My sister is at Carbrook - less than 10km away. I like the trend of your cunning plan...what type of boat does brother James have?

And you're right about congested roads over in Euroland. It is possible to find some great stretches of traffic-free corners, but for the most part they're short and few and far between. I had a BRILLIANT run up and over the Great St Bernard Pass from Switzerland into Italy. The majority of traffic takes the new tunnel, but the old road is still there, complete with unfenced dizzying vertical dropoffs to the valley a km below.
Cruising along thru the Black Forest is also a must. The well-banked sweeping corners combined with the cool green depths of the forest put you in another zone. I've got to go back.... one day <big sigh>

[oodeano]

My mother has been a member of Carbrook Golf Club for over 20 years now!

Big drop-offs give me puckeritis. It's a terrible affliction - REALLY slows my riding down . . .

18' half-cab with 140 on it. Old and a bit crusty but it does the job.


I think this is becoming cunning plan 119,456,327c.


As I look back down this thread it started talking about a camping overnighter at Dingo Dell - 26-27 October? I guess that's rain dependant too. Some of the hills/waterbars on the way in are STEEP. I had to take the tankbag off because it was in the way - STEEP!!!

[oodeano]

OK - here's another idea.

Anyone like fancy restaurants?

I went to Tetsuya's tonight...again...UNBELIEVEABLE!!!

Tet's has been voted top 5 in the world for a few years now - it is astounding!!

http://www.tetsuyas.com/


I'm not suggesting we go to Tet's but what about a winery lunch ride in the hunter somewhere? You won't be able to knock back the wine but you get a few nice roads, score a fantastic lunch there -get home with a smile on your face.

What do we think of that?

[Auntie_BB]

Ah ha. Cunning plan 119,456,579b-ii-sub section 5 :D

I think I may have been to Tet's once - for an ex's work Christmas Party.
Truely incredible food. If I ever go again I'll avoid the saki and thus avoid making a total fool of myself (again). Nothing guaranteed tho; making a fool of myself is more or less a regular occurrence.

It's funny that you mention food being part of a ride idea. The destination of my APEC long weekend was chosen because of a little mexican restaurant - the Malibu Mex in Bodalla (NSW far south coast).

A winery in the Hunter is an excellent lunch destination. Especially if you're a little inventive with the route there. Count me in.

PS - Dean, I've have just noticed the time you posted your last message - don't you ever sleep?

[oodeano]

Make a fool of yourself? You'd be disguised at our table . . I wonder why they let us go back?

Long story . .

I try to avoid sleep - it's a sign of weakness :rolleyes: