[DLicious]

My RR on The Illawarra Amble

Spent two of the best days ever riding with a great bunch of guys, doing some of my most challenging dirt riding yet.
Can honestly and openly say it was awesome, Jas and I had a great time with Chops, Muddy, Astro, and Saturn5 on this ride, with Jas wanting to thankyou to all the guys for making her feel so welcome to come along and join in on the fun. :thumbup:
Can only add my thanks to hers, thanks guys! :thumbup:

My ride started out nice and early with a quick run to pick up Jas, then a run up Macquarie Pass to meet up with the group at the pie shop for a coffee and snack before heading off through Kangaloon to High Range via Bowral and the first of the gravel to the Wollondilly River, Wombeyan Caves, and onto Taralga for a great night in the Argyle Inn at Taralga where some :var_12: friendly ghosts live so they say, along with some mysterious :mod2_alien: aliens who joined us for dinner! :green_lol:
The next morning, it was sadly time to say goodbye to Wardy who had to go home, before heading off through Swallow Tail Pass to Marulan for brekky for both riders and bikes.
It was then onto Neriga via Bungonia and Windellema before stopping in a Tinjara Falls, where Jas and I reluctantly had to bid our own goodbyes as much as we would both liked to have continued on but couldn't due to work committments on Sunday.

We only took a few photos, but instead of posting them here, I've added them to the videos Jas took along the trip.

Here's the links to the first 3 done so far
Illawarra Amble Day 1 - YouTube
Illawarra Amble Day 1 Part 2 - YouTube
Illawarra Amble Day 1 Part 3 - YouTube


A great big huge thanks to Chops for putting up the ride, and to Muddy, Astro, and Saturn5 for their great company over the two days. :thumbup:

 

[windinhair]

Thanks DL ,looked like a lot of fun,what speed would you have been doing on the dirt? I noticed early Muddy down at the front wheel,did you drop tyre pressures?

 

[v-chops]

Well done DL and to Jass for the great vid, and thank you for joinimg in. I can't take all the credit for the ride as Muddy helped me out wiyh the planning, posting and setting up my Zummo, but it's easy to plan for "easy going folk". Just goes to show you don't need high kilometers or high speeds to make a good ride :thumbup:

 

[DLicious]

Thanks DL ,looked like a lot of fun,what speed would you have been doing on the dirt? I noticed early Muddy down at the front wheel,did you drop tyre pressures?

Thanks Windi, Chops, Muddy, Astro, and Saturn all dropped their tire pressures for the dirt whereas I kept mine at road pressures. Average speed would have been around 40-60kmh for me, Muddy and Chops are far better on dirt so they were going a bit quicker, can't say for Astro and Wardy

 

[AstroBob]

Great Vids DL & Jas :thumbsup:

A a great ride overall, thanks to all - Muddy, Chops, Wardy, DL & Jas :thumbup:

Will post some pics soon.

:cheers2:
BOB

 

[windinhair]

Great Vids DL & Jas :thumbsup:

A a great ride overall, thanks to all - Muddy, Chops, Wardy, DL & Jas :thumbup:

Will post some pics soon.

:cheers2:
BOB

Bob that looked like a fairly hard top surface,what pressure did you drop to?

 

[mudrat]

great work DL and Jas :thumbup:, you guys have really set the standard for vids, doubt minr will be up to that standard just yet. Maybe I should just send you mine and let you present them

anyway got in around 5.00 tonight from a top few days, will post a Full RR as time permits, got a busy week coming up so it maybe a while.

I'll no doubt need my flame suit at the ready once Chops and Astro reply :new_shitsmiley:

 

[AstroBob]

Bob that looked like a fairly hard top surface,what pressure did you drop to?

Hi Don, I did 24 Front & 26 Rear. That stuff was hard but loose in places, BUT nothing like the stuff Muddy found Day 2:furious::headbang:

 

[windinhair]

Cheers Astro,DL day 2 ta,:mrgreen:

 

[ockerstrom]

Excellent report and vids guys, sorry I couldn't make it [maybe the next ride that comes up].....

I drove one of my furniture removal trucks through that tunnel in the rock while trying to "dodge" the truck checking station at Marulen back in the eighties. :yikes:

Also met a bull roaming the road further down, he decided to take on my truck but in the end he went headlong down a VERY STEEP [near vertical] embankment. :green_lol:

Turned out we couldn't get across the river further down and had to come back up, surprisingly we met the bull again.
He was seriously pissed off and decided to take us on in earnest this time :jawdrop:
Managed to outrun him with only a few head-butts inflicted on the side and rear of the truck. :green_lol::green_lol::green_lol:

The full story of my first interstate run from Victoria to Sydney all those years ago will be available over a beer on a future road trip. :fineprint:

Thanks for posting Paul and Jas, you may have a new career path there guys.

I look forward to reading the reports and seeing pics from the other participants.

Cheers,
Ock

 

[DLicious]

great work DL and Jas :thumbup:, you guys have really set the standard for vids, doubt minr will be up to that standard just yet. Maybe I should just send you mine and let you present them

thanks Muddy :thumbup: but I can honestly say I aspire to do really good vids like Exbanditrider and Hugh (hsparky1 on YouTube) not sure of his name on here, maybe one day I'll get that good, and I'm sure Jas will continue to improve her filming technique too :mrgreen:

 

[p38arover]

The full story of my first interstate run from Victoria to Sydney all those years ago will be available over a beer on a future road trip. :fineprint:

If you have 2-1/2 hours to spare! :green_lol:

 

[saturn 5]

Illawarra amble.

Thanks to all for your great company and to Jas and DL for the post. My trip home via Crookwell/Bathurst was one of the best rides I've done in a long time. Perfect road and weather with almost no traffic at all. The weekend was a joy,many thanks.

WARDY

 

[mudrat]

Part 1

After negotiating Shitney’s early morning peak hour traffic AstroBob and myself eventually met up with V Chops as arranged at the Scarborough Hotel only to find they weren’t open for breakfast, so after a quick roads side snack in Thirroul we headed for the Robertson, by way of Macquarie Pass, to meet up with DLicious and Saturn 5 and although we encountered some slow moving traffic it was still good fun.

enroute to the Pass

group outside the pie shop

After sampling the fare and coffee at Robertson Pie Shop we headed to Bowral via Kangaloon with threatening skies overhead.
Green Hills Rd and Wombeyan Caves Rd both proved to be hidden treasures both having a good surface with amazing vistas as a backdrop.

couple of pics along Greenhills Rd

hole in the wall

Wonbeyan Caves Rd

A picnic area after the bridge over Wollondilly River saw us stop for an extended chat,

before continuing on through the picturesque Wombeyan Caves camping area to the Argyle Inn, Taralga which was to be our lodgings and source of much entertainment for the night.Thanks in part to the locals.

some random pics from the first day

all locked up for the night

we where a little concerned this was our room for the night

Saturday saw Saturn 5 head for home, while the rest of us headed for Swallowtail Pass, after the obligatory group pic of course.

I'd been looking forward to doing the Swallowtail Pass for sometime now so it was good to finally get the opportunity, although it wasn’t as steep as I had imagined.
the road to the pass

dry creek crossing

going down swallowtail

the road after the Pass was fast and open

a rest stop at the Shoalhaven River

now thats a chicken strip

After brunch in DL’s local café on the 150’ meridian we headed for Nerriga and Tianjarra Falls where we said goodbye to DL and Jas.

Tianjarra Falls

to be continued

 

[mudrat]

Part 2

Our original plan was to head for Sussex inlet via Wandean Fire trail, but an unmapped contributory of Wandandian creek was to be our undoing, for although it was reasonably wide it was quite deep towards the centre.

doesn't look that deep in the pic

So after much umming and arrhing it was decided that strom’s don’t swim that well when so far from home. Don and I soon had the gps’s whirring and found a new route via 12 mile Rd, but it soon proved to be a road in name only.

This beauty had everything you could hope for deep muddy ruts, rock slabs, sand, creek crossings and never ending down hills.
Although I was in my element I got the distinct feel there was going to be a lynching soon if conditions got any worse.

some pics along 12 mile road

a short video - one of the better sections


But once we crossed the Princes highway onto Wents Rd conditions improved to open flowing trails with the odd section of packed sand to play in.
We arrived at Sussex Shore’s, Sussex Inlet soon after, our humble digs for the night, but located across the road from the local RSL it was inevitable that the odd dust settler would be consumed.

all tucked in for the night

nice spot here down by the river

to be continued

 

[mudrat]

Part 3

Sussex inlet was a great location for our stop over and I will definitely be keeping it in mind, next time I need a bed down that way, plus I think I found the fabled money tree

After airing up and refuelling in Sussex we headed up the Princess to Nowra for brunch, After getting through the Fathers day grid lock in Berry we headed for Fitzroy falls, I’d promised the trouble and strife I’d get her some of the delicious fudge from a road side stall along Kangaroo Valley Rd, we sampled on a family trip down that way. Kangaroo Valley Rd is great road, if you like tight turns and steep descents, and in my opinion far better the Macquarie Pass.

view from the fudge stall

Fitzroy Falls

Chops and Astro

After Fitzroy Falls we finally got a chance to ride some more dirt as we made our way to Belmore Falls, after which we made for Robertson and Carrington Falls, before heading to Don’s place in Wollongong via Jamberoo Mountain Rd, which is another good bike rd.

Belmore Falls

Carrington Falls

After a enjoyable evening at Don and Margs place, Astro and I headed home late Monday morning via Bulli Pass and Appin enroute to catch up with p38arover @ McGraths Hills Macca’s
As it was getting late we didn’t stay too long but it was good to catch up and refresh ourselves. From there we headed for home via Galston Gorge and the Old Pacific Hwy to Calga, where we parted ways.

I arrived home around 5.00 pm with 1235 k’s on the speedo, totally stuffed, but after another top weekend away it was worth it.
Thanks everyone for great extended weekend.

 

[ockerstrom]

Nice pics Muddy, good report too.

Obviously I needed to be there with my camera and mini tripod for "lizard shots", then there would have been pics that included EVERY member of the ride. :biggrinjester:

Jas, I'm disappointed they didn't get you in any of the pics of the group

Astro, you are getting much better on the dirt, well handled with that little sidestep your bike did in the vid.

Good to see everyone enjoyed a great trip.

[turns green with envy and goes back to look at all the pics and posts again to dream wistfully of doing the ride one day in the future].

 

[v-chops]

Thanks for the great RR and pics Muddy.
I'll keep talking to you, but I'm not sure that Astro will, after you took us across a perfectley good tar road to continue on dirt :green_lol: at the end of day 2.
I'll just add some pics
Day One

One for Ron

The Wollondilly River

One for Ock

The road into Taralga

 

[v-chops]

Day Two
Peak hour in Taralga

Between Swollowtail Pass and Marulan

A scurry for brunch

Look mum, all gone!

 

[windinhair]

I was travelling along nicely thinking I can do that until the scenic "12 mile road" :yikes:,your tour guide has a sense of humour .