November's 3G Trinity Ride

While the Northern Hemisphere transitions from Fall into Winter, we here in the Southern Hemisphere transition from Spring into Summer, so now is a great time to get out and about on your motorcycle before the December and January heat and humidity makes it too hot for ATG-ATT.

With this in mind, two friends and I decided to undertake a "3G Trinity" ride, as in Great Roads, Great Food & Wine, and some Great Conversations. 

The great roads we selected were Thunderbolts Way, followed by the Bylong Way.  Both are long winding roads that include some very steep mountain climbs. 

The great food and wine were to be enjoyed at the Dogwood BX Steak House in Bathurst, where in 2022 we had perhaps the best steaks we've ever eaten, and the three of us would supply the great conversations over a bottle or three of some great red wine.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast was for clear skies and no rain, and the Rural Fire Service website showed that there were no bush-fires in the areas we had planned to ride through, so everything was "green for go".

At 07:30 am on Tuesday morning, we headed north from the Berowra 7-Eleven, located on the edge of Sydney's northern suburbia, along the dreaded M1 up to Freemans Waterhole for a "breakfast of champions" (coffee and sugar-coated donuts).

From there, we made our way 60 km further north to the turn-off of Bucketts Way, and another 80 km to Gloucester for an early lunch at the local bakery, before heading north-west on Thunderbolts Way.

By now, the temperature had reached 33*C / 92*F and it was time to "delayer" some of the clothing under our ATG-ATT.

Thunderbolts Way is a picturesque road that runs from Gloucester to Walcha on the New England Tableland, covering a distance of 150 km.  It is named after Captain Thunderbolt, a notorious bush-ranger (outlaw) who roamed the area in the early 1800s.  

This leg was divided into 3 sections.  The first section is an easy, 45 km of winding road that runs beside the Manning River, before a very steep 2nd section of about 25 km climbing up the side of the mountain with multiple switch-back corners every 100 metres or so.   Nirvana for a high-revving multi-cylinder motorcycle.

The final section of 80 km involves an easy ride through rolling countryside to the small township of Walcha, where we enjoyed a peppermint tea and a piece of carrot cake at the old Royal Hotel.  This refreshment was served by a lovely young Irish back-packer travelling around Oz on her gap-year before starting her medical degree at university.

From Walcha, it was a simple 90 km ride to Tamworth and our overnight destination at Motel 359 on Goonoo Goonoo Road.  In the language of the local First Nations people Goonoo Goonoo means ‘a lot of running water’, although I didn't see any rivers in the immediate area.

Dinner was at the Long Yard Hotel, where we have enjoyed many a fine steak dinner over the years.  My choice on this ride was the Bourbon BBQ Pork Ribs covered in a delicious bourbon-based BBQ sauce, with charred corn on the cob and chips (french fries), enjoyed with a few glasses of a fine Taylor's Estate Shiraz.  I think the US name for shiraz is syrah.

The tasting notes for this wine suggest it has a lively palate of rich red berry fruits, plum and spice, along with subtle chocolate and savoury characters from the oak maturation.   I am not sure about that description, but I am sure that I did enjoy the wine.

It was while we were enjoying our dinner that another travelling motorcyclist struck up a conversation and told us that one of the river causeways on the Bylong Way, our intended route, was now permanently underwater and covered in slime and algae that had resulted in multiple motorcycle crashes, and reportedly 1 death, over the last few months.  

Apparently, the problem is now so bad that the local Town Council sends a maintenance crew out there once a month to steam pressure-clean the concrete causeway. That is great if you ride across the causeway the day after the cleaning, but not much good if you ride across it 3 weeks later.  

As Shakespeare wrote "caution is preferable to rash bravery", so it was time for Plan B and a different route.

On Wednesday morning, instead of heading south towards Murrurundi for breakfast, we headed southwest to the small village of Caroona, where we enjoyed a breakfast of fried eggs and bacon on toast and piping hot coffee.  I am certain that the Caroona General Store will never get a Michelin Hat, but the eggs and bacon were very good.

From Caroona, we headed west across the Liverpool Plains for 65 km on a flat and straight road to Premer before turning south and travelling 45 km to Coolah.   

There used to be a great little cafe here (The Rose Garden), but I was told that agreement on a new building lease could not be reached, which in turn seems to have led to the cafe's permanent closure and now the building is unused.  A loose-loose solution.

After re-fuelling in Coolah, we headed south-east to Ulan and onto Mudgee for lunch at the Dancing Goat Cafe.  The smashed avocado on grilled rye bread with smoked feta cheese was very good.  Maybe they will get a Michelin Hat?

To make up for missing the Bylong Way, I plotted a new route that would take us south to Sofala then west Crudine and then south again to Bathurst, our planned overnight stop.

It was on the first part of this route, just before Ilford, that 2 Porsche 911s tucked in behind our 3-bike convoy.  From my view of them in my mirrors, they looked like classic 1980s 911s rather than the more modern models.  Even so, they proved that they were more than capable of making quick time.

At Ilford, we turned onto the Sofala road, still closely followed by the Porsches, and as this road has a very good road surface with few bumps/potholes, a quick pace was dialled in.  I would have loved to have seen a drone's-eye view of the 5 vehicles as we made our way along the winding mountain roads.

At Sofala, a small historic gold-mining village on the Turon River, we turned west onto the Hill End Road towards Crudine, while the Porsches continued south towards Bathurst.

Hill End Road winds its way along the river bank for a few kilometres before making its way up into the surrounding hills via multiple tight switch-back corners.  At Crudine, we turned south towards Bathurst and made our way back down into the river valley, again via multiple switch-back corners.

I must say I do prefer accelerating up hills, rather than braking slowly down hills.

It seems to me that Bathurst has 2 main attractions.  The first is the Mount Panorama Race Circuit and the second is the Dogwood Steak House, where in 2022, we enjoyed some fantastic steak dinners. 

At that time, we were all in agreement that the steaks were the very best any of us had ever eaten.  They were so good that I gave it a 12 out of 10 score when I made an online review after that ride.

This time, while our steaks were still very good, they were perhaps just not as great as last time.  Say, an 8.5 out of 10 score.  Still, the wine was good plus the dinner conversation was enjoyable, so overall, a good night was had by all.

Thursday dawned bright and clear, albeit a little cooler, and after breakfast at Nikki's Cafe, we headed towards Crookwell via Tuena.  This is a great little back road, with very little traffic, that winds its way through the gum trees before a steep winding descent down into the Abercrombie River valley, and like all descents, the road then winds its way back up from the river valley on the other side.  Result is just more switch-back curves to enjoy.

Crookwell is about 145 km from Bathurst, say 90 minutes travelling time, so by the time we arrived at Matt's Bakery, we were ready for another coffee together with a fantastic caramel tart for that mid-morning sugar spike.  

From here, we took the Bannister Road for the 50 km leg to Goulburn, our last stop for fuel and a bio-break before joining the Hume Hwy / M7 / M2 for the 225 km trip back home.

There is not a lot that can be said about this last leg, other than it was boring.

All up, we travelled 1,419 km along some very enjoyable winding back roads.  We enjoyed some good food and good wine, and most certainly some good company.