6 Geese, Rod-1200GS, Garry-1200RS, Garry W-Triumph Explorer, Jag-1200R, Mike-Kwaka 1400 and Mick-V Strom headed off on Sunday 12th for a 3 day ride into Nth NSW. 1st day took us out to Kilcoy, Esk (coffe break) Lake Perseverance Dam, Pechey, Toowoomba,(lunch at the Blue Mtn hotel) Clifton, with a loop around the Sprint circuit at Leyburn, Karara then onto the Cunningham Hwy and a turn off at Oman Ama and into Texas for the night at the Stockmans Hotel (highly recommend for a stay). The conditions were warm but overcast so not too hot but we had to be wary of the wildlife, several were seen but all were avoided on the final leg into Texas. Takeaway food was consumed in the Hotel that night due to the kitchen being closed Sunday nights. As a side note the Publican 'Helen' picked up Hotelier of the Year 2016 and has made the Hotel bike friendly as indeed the whole town is.
A huge overnight storm at Texas saw us putting on wet weather gear as the roads were wet and more rain forecast so the Monday run saw us head along the Bruxner Hwy through Bonshaw, then down to Ashford and into Inverell in light rain and wet roads for a coffee/brekky stop and where some discarded the wet gear but then put it back on due to the forecast showing heavy rain coming. Over to Glen Innes for a stop at 'The Standing Stones' and then we headed carefully down the Gwydir Hwy with a stop at 'Raspberry Lookout' before a very steady run down the Gibraltar Range in wet conditions and a lunch stop at Jackadgery at the Mann River caravan park shop.
With the weather looking a bit better some took off the wet gear as we headed into Grafton and took the river run alongside the Clarence River up to Lawrence and then out onto the Summerland Way into Casino for fuel before the final short leg into Kyogle for the night at the 'Exchange Hotel' and another great bike friendly hotel to stay at, and the Publican allowed us to put our bikes in the secure beer garden area overnight. No meal available at the Hotel as the kitchen was closed Monday nights so we headed up to the 'Commercial Hotel' and had a great feed there and a drink or two...
Tuesday dawned wet after overnight rain for the run home. Coffee/brekky was taken at the 'Daves Bakery' in town and then on with the wet gear again and waited a short time while one Geese could not find keys for his machine, oops they were in his pocket !! and one Geese decided on a sideways acrobatic act from his bike due to neglecting to put down the sidestand as he stopped before leaving the hotel carpark, much embarrassment !! We headed up the Summerland Way then turned onto a very wet Mt Lindesay Hwy and across the border into Rathdowney where we headed over to Boonah for a break while the rain kept coming, although not very heavy. From Boonah we went through Kalbar onto the Cunningham Hwy then turned at Warrill View to use back roads into Rosewood, Walloon and over to Fernvale then across the Wivenhoe Dam and into Esk for a quick stop before continuing via Gregors Crk rd into Kilcoy for fuel before heading up Stanley River rd through thick cloud and fog and a final stop at McCarthys Lookout where we said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways home.
We had a lot of wet weather riding, about 75% in light rain and wet roads, so overall our average speed was down, but the bikes performed well and good wet gear made it quite bearable, so a very enjoyable 3 days was had by all.