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Hi Guy’s n Girls,
I decided I couldn’t go the whole weekend without a ride so I went and did a bit of a reccy for the Wiseman’s to Brisbane run. I started out at Buttai and tried to find a way through to Mt Vincent. Google maps show a road through the area but it had a locked gate, luckily there was a gap in the fence so in I went. The ground was really wet and slippery in some places but not too bad, I only got so far when I came across a puddle that I didn’t want to try and cross because I only had my work boots on and I wasn’t sure how deep it was or how soft the ground underneath would be, so I will go back again when the ground has dried out a bit and I have the right boots on. It is mine company land though and I actually had to pass within a few feet of the edge of the open cut mine that’s about 100m deep, so I don’t know if that will be an option.
Then I headed around to the where the road is meant to come out and carried on from there. The problem is that between Blackhill and Dungog on the most direct route, the bulk of the land is privately owned farm land or Mines land, so avoiding the black top is impossible without going and asking for permission from every land owner along the way which is not practical. With that in mind I thought it might be better to take a more scenic route through the Maitland and try and make use of the rail service corridors out along that way.
Just outside of Bolwarra I was able to get onto the rail corridor and followed it for a short time before track works blocked my path so it was back to the road for a little while until I was able to get back again a bit further up the road. The riding was quite good along here as there was mostly gravel with the occasional bit of mud and clay to keep me on my toes. Again I came to a water crossing that I wasn’t dressed to check, it did however have concrete on the bottom, at least on the edge but as it looked quite deep I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and headed back out to the road. I was again able to get back onto the rail corridor and got to within about 20km from Dungog when I decided to call it a day and head home cutting back through Clarence Town, Hinton and Morpeth which was a really nice ride.
With the big ride a long way off I will get plenty of chances to get back out and try and connect the bits and pieces I found so far. At least when we have to hit the black top it is a fairly quiet road and winds it’s way through the hills in what is a very nice road ride.
Here are a couple of pic’s from the day, I also ran into a mate who was out riding on his 1951 AJS. (That’s all I know about it)
