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Yamba is a small place mate and their are a few old bulls up this way that I’m sure you would know.
Sounds like we need to organize a ride in Coffs and find out
Nick
Good stuff STM !!
We are lucky having those trails so close and hardly ever another rider on them
Nickj
We left Mungindi and headed west along some dirt roads and it was bloody freezing , a lot of frost on the sides of the road and traveling on the big straights it drove the cold right through.
Road train territory
Then it was time to turn into Cubbie Station , a huge Cotten farm and it was very impressive.
Cotton bails
We almost got through Cubbie when a large bog hole appeared and made thing a little exciting. Soulsey did very well getting the vstrom through without knobbies.
We then headed to Hebal and got some fuel.
Chicken taking in the busy Hebal main street
Hebal pub. The Kelly gang is said to have drank here while on the run.
I loved this sign on the pub !!
We hit more dirt then arrived at lightning Ridge just after midday. Bollocks had a mine tour planned so after a quick bite we went and checked out the ridge !
This Miners camp , he lived to 93 and made his family very wealthy
Bedroom and lounge , same room !
Second room
Chicken getting ready to go down a mine
Razor and Soulsey
Bollocks and Soulsey , off the hat fits !!
Bollocks being Bollocks
In the mine, built 1963 !
Bollocks had booked some cabins so it was , dump the gear off and head to the pub for a feed and ….. Yep more beer
Cabins
The next morning we knew we had a big day ahead so we were on the bikes at 7.20 and heading out of lightning Ridge. Bollocks took us on a good dirt loop bringing up into beautiful Walgett for breakfast.
Next stop was Pilliga and some very straight fast ( 100km/h max of course) dirt roads
Pilliga wasn’t that busy while we were their but the guy made sure we could get fuel at the servo
A nervous Bollocks led us out of Pilliga and into the Pilliga Scrub. A notoriously difficult forest to navigate and a place where people have been lost and perished in the past.
I have to say Bollocks did an amazing job getting us through and it was the standout part of the ride for me. Tight twin tracks with some deep sandy corners to keep you alert. Soulsey wrestled the v-strom through the sand and almost made it out up right with just one deep section pulling the Suzuki down. Bollocks found a sandy left hander to lay down on and Razor dismounted the KLR in a very sandy section. It was top fun and we all had a good laugh.
We got some fuel and Soulsey made the 1.5 hour ride home to Tamworth . I look forward to catching up with him again.
Boggabri was Saturday nights camp spot and we set up ate , drank a few beers and after the big day were all crashed out by 9.30.
We all got up before 6 am and loaded the bikes for the trip home. Tb and Chicken were heading their own way back south while I hooked up with Razor and Bollocks. We rode dirt back to Barraba with Bollocks pealing off to Tamworth along the way.Razor took us on some more good tracks but it was f…ing freezing. Once again Razors wife looked after us with a blazing fire to warm up and a cuppa before my solo ride back to Yamba.
I managed to get on some dirt riding back but having rained in Grafton the day before I opted out of going down the old glen Innes road and went the tar down the mountains. As far as tar riding goes this would have to be some of the best.
I got home about 2.30.Inverell
Mann river for a rest
Thanks heaps to Bol for putting on this ride , it was up with my best ADV rides for sure.
It was great to meet and ride with Soulsey and Razor , two top blokes !!
And as always good fun whenever TB and Chicken are around , can’t wait for the next time !!Nickj
After Heidi got over her little problem ( no-one really knew where the oil was coming from we got going.
Bollocks lead us out of Tamworth and onto some top twin track which endlessly wound through farm land and was great fun. Just before Barraba we stopped at an old asbestos mine
We all held our breath and got going !! Fast !!
In Barraba we met up with another old bull , Razor , his wife made us pickletts with jam and cream which were awesome
thanks again. Razor lead us out along some more great farm twin track
Not long after the last photo Razor tested the Klr in a big bog , found out that road tyres aren’t the go and ended up on his arse
We had a fast ride along some wide dirt roads and as it got dark the boys ahead got the kangaroos moving and TB and I played ‘ dodge the roo ‘ at 100 + km/h !! Scary stuff.
We made Mungindi on the NSW Queensland border on dark and quickly set up camp. Beers were bought and Bollocks drank like their was no tomorrow. We had a great laugh round the fire and all went to bed a little drunk
. I woke around 6.30 and took a few camp photos.
Razors camp
Soulseys camp
Chickens camp
Tb and my camp
Bollocks camp after a load of beer and a lot of rum. He fell on it getting in and if you zoom in by the door you’ll see the noodles he couldn’t keep down
More later …
Hope you’ve had a good one mate !
See you on a ride soon
Happy Birthday
Nick
Getting ready on a frosty morning
Bollocks sporting his new Sidi crossfire in BMW colours of course !!
After a 1 km ride to maccas we rode another km to the bike shop for repairs !!
Tb is happy to be in a Honda shop getting the BMW fixed !!
Cheers for the shed party Mick !!
We had a great time at Micks and left feeling very dusty as expected !
The ride out of wauchope and over the range was stunning , we started by riding the dirt from beechwood up to Comboyne then through Elands for a look at Ellenborough falls
We then headed for Nowenduc through a food varity of fire trails and logging tracks , it started by winding through farms until we were up on top of the range
TB and Chicken
We stayed up high in the hills for some time before dropping down into some dense forest. The recent storms left a fair bit of debris on the tracks so it was steady going with a few moments the hair pins
Nowenduc store was our next stop for one of the best burgers I’ve ever had
We came out of the store and it felt like the temperature had dropped a good 10 degrees. It was bloody freezing and only got colder as we approached Nundle. It started to sleet in the pine forest so we made a beeline to Tamworth ASAP. Then it was straight in for fuel and bottle shop and over to Bollock place. He has a lovely propety just out of tamworth and holds a good shed party himself.
First Boony arrived , then snowy, house and buzz. We all stood around laughing at Bol trying to load Heidi and keep boony away from bols gps. Our only hope of making this trip !! It still mysteriously ended up in Arabic !!!! Time to load up for the official start to the ride to the Ridge !!
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
Great ride down to wauchope , made comboyne by 2.30 and met Chicken and Tb. Rode some good trails back through Bago. Bit slick on road tyres but still good fun.
Changed tyres in Micks shed and rewired my gps , cheers Mick.
Now it’s beer time
See ya tomorrow Bollocks
Good report on the tyres Trev, thanks for that
I have followed TB using the E09 and was surprised that in some slick sections it was hooking up better than my Dunlop 606. The wear on these tyres seems to be very good too. I get about 4500km max out of a 606.
Thanks again for a top ‘live’ ride report and tyre report !
Nick
Looks like a top ride you guys did
.Looking forward to seeing that area for myself
