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Christmas and New Years are gone and my holidays are almost finished. The wife starts back tomorrow, so today, my last chance, I got away for a ride. I decided to head north up Wiseman's Ferry. I wasn't sure if I would come back on the Old Pacific Highway or the Putty Rd, or even just back on Wiseman's, but I headed out about 0730 with the day free before me. I could have called up a few guys to join me, but decided that I really wanted the flexibility of a solo ride and some time to myself. It was somewhat cloudy to start, but the forecast was for it to continue clearing with a top of about 25C. Sounded perfect. First place to head for was McGrath's Hill, the launch point really. Fuelled up here and turned up the road to Pitt Town and Wiseman's. The trip to the ferry was a nice ride, only the last bit was a little annoying as myself and a couple of cars got held up behind some cyclists. There was no shoulder or straights, so we crawled along behind them for a while. They didn't have the grace to stop and pull off either. Interestingly as we hit the last downhill into Wiseman's they disappeared off the front. They had raced off down the hill faster than the car following dared. Crazy cyclists! I was first off the ferry but pulled over to let all the cars go in front. Yes, I know that sounds weird, why would I want to be held up by all the cars you ask.. First up, at 0900 on a Thursday, they're likely to be locals and therefore faster than average cars. I also knew the road was a bit rough to go very quickly on a bike. Lastly, I knew I would be cautious as I was on my own, it had been a long time since I'd ridden here and I planned to practice technique and didn't want the pressure of the cars behind me. It was rougher than I remember almost to Wollombi. It's still fine to ride, but not a sweet smooth surface. I stopped partway at a place called Spencer, where I found their General Store and got something to munch on. Chatted to the shopkeeper about the road conditions as it has been several years since I came this way. The Government is apparently promising some work to smooth it out... I won't hold my breath. After the break I rode on to Wollombi where I stopped for lunch. This is a favourite bike hangout, but there were never more than ten bikes there while I was stopped. I even managed this shot with mine the only bike stopped at the Pub. What a difference from the weekends! Leaving Wollombi after a large burger, I headed to Broke. The first part out of Wollombi to Broke used to have a stretch of dirt on it, but that's been sealed sometime in the past few years (update: It's been about OMG 2007 when I last rode through here). Broke still has fuel which was nice, topped up the tanks for the Putty Rd. The Putty is one of the best rides this close to Sydney. Its far better than the Old Pacific Highway especially since that road has had lots of speed limit changes and such. The Putty is also in very good condition and is more than 50km long, though not all of that is twisty roads. It is popular, occasionally dangerous and in the weekend strongly policed. In the middle of the day, on Thursday it was pretty empty (still dangerous) and no cops to be seen. Partway down the Putty there used to be a coffee shop, I forget the name, but its long gone now, burnt out and not reopened I think. A little further towards Windsor though is the Grey Gums Cafe which has replaced it. It has free wifi and concrete parking that is exclusively for the bikes (cars etc have to park in the gravel carpark). I stopped for an ice cream and a bottle of water before setting off on the last bit home. I had a really good day. I'm definitely enjoying these a solo adventures a lot more. It fits my timetable better and the rides are more flexible. And I don't lose three hours riding to the meeting spot, waiting for an hour for everyone etc etc. In three hours today I was halfway down the Wiseman's Ferry road to Wollombi. Spotted some kangaroos crossing ahead of me today too - never actually had that happen before. Luckily the mob (that's the correct term for a group of roos) crossed well in advance and were lost in the vineyards by the time I was close, little chance of one trying to kill me. I also had something fly in through under the chin of my helmet. I whipped open the visor which seemed to clear it, but I stopped very rapidly and took it off to check. That was definitely a new experience!

This time we planned Wiseman's Ferry in reverse, with the ferry being the last leg. We had started this route a couple of weeks back but it was rained out. After several beautiful spring days during the week, the morning dawned cool and heavily overcast. Not promising. I headed off to the usual meet point to find the regulars gathering. Only 8 bikes this time, and the newcomer was a Wee Strom (650 VStrom). Headed up towards McGrath's Hill to get started on the route. Initially we turned up the road towards Wiseman's but shortly turned right, staying on the near side of the river as we snaked along, following Cattai Ridge Rd and Bay rd. This leads into Berowra Waters and another ferry. It was a good stretch, but my weakness at downhills meant I ran a bit slower than the others. I will have to keep practising. Uphill I'm a lot more confident. Berowra Waters Ferry At Berowra Waters Ferry The roads were a little busier than normal. Today is a State election and all were out to vote (it's compulsory here). But we had no real holdups. The first kilometres into, and out of Berowra are pretty narrow, really only 1 and a half lanes, not the full two, so you have to watch out for cars not keeping to their side properly. After the ferry we headed up towards the Old Pacific Highway. I've described this earlier and its still the same. Busy with all kinds of people, police and inappropriately low speed limits. This picture isn't actually very representative of the Highway. It's mostly a lot lower quality. This is probably a picture of the kind of bitumen we'd really like but don't get in this state very often. Old Pacific Highway We stopped at another well known cafe on this road, Pie in the Sky. My first time here and I was impressed by the range of pies. I choose a "Lamb, Honey, Chilli and Garlic" and it wasn't bad. Afterwards I discovered that they sold burgers (my staple on most rides) as well so I was a bit annoyed. In previous years, Pie didn't have the same bike culture as Road Warriors (further up the highway at Mt White) however Road Warriors closed down a couple of years ago, to the surprise and dismay of all. So Pie became the default stop. Pie in the Sky cafe. We hit the road again and headed up towards Central Mangrove. As we passed Road Warriors site I noticed a new cafe there. Plenty of bikes as well, so will have to go past another day to check out the new version. Parked at Peates Ridge (Corrugated Cafe) About 40mins later we pulled up at The Corrugated Cafe. Having thought that the previous stop was lunch, I wasn't hungry, but snagged a couple of chips of the other guys. Very nice. From here it was up to Central Mangrove (strangely enough a hill, not a swamp??) then down into the river valley towards Wiseman's Ferry. This was probably the longest stretch of the day. It was made worse by the fact I was running short on time to be home and keep the peace there. Mostly the road is falrly comfortable sweepers, but can be narrow in places. The old wooden bridges have all been replaced with concrete. From Wiseman's we headed back up to McGraths hill and home. Safe...with 15 mins to spare. Here's the route on google.... http://maps.google.c...3,0.771103&z=11

The previous run was a washout. I didn't even bother riding to the meeting place and the others decided to quit about 5 mins after leaving and returned home. This weekend was warm (about 28C) and sunny. Perfect. Once again we gathered at work, a few different riders and again a different bunch of bikes. A GSX1250F (a Bandit in full clothes), a Boulevard, a Street Triple, and an F800ST were new showings. The VFR lines up at work We headed up through Windsor, turning left at McGrath's Hill towards Wiseman's Ferry. Quickly onto country roads, it's about 50km to Wisemans and is a pretty good run of sweepers as you head north towards the Nepean River. Once you're almost on top of the river there is a rapid descent down the side of the hills into Wisemans culminating in a string of 25 or 15km/h corners. We stopped at the Hotel. They have an annual fundraising event where you can ride your bike through the bar. Haven't been to one, but there are plenty who do. I don't think you can buy while riding through though! Lined up at the Wisemans Hotel From here the group headed to the ferry. This is a small cable ferry that runs about every twenty minutes most of the day taking you across the river. From the other side you head north and there are several options. Some I've ridden (North to Newcastle, back to Sydney via the Putty or via the Old Pacific Hwy), see my other entries. The ferry leaving with the others. View across the river. Wiseman is around the bend seen in the picture I had only a short time so turned for home after getting pictures as they left the carpark. Have a good run all :) I really enjoyed my solo ride home. I'm starting to think I might enjoy it more if I went and did some solo rides instead of group ones. It is a little more dangerous though. (and harder to convince the other half not to worry) Homeward Bound