Unfortunately there was no official photographer on this ride (therefore no pictures), and despite the fact that none of our usual 'happy snappers' made it we still had one of the biggest turnouts yet, 25 bikes, a lot of which were 2-up.
It was a cool morning, a sign of things to come, as we headed off on our trip to Wiseman's Ferry. Down through Lithgow, up the Bells Line of Road and into Bilpin for our first stop of the day. Coffee and morning tea, plus chance to catch up with the other riders saw a fairly long break before heading back onto the road. I don't know if it was the time of year, the road, or just that more people ride bikes these days, but the number of motorcyclists out that day was phenomenal.
We took the back way by turning off towards Singleton before getting into too much traffic near Richmond, and made our way through some great semi-rural areas before arriving at the pub at Wiseman's Ferry. A relaxed stay for lunch, some live music and, a chin wag was spent in the grounds of the pub before thoughts of the trip home arose.
Although there was some cloud around, the temperature on the eastern side of the mountains was considerably higher than what we had experienced that morning so we left early enough to ensure an arrival back in Bathurst before too late in the afternoon.
We returned back the same way and even stopped again at The Pines at Bilpin where the constant stream of bikes passing hadn't slowed any.
It was a pleasant trip back, topping off another great ride day with arrival back in Bathurst not long after 4.30pm. Next months ride is to Temora and I can't wait.
Ride Report by Mark McCormick