What a beautiful day (Saturday 18 May 2019) to leave Canberra for the first Moto Friends ride. Sunny and dry although fairly cold but who cares when you’re on your bike heading to meet up with mates. Rode as quick as I could (legally of course) to get to the rendezvous point at Gundagai. Decided that I was running late and hot footed it along the Hume, hanging out for a double shot coffee.
Met up with the lads in Gundagai. Decided to have brunch at The Coffee Pedaler in Gundagai. The coffee here is very good and the food was great too. From Gundagai we headed to Tumut via Grahamstown and Adelong. At Adelong we paid a visit to a shop that has the most unusual variety of stuffed animals. This place is a bit freaky but worth a visit. Adelong to Tumut is a great little ride.
We decided not to stay at Tumut the night and rode to Batlow. This road is very good however care must be taken at this time of the year as the roads can hide some damp slippery sections. Batlow was a little busy with the Cider Festival so we travelled on to Tumbarumba.
We lucked on an excellent motorcycle friendly establishment in the Tumbarumba Hotel. Accommodation is neat, tidy and very affordable. The motorcycle secure parking was a real treat. We weren’t the only motorcyclists staying there. Another group of riders on a 10 day journey were enjoying the hospitality – great food and cold beer! It was great to chat to the group who were riding many different brands including Ducati, Aprilia, BMW and Triumph. They stay at the Tumbarumba Hotel every year on their annual ride – sometimes twice on route to the Moto GP. We are delighted to have the Tumbarumba Hotel join the motorcycle friendly program.
On Sunday we got some great advice from the locals in Batlow, although they seemed a little “affected” by the Cider Festival the previous night, and decided to do a couple of awesome roads. The Rosewood road, built to handle the logging traffic, was an absolute highlight with no traffic and a perfect road surface. The thick shakes and food at the GoneBarny Café was worth the ride alone. However, we had a few encounters with the local wildlife including a kangaroo, deer and sheep so be careful on this road but don’t let it deter you.
We then headed to Tumut for the night. We were treated to a not so friendly local hotel which shall remain nameless but the night was saved by the comfort of The Elms Motor Inn. There is a “motorcycles welcome” sign out the front and they certainly made us feel welcome.
Breakfast at The Coffee Pedaler (Tumut edition and not a franchise!) then back to Gundagai via Brungle. This was a great ride with lovely corners and rolling hills. Fuelled up here with the other boys heading back to Victoria and me to the nation’s capital.
Bring on Moto Friends ride number 2 in September 2019. Join us for the ride by dropping motorcycle friendly an email.
