By 
- Bianca Pollard
- It’s What We Do
- The Congregation
- Great Rides Volume 3:North-west NSW
- Industry Players:Matt Phillpott
- Armour
- Hard-pannier Hard men
- Shop Bike
- Cambodia:Temple Central
- Trophy Hunter
- Chris Birch
- Cannonball Lima Cali
- Bright to The Gulf
- Picture This
- How To Ride with Miles Davis
- Adventure Travel Film Festival
- Miles of Smiles with Karen Ramsay
- Checkout
- Fit Out
As good as it gets
The new DualSport Australia navigation disc is out.Adventure Rider Magazine loaded up the files, grabbed DualSport Australia main man Marty Blake, and headed out to see what the third instalment had to offer.
We love the Dualsport Australia discs here at Adventure Rider Magazine. The first disc took us from Moonan Flat up to Woodenbong. We rode our brains out on it in issue #06, then a couple of more times until, exhausted, we slumped back into our office chairs gasping for breath.
Then the second disc – Central NSW – landed on our desks, and we once again loaded the bikes, GPS and route-sheet holder before yelling, “Chasing a story!” to the business manager as we scuttled out the door.
Disc Two joined Disc One at Moonan Flat, and in no time had us up to our ’nads in the amazing scenery of places like Bathurst and the Hunter Valley.
We rode and rode and rode.
We rode until the business manager yelled at us over the phone, demanding to know where we were and reminding us the deadline for issue #09 was only a few days away.
We skulked back to the office, grinning like loons and trying to look apologetic at the same time Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, Disc Three has landed like a cow pat on a country road, and while we’ve only had time for a very brief skip across the top of what the disc has to offer, we’re stinging to get out there and ride it.
All of it.
The sooner the better!
The trequel
The new disc joins the second disc at Barraba and the first disc at Willawarrin and Urbenville. So while this third disc has over 1800km of loops through the gorgeous New England region, it joins up with the first two to offer over 6500km of GPS routes, printable route sheets and tips on accommodation, fuel, food and camping stops.
This time we quietly sneaked out of the office, trying to look like we were off to get a coffee and would be back shortly. Once in the car park, we turned the phones off and headed for Guyra, going like cut cats.
It’s who you know
We had a real problem: we could only afford two days for this first ride. There was so much clearly on offer that two days was just crazy.
It wasn’t a matter of what to see, but to accept there was so much we couldn’t see. The Condamine River Road with all its creek crossings? Were we happy to do without that one?
No, we frigging weren’t.
The locked back room at Willawarrin?
Hell no! Nobody wants to miss that!
The Old Armidale Road?
Of course not.
Marty HC, owner of the DualSport Australia discs, offered to show us how to skip back and forth across the loops to pick up a few highlights, but to still leave us wanting more.
And that’s what he did.
All to plan
With Guyra a good central departure point, the short break began, heading along the gorgeous Baldersleigh Road, out past the Congregation site at Moredun Ponds, through Tingha and into Inverell for lunch.
The sun was shining, the sky glowed a deep blue, and the crystalline granite roads were an absolute joy on an adventure bike.
The farms came and went, as did occasional short stretches of winding bitumen, and after a quick chat with Vince Strang, a croissant and coffee at an Inverell snackery and a bit of a look around, the pink line again led the riders into the kind of riding that only happens in dreams…unless you’re in New England on a sunny spring day.
No-one was too worried about where we were heading. Between the GPS track and having Marty HC himself on the ride – even though he refused to lead, saying, “It’s easier to follow you than find you,” – there was never any stress about navigation or the next supply stop.
Pindari Dam, across the Severn River near Ashford, was an unexpected highlight, and the odd cave and waterfall made for a scenic and very enjoyable afternoon.
Camp was at Lemon Tree Flat, a serene and glorious campsite about 30 minutes from Ashford, and after a quick dip in the river and a few bent tent pegs, peace settled on the weary travellers.
Sigh.
If only our office could be in a place like this one.
Plan be buggered!
The sun woke everyone with its gentle peeping over the treetops. The kangaroos and possums didn’t seem to care how many campers there were. They just kept on munching away at grass and whatever else they could find as swags were packed and bikes started.
A short run along some really beautiful roads had everyone at Ashford for breakfast and a tank of fuel, and then setting off in a leisurely way for Delungra.
It was on this stretch that the weather began to look just a little threatening.
Although the riders were in solid sunshine, there appeared to be a line drawn with a meteorological ruler up ahead, and everything on the other side of that line was very, very black…except for the lightning that was zapping about the place with remarkable frequency.
After a brief regroup and committee meeting, Marty HC was pushed to the front and told to “get us the hell back to Guyra. Fast!”
Which he did.
A sedate but hurried run along Old Armidale Road had everyone back on the asphalt just as the rain started, and that meant about 30 minutes of road in what turned out to be just ‘rain’. It wasn’t a violent storm and no-one’s life was threatened. It just made the coffee, chips and gravy at Guyra taste that much better.
Snapshot
So there it was. A very tiny taste of what the third disc had to offer.
It was enough.
If the riding can be that good, and the scenery that spectacular in just a single day-and-a-bit, we can’t wait to see what DualSport Australia’s third disc has to offer over a few days and a lot more distance. Can all the roads be this crunchy, high-traction granite? Can all the scenery be as almighty as the stark trees around Pindari dam? Can all the native animals be as cute and friendly as the ones at Lemon Tree Flat?
And Condamine River Road is still waiting! These questions will be answered in coming issues…as soon as we can come up with an excuse the business manager will believe.
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