Today was the first day of a long planned weekend trip that would include some of the best riding you can do, Waterfall Way between Armidale and Bellingen (today) and the Oxley Highway east west from Wauchope to Walcha. It didn't hurt either that on each day we'd ride Thunderbolts Way between Walcha and Barrington.
Three starters, @officerhardass (formerly known as Heffy and JP) on his man coloured blue 09 Harley-Davidson® Road King® and Timmo on his beautiful orange and black 2011 CVO® Street Glide®. We may have had more starters if it wasn't the Father's Day weekend, but hey, small numbers make quicker trips ;-). I was carrying an injury, having had my left big toenail removed three days before, determined not to miss the ride and hoping that I could learn to use the heel shifter or I knew I'd be in a world of pain.
We met at the local servo, filled up and rode straight to Perenti at Gloucester via the Bucketts way for the obligatory breakfast pie and double-shot macchiato. Without too much mucking about we then rode through Barrington, turned right over the bridge and had an easy run through the sweeping countryside, crossed some scenic rivers and then up the mountain for a break and some photos at the Love Dunny Lookout. Timmo doesn't get out much on his CVO (works way too hard) and we hadn't ridden with him on a decent run so we took it pretty easy to suss out hwere he sat in terms of speed and cornering. His CVO certainly has the legs to go quick.
Leaving the lookout the next stop was the Royal Cafe in Walcha. We arrived before lunch time so took a quick caffiene shot and headed towards Armidale via Uralla for lunch making it just in time to catch quite a nice cafe in the shopping area, Rene on the Mews. We weren't in too much of a hurry to leave, and when we did I ignored the GPS which saw us riding around a block more than we should have but soon enough we were pointed towards Dorrigo.
This leg of the ride was fun but from previous experience with this route @officerhardass and I know the best of the day was yet to come, between Dorrigo and Bellingen. Timmo by this time had completely found his legs so by the time we found the most winding downhill section it was on. I discovered the hard way that when I'm in the zone heel changing doesn't work for me. ON two occasions I changed up rather than down while braking hard prior to a corner which saw me on parts of the road I didn't want to be on. So rather than risking a head on with a 4WD I decided that pain was my friend and went back to toenailless changes both ways. The other alternative wasn't an alternative, if you know what I mean.
We stopped again, getting a little tired, at Bellingen and debriefed the run from Armidale with all of us smiling ear to ear. The trip into Coffs Harbour was slow and uneventful with the night spent at the Bentleigh Motor Inn (who were really good and had secure lockable parking for the Harley-Davidsons) with dinner at the Services Club across the road (spectacular).
The evening was unsually quiet for us, we were thinking ahead to tomorrows assault on the Oxley and were determined to approach that with a clear head.
