A fellow Long Distance Rider, OX-34, had a goal to become the first rider in Australia to crack out more than 1600kms in 24hrs on a Postie Bike (Honda CT110) pictured above. With the bike ready (note the auxiliary fuel tank) and an interesting plan done I decided to tag along for the ride. I wouldn’t have missed it, what a hoot! I decided to ride my Kawasaki KLR650, I needed something comfortable with a good fuel range (it wouldn’t match the Postie and aux tank) and I definitely didn’t need anything fast!
A 3am start we headed south to Ourimbah Post office, OX wanted to snap some Post Office pics along the way for obvious reasons, and grabbed a splash of fuel at the 24hr servo to document the corner. Then we rode north towards the Port Macquarie Donut stopping for a wee break along the way.
Then it was a left to Wauchope for another docket and an east-west run up the Oxley Highway. I’d been happy tagging along behind at just under 80kph but on this road it was time to have a little bit of fun. I got ahead and grabbed a snap of OX on the Postie knee dragging around a bend
And at Walcha had time for some personal care, fuel and grabbed a pic of this lovely old pub while OX was taking a snap of the Post Office.
The plan was to head back down the Oxley so I followed the Postie until the corners tightened up and let fly down the hill stopping at the Long Flat Pub to wait for OX to ride past. We grabbed a corner docket at Wauchope, 712kms done so far. From there the plan was to ride south and as we approached Taree Lord and Lady Cuddles (two LDR Legends) appeared out of nowhere to take some pics… the word was out. Here’s OX riding past Lord Cuddles
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af182/ox-34/Postie/cuddles_zps25283f70.jpg
Heres yours truly on the KLR
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af182/ox-34/Postie/Wom_zps535b916a.jpg
And here we are all in a row
We continued south to Heatherbrae where we fuelled up, rehydrated, turned around and headed north again. On this leg we hit a bit of a headwind, no problem for me but definitely an issue for the Postie. Ox later reported that he started to get a little bit uncomfortable at this point, I’m not surprised!
We stopped at Nabiac for fuel with 1055kms done in around 18hrs and kept going north all the way to North Urunga (1279kms) where I fuelled up and took some time to call the family while OX turned and headed south again. This part of the ride on the Pacific Highway was particularly tricky with single lanes, roadworks, not many overtaking opportunities (for things to pass us) and trucks everywhere.
It took me a while to catch up with OX after Urunga, it’s amazing how much ground you can cover if you just plug away. After that I just sat quietly behind OX in HOG formation adding some light to the road. The final leg from North Urunga to Hexham was not that far really, but it took about 5 hrs without a break, without stopping and without chatting.
As we passed through Heatherbrae again another LDR, 93TigerBill, pulled in behind us in his ute and followed us to the finish where he assisted with paperwork and such. Thanks Bill. 1630kms done and dusted in 23hrs and 6 minutes.
While this ride was all about OX’s awesome effort completing an IBA Ride on a Postie it was special for me, it was my 20th IBA Ride and qualified me as a Gold Mile Eater.
What a great day out and proof that Iron Butt Riding is not about speed, it’s about efficiency. Well done OX!
Here’s the route.
http://i1006.photobucket.com/albums/af182/ox-34/Postie/HoganMapSPOT_zps64343b5a.jpg