Once a year Ironbutt Riders in Australia have a chance to meet at the “Muster” and this year’s was in Echuca VIC. It’s encouraged, but not mandatory to do an Ironbutt ride finishing in the Muster location the day of or the day prior to the gathering. I planned an SS1600K and part of the plan was to utilise most of the 24 hours I had to complete the ride and arrive ready to party on the day of the event.
I left home in Newcastle NSW at 3pm on Friday afternoon and took a simple route north to the BP Roadhouse at Nambucca Heads (337KMS). There was a bit of rain about which necessitated a quick stop at the Donut in Port Macquarie to do up some zips on the Klim gear. Other than that the only drama was the Macas at the Roadhouse wasn’t operating because of a technical glitch that seemed to be a global phenomenon. So instead I had an iced coffee and rode home through more showers but no major dramas. I was home by 10pm and went to bed (674KMS).
Up at 3am after a good 4 hrs sleep I slammed down a coffee, some breakfast and I was heading south by 4am. This plan would see me arrive about 2pm with an hour to spare before the 24hours time limit passed. It’s not my favourite way top so a SaddleSore 1600k you waste more time than you’d think bike to bed to bike but for this ride it was the most efficient ways to attend the function with only one night away from home.
It was coolish and there were still showers about most of the way to Goulburn/Yass, not constant, not raining hard just drizzling occasionally. I pulled in to the Macas at Sutton Forest for a warm and quick break. I didn’t fit up at Sutton Forest because I wanted to stick to my fuel plan and didn’t want to risk an extra stop along the way for filling up early. The time impact was the same because I would have had to move the bike to the pumps at Sutton Forest anyway.
Besides, who can miss an opportunity to take a pic of the back of the Big Merino.
Of course I popped into the Ettamogah Pub at Tabletop NSW, it’s illegal to ride past without taking a photo.
then my next fuel stop was the United Pie Face West Wodonga. The GS’s fuel range today was impressive, that leg was 364kms and it took a little over 18 litres to top it up.
I kept riding south turning west near Benalla VIC winding my way to Rochester VIC. This was actually a little south of Echuca but I needed to get a docket there which added enough kilometres to go over the 1610km minimum. I’m glad I went there, there was some nice Silo Art and the town was full of Hot Rods and old cars.
It was a short 27kms to the Caledonian Hotel in Echuca where the riders were gathering. I grabbed a drink and finishing receipt, found my motel and went back to the Caledonian for the festivities. It’s not that often I get the opportunity to meet with other LD riders to chat. We don’t look at each other like we’ve got rocks in our heads when we talk about our rides and plans.
Trip home
Of course when you end a ride away from home you still have ride home. After some Macas for Breakfast I left Echuca about 8am and decided to take the scenic route home. I went north through Deniliquin, stopping to take a pic of a big steel fish at Mathoura.
I stopped again briefly in Jerilderie for a pic with a Tank
and continued north through Narrandera, Forbes, Parkes to Dubbo.
I stopped for a quick softdrink at the Hair of the Dog Inn in Ballimore arriving home about 7.30pm for another 1000 or so kms. A thousand k’s seems short and easy the day after knocking off 1600 that’s for sure.