Okay quick report:
Photos (not many) here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heatherp64/sets/72157623053722129/Left Melbourne two hours later than anticipated
but still took the suggested route to stay off the Princes hwy. All the roads I took, except one, were great.
Yarra Junction - Noojee Road
Thanks Dos.
Great Alpine Road from Bruthen to Omeo - still being maintained so I did find a gravel stretch or two but nothing too disturbing. Lots of this road has now been resurfaced which is good because the bits they haven't got to yet are pretty bad. Still a great road though.
On the Thursday I did a loop from Omeo, up the Omeo Hwy to just past Anglers' Rest. It is sealed all the way to here. Great piece of road. No traffic. Twisty. Scenic. The only observation I made was that the corners tend to tighten up on themselves sometimes into a hairpin and none of them are marked
(no warning signs or advisory speed signs) so it's ride at your own risk. The ?newly sealed road (Bogong High Plains road) to Falls Creek appears without warning. I overshot it as did another rider whilst I was taking photos. And he had ridden it previously. If I was going to ride this road again I would do it in the other direction. For the first 20kms the road is extremely narrow with no centre line so needless to say the 4WDs drive down the centre. The road is falling apart. Potholes, corrugations. No run off. One side is a four foot ditch the other is off the mountain. And to top it off there is loose gravel on the best line through all the corners. It barely gets any better the closer you get to Falls Creek. But the scenery is worth it (yeah I know – such a tourist!) I was wondering if this was still a temporary surface but a lovely young local man/boy (bulging biceps, big blue eyes, sigh) told me this is the final surface. So us taxpayers have been ripped off yet again.
I don’t want to put anybody off doing this road. It is worth it. Especially once you get to the Omeo Hwy. It’s just not a ‘bike’ road. More of a tourist road. So keep that in mind and ride accordingly.
After Falls it was up to Mt Hotham on the way back to Omeo. Best ride I’ve had up Hotham. Sun was shining, no wind. Magic as the photos show.
Next day was back to Melbourne. I was going to back track but discussions with other riders during previous day’s riding and at the pub that night changed my mind to keep going in a loop. So it was back over Mt Hotham (sunny and warm at 9.30am), Bright, Myrtleford, back road to take me to the Wangaratta-Whitfield. This encompassed Whitfield to Mansfield which is in the M/Bike atlas and came highly recommended. Glad I did what I was told as it turned out to be anothergreat road. Then on to Yea, Kingslake, Whittlsea and city.
Then a little meet up and ride with fellow OzMonsters and home . All up 1999km travelled. One back tyre used up. Some much needed practice with new camera. And toughened up butt ready for Turismo. [moto]
