“Y ou are cordially invited to CHUMPS…”
I didn’t need to read any further, I was going. The last three plague-ridden years meantd was long overdue fora decent ride. As it happened, the destination was Albert NSW (population ..26), 62km from the geographical centre of NSW and 865km from my front doorvia the shortest, most boring route. I had some holidays up my sleeve so I’d see if I could find a non-boring method of getting there. As I was Triumph Speed Triple mounted, I felt honourbound to find as many twisties as I could.
The first 260km were a bit of a mixed bag. My house to Rathdowney was typically dull, with the Queensland end of the road, from Rathdowney to the Kyogle turnoff near Wopdenbong, a lot lumpier than I recalled. The NSW end was still surprisingly smooth, and definitely twisty enough to make the Queensland motocross track worth traversing. Continuing through Woodenbong in the direction of the New England Highway is to be avoided unless you’re riding an adventure bike. The road looks nice and bendy on the map, but if you take the bait, you’ll soon learn exactly how much of your bike has been secured with Loctite. They’ll be the only bits still attached.
Roadworks season in NSW had started early this yearand was in full swing by the time I’d hit the border. Long delays at temporary traffic lights vexed me no end, with the rot starting at Casino and cropping up, seemingly at random, for the rest of my trip.
Casino is linked to Tenterfield by the Bruxner Highway, which I can’t recommend enough. It follows the usual twisty road plan of boring bits at each end with magic in the middle. If you’re coming from the Casino end and wondering what all the fuss is about, hold fast until you reach Drake. The 40km west of Drake are pretty close to as good as it gets — smooth, twisty and liberally sprinkled with overtaking lanes. It matters not what sort of mood you were in
