The Congregation

Adventure Rider Issue #14

• Bianca Pollard
• It’s What We Do
• The Congregation
• Great Rides Volume 3:North-west NSW
• Industry Players:Matt Phillpott
• Armour
• Hard-pannier Hard men
• Shop Bike
• Cambodia:Temple Central
• Trophy Hunter
• Chris Birch
• Cannonball Lima Cali
• Bright to The Gulf
• Picture This
• How To Ride with Miles Davis
• Adventure Travel Film Festival
• Miles of Smiles with Karen Ramsay
• Checkout
• Fit Out

Over 250 riders made their way to Moredun Ponds, near Armidale in NSW, for the first annual Adventure Rider Magazine Congregation. It was the start of something big.

The publisher had this idea: “Let’s have a big meeting where all adventure riders, on any sort of bike, can get together.” That was it, really. That was the total idea.

Then the folks from the Armidale Adventure Riders Facebook group offered to plan a few loops, a couple of people offered to talk to the riders about various subjects, and with a post on the Adventure Rider Magazine forum and Facebook page, the whole thing began to gather momentum.

The guys at advrider.com jumped on board, and by the time September 19 rolled around, there were somewhere between 260 and 300 riders all roosting their way toward the oasis of Moredun Ponds, a fish/pig/sheep farm near Tingha, about 40km from Armidale in the New England region of NSW.

The reason the final number isn’t clear is because 260 riders registered, but according to Moredun Ponds owners AJ and Jo, 300 people paid for camping on the Saturday night.

However many there were, it can only be considered a success of biblical proportions.

Oasis

After a dusty, rocky, dodge through sheep, cattle and kangaroos to ride into Moredun Ponds, riders were stunned to find an unbelievable display of rolling, lush grassland with amenities, fire pits, heaps and heaps of room and blissfully soft ground for the pitching of tents and deep, restful slumber.

It just doesn’t get much better than Moredun Ponds for an adventure riders’ gathering.

Group therapy

Bob Bondeson and Julie Luxford of Alpine Adventure Bike Tours bought an enthusiastic group of 15 riders from Victoria and SA. Julie herself was recovering from a crash a few weeks before, but was beaming as she chatted to riders.

“We’ve had a guy from Townsville fly his bike down to Melbourne and he’s with us on his way back home. We’ve got another guy from Adelaide in South Australia, a few from Melbourne and one from NSW,” beamed the bubbly Bright girl. “So we’ve got a great crew!”

Julie gave some more insight into the Alpine Adventure Bike Tours trip, and you’ll find it alongside this story.

Adventure Rider Magazine columnist Karen Ramsay and husband Ramdog Dave also guided over 30 riders in from the north, and, as always, seemed to enjoy the whole atmosphere immensely.

Looped out

Julie Luxford wasn’t the only one carrying a sprain or two. Tony Bennett of the Armidale Adventure Riders Facebook group was instrumental, along with his friendly and helpful crew, in setting the loops and introducing the magazine to Moredun Ponds in the first place, but he was standing around trying not to breathe, sneeze, or laugh at anyone’s jokes on the sunny Saturday morning.

“We did the right thing last weekend and thought we’d come and ride the loops for you,” grimaced the Armidale local, “but the Old Armidale Road near Inverell was fairly rough. I was probably going too slowly, believe it or not, and I came off and got slammed into the road. I broke a couple of ribs.”

Ouch.

Tony was there, though, helping out and offering advice where he could.

The loops the Armidale guys had set out were around two hours of mixed dirt and bitumen and captured a taste of just how sensational the New England area can be.

Riders were free to ride as they pleased. They could ride both loops or none, and there were plenty of service stations and cafés scattered throughout. Sitting around and yarning was encouraged, and Guyra was about 20 minutes away for anyone who fancied a boutique coffee or perhaps needed fuel or mechanical help. It was very cruisey.

It was very cruisey

As the sun set the tent village stretched out in all directions, fires were lit, dinner served, speeches made, prizes given out and the occasional ale quietly enjoyed.

It was a truly momentous occasion, yet still a quiet and under-stated celebration of all that’s great about adventure riders and riding.

It’s on again

Such was the success of the first Congregation that the 2016 event has already been booked into Moredun Ponds, and is scheduled to run in September.

But with the enthusiastic support of the riders, and the obvious pleasure the long-distance people had in just getting to the location, there’ll be a second Congregation in November, based in the Myrtleford/Bright area of Victoria.

If there’s anywhere in Australia that can compete with New England for sensational dualsport riding, it’s Myrtleford in Victoria. In the heart of the Victorian high country, the scenery and mountains are truly spectacular, the facilities premium, and it’s likely to be one of the best rides of the year.

Lock those dates in:
• Northern Congregation – Moredun Ponds, 17-18 September, 2016
• Southern Congregation – Myrtleford, 19-20 November, 2016 Riders can camp at both venues on the Friday night. Details will be on the Adventure Rider Magazine forum as they become available.Be there.

KLR Kongregation

The Australian KLR riders group guys share their Congregation experience.

It was a slower start than usual on a dreary Friday morning on September 17, so it was in a bit of a rush that I headed off 30 minutes late to meet my mate, Sonny, in Kulnura.

The trusty KLR made its way through the picturesque countryside of Wollombi, near Singleton, NSW. The further west we travelled the more the weather improved, and we rolled into Moonan Flat where the real adventure riding would begin.

We arrived at Moonan Flat pub to be greeted by four fellow adventure riders on the way to the Congregation as well, and amid their group was another mighty KLR rider.

Add ons

From Moonan Flat it was on to the dirt of Hunter Road with all its water crossings and wandering cattle, which was interesting. The water crossings were shin deep, so they were fun. All levels of riders and classes of bikes could handle this road.

We made it into Nundle and the Peel Inn for a counter lunch and a beer, then we topped up the tanks and continued along the very scenic, twisty, gravel roads through Ogunbil, Weabonga, Limbri and Woolbrook to our destination for the night at Walcha.

The Royal Walcha Café was very bike friendly with great food, cold beer and a lock-up shed to keep the KLRs secure while we were at the pub having Chinese.

Not long after Sonny and I got there another mate of ours, Jim, arrived, and over at the pub we bumped into another Australian KLR Rider, Corin, who’d come up from Sydney with two of his mates.

We bolted back to the room to watch the second half of the NRL preliminary final and then headed off to bed, anticipating the next day’s ride to Moredun Ponds and the Congregation.

Chance meeting

We rose early to cloudy skies, packed the bikes and fuelled up.

We made our way to Emu Creek Road and then hit the dirt heading for Uralla. The scenery consisted of tree-lined country roads and wide, open plains with a few derelict farmhouses thrown in for good photo opportunities.

We stopped for a quick chat with some local stockmen who were busy whipping their cattle into order, then continued back on to Thunderbolts Way and into Uralla for coffee and cake. While sitting at the café we noticed plenty of adventure riders heading in the direction of the Congregation so the decision was made to continue on Thunderbolts Way to Bundarra.

At Bundarra we came across about 20 adventure riders holed up in the shade of the general store’s awning, and we pulled up to find that most of them were on one of the mapped-out loops provided by the organisers.

We decided to purchase some beer and find the nearest dirt road to Tingha and Moredun Ponds, then stop somewhere scenic and cool, have a beer and take in that country feeling.

With that essential taken care of, it was into Moredun Ponds to set up camp and check out all things adventure and chat with like-minded people.

With such a range of people on different brands and styles of machines it goes to show the adventure-riding movement is alive and well in the Wide Brown Land.

We made sure we picked a camping spot with enough room for our fellow Australian KLR riders who would soon be arriving from Queensland, including the founder of this great group, Jared Smith.

On one of the few trips to the bar I bumped into a mate I hadn’t seen in a few years, Mitch, who works for the magazine and who was piloting the magazine’s KLR650 shop bike. So, over a well-prepared dinner a plan was hatched to ride back to Sydney the following day

With a departure time decided all that was left to do was to sit back, have a few beers and listen to our talented mate Jim belt out a few tunes on his blues harp.

All over

We awoke to clear skies and there had been hardly any dew, which is always nice when you have to pack up your camping gear.

We were provided with fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, sausage, gilled tomato, coffee and dinner by the organisers. That was fantastic value for our $30.00 camping fee.

After breakfast we took a few photos and said our goodbyes to our Australian KLR rider brothers and off we went. We fuelled at Guyra, then it was back down to Uralla and onto Thunderbolts Way to Walcha for coffee and scones, then to Gingers Creek via Apsley Falls. At Gingers Creek we took Cells River Road – which I’ve done several times and is fantastic ride – and set a quick pace through the tight corners of the beautiful countryside. We arrived at Gloucester around 2.00pm and said our goodbyes, promising to be at the next Adventure Rider Magazine Congregation.

Mitch, Jim and myself did the boring run down the freeway to finish off a fantastic three days of adventure riding.

We live in an awesome country.

Team Alpine Adventure Bike Tours

Bob Bondeson and Julie Luxford, from Myrtleford in the Victorian high country, led a happy crew north.

When we heard about the Congregation down in Victoria we knew we had to get a bunch of riders together to make the trek to the inaugural event.

We knew the ride would be great, but we didn’t count on meeting and getting to know such a great group of like-minded people.

Diversity

After throwing our ride out there on various forums, we came up with a group of 14. I’d hoped to be riding too, but after a tumble I was relegated to the backup vehicle.

We had a mix of ages, bikes and abilities, and a lady rider, too! There was even a Queenslander in the group. ‘Dicko’ put his bike on a truck in Townsville, then flew down to join us and ride home. What a great bloke – a wealth of riding knowledge, a capable rider and all-round nice guy.

Marty joined us from Adelaide, a few came from Melbourne, east Gippsland, Merimbula, and of course we roped in a few Myrtleford locals too.

Slipper

We woke on the Tuesday morning to rain and fog. Our plans to take our visitors for a bit of sightseeing didn’t quite work out, but still Bob led the group into the pines and tried to show off our magnificent region.

We’d had just enough rain to make the tracks very slippery and it didn’t take long for the first rider to go down. It was nothing serious, just a low-speed slip in the wet clay.

It was our only female rider, Sharon, and she saw the lighter side and had a giggle about ‘checking for that gold coin that she dropped on the ground’

While a few of the group stopped, a very creative line was found nearby. We still haven’t had anyone to own up to what looks like a very near miss.

Wondering

Travelling on mainly dirt tracks, we crossed the Hume Dam via the ferry to then pick up a great winding road with amazing views of green, rolling hills. Another ‘team member’ joined us at Jingelic and stopped for lunch at Walwa. It was clear just a few hours in how well everyone was getting along. There were friendly slinging matches already in play.

Late that afternoon we all rolled into Jugiong, cleaned up and made our way into the pub. The stories started: did you see? What about when? How did you go through? And the still unanswered question remained: who nearly lost it in the pines and left a very creative line as evidence?

Skipping the skippies

The second day began with a big breakfast followed by more awesome tracks, a few creek crossings, no highways and meeting at Lyndhurst for lunch.

Crossing the Macquarie River west of Hill End. The murky water made it impossible to pick a good line, so teamwork got everyone across without incident.

At lunch the gang was offered two options – stay off-road or slab it to Bathurst, cut a lap around Mt Panorama then run into Hill End.

We divided up and conquered!

Three riders and the back-up vehicle went to Mt Panorama – and why not? We were so close and the mountain track had to be experienced! Michael and Sharon had a road-riding background and were as keen as mustard to give it a go, as was Steve, aka ‘Fish’.

We took a bunch of happy snaps and imagined going full tilt around the course.

Some top-secret intel advised we stick to the speed limits as there were sneaky cameras that could prove costly.

After cutting a lap, I reset the GPS to take us to Hill End. I knew I couldn’t get the ute through the Bridle Track so we decided to keep slabbing it. In any event, it was getting late in the day and we were all wary of Skippies.

The rider responsible for this creative line was never found.

Crossed up

After a winding, and frankly nerve-wracking, run to Hill End with plenty of wildlife in sight, we pulled into the pub expecting to see the others, but there was no sign of them.

Then James rolled in. Alone.

It turned out James got a bit bushed when we all took off after lunch. He started following us to Bathurst, but realised he wanted to be with the other group. They were well and truly out of sight by the time he turned around to find them. We ran with the cornerman system, and when our sweep saw James heading the other way, he assumed he had everyone.

Bob and his crew had a great afternoon.

They arrived with boots full of water, but were still grinning. They’d crossed the Macquarie River west of Hill End, and it was quite a bit wider than expected. The murky water made it impossible to pick a good line, so in order to get across without drowning bikes, they elected to work as a team and help each other across. It was a wise and effective move, considering we weren’t even halfway yet.

Bolted

An exclusive club was created along the way which came to be known as the ‘Fall Down club’. Thankfully incidents were only minor, and other than some good bruising there were no serious injuries, but the back of the ute was carrying a fair load of parts off bikes. Upon joining the Fall Down club riders were presented with a stubby holder kindly donated by Funnelweb Filters.

Thankfully everyone saw the light side of this membership and used their stubby holders proudly.

It was a frosty start, but Team Alpine (as we were affectionately named by Sharon), headed off from Hill End destined for Scone, where all arrived feeling a little weary, but still smiling.

We checked in and then ‘opened the workshop’. There was new rubber, new brake pads fitted, fiddley bolts replaced, chain lube and a general check over.

Best is yet to come

On the morning of the final leg to the Congregation we had a bunch of creek crossings to cover and all were completed without incident…although Sharon did mention she thought Bob was trying to kill her at one point.

I guess I was expecting a paddock to camp in when we got to the Congregation.

I’d been assured by the publisher that we’d be impressed, but I was still a little sceptical.

It felt like we were riding into the middle of nowhere, but through the dust and dry surrounds I spotted some green.

We’d made it and were welcomed by AJ and his family to his amazing property.

After covering quite a bit of ground over four days, most of Team Alpine elected to just chill out on the Saturday, enjoying the surrounds, wandering around, checking out everyone’s bikes and of course enjoying a few drinks and more laughs.

What a great adventure, ride and gathering of like-minded people.

Alpine Adventure Bike Tours is excited to show everyone the magnificent Victorian alpine region next year in November for the Southern Adventure Riders’ Congregation.