Overnight motorbike ride - Gold Coast to Texas Queensland

On this overnighter, TribalMoto joined up with some lovely Gold Coast Motorcycle Enthusiasts Club members. The destination - chilly TEXAS,  Queensland.

For great footage of this trip, head to our TribalMoto Travels Texas video, which includes a snippet of the good, the bad and the ugly of the trip... and boy was there some ugly in the pot hole department!

 

Here's how it went down....

WOW - what an amazing 800kms of scenery, from vast plains to rolling hills and mountain ranges full of my favourite twisties. This ride had it all... if I squinted, those prickly pairs on the side of the road could have totally been real USA Texas cactus ;)

Pulling up at the GC Motorcycle Enthusiasts Club early Saturday morning, I was introduced to the group. What I immediately noticed was the size of my bike, or lack thereof, amongst the big boys toys. Such beautiful machines. I shook off the need to ride home and swap to my Speedmaster 1200, heading off on my trusty steed.... the little Street Triple 660 - derestricted thankfully ;)

We rode the usual culprits from the GC to Uki, so it was nice to be heading further afield. Stopping at the Sugar Bowl Cafe in Kyogle, it took a good 20 minutes to warm up and to be honest, I found it hard to let go of my warm coffee mug.

Taking the Street Triple on this ride was a great choice for the twisties, BUT riding a naked bike (not to be misread for riding a bike naked), meant being buffeted by the elements for the entire ride. I learnt about a whole new level of 'cold'.

Arriving at the Texas Motel, I tucked my bike safely between Robby's massive Triumph Trophy and a Tiger. Wow, did that make it look small! Off we toddled to the closest fireplace at the local - the Texas Pub. The best thing about these trips is the chance to stop, chat, laugh with friends, old and new. Heading back outside I was thankful to have cranked up the room heating to MAX. 

July was always going to be cool, but heading off on day 2 with the temperature teetering just over ZERO was just a bit too brass monkey for this little black duck. As we prepared to head off, my fingers already numb from the cold, I had myself an epiphany! I'd already strategically placed sticky heat pads on the usually cold culprits, but I had a secret weapon!!! Enter... the wheat bag!!!!

4 minutes on high and this baby was ready to roll. As I rode off it was lucky my friends couldn't see the smirk on my face as I enjoyed the heated wheatie goodness, with the bag stuffed into my jacket. Ignoring the potential second degree burns, I enjoyed this bliss for a good 2 hours before the cold also got to my new friend. I can highly recommend this strategy and will be taking him with me for future rides on the cooler side!

A special thanks to the Texas knitting club for my new colourful scarf. $15 seemed a mere pittance compared to the thought of a cold neck. It's now a lovely memory, and part of my winter 'kit'. Also thanks to my good friend Robbie for the lend of his camo over pants - they definitely took off the chill!

It was warmth over looks big time for those last 400kms or so. 

 

What was very apparent during the ride was the amount of pot holes and road works. The rain had certainly made its mark and some parts of the roads had gravel and pot holes so large you were better off playing chicken with the cars on the other side of the road than risk a puncture.. or worse.

There were large patches of gravel road to content with too. Let's just say it's the only time you're going to see my riding like a nanna. I was so upright that I had trouble turning without feeling like I was going to go for a slide. 

The video footage shows the number of amazing twisties we encountered. It was truly fantastic and I can't wait to head back to Tenterfield on the next scheduled overnighter.

ps. after all that buffeting, the wheat bag has now made its way up to my neck. Oh the pain.

TribalMoto TIPS:

• if you can afford one, get yourself a deflector for those long highway blats
• wheat bags are the bomb on cold rides... ok not the lightest or most practical, but meh
• take a puncture kit - one of the guys had a flat and this was a huge help
• use your legs when you need to turn on gravel
• remember a scarf
• don't underestimate how cold you're going to be riding at 100 (or there abouts) when its 2 degrees the wind chill is arctic
• the tee and hoodie I wore on this trip were both Free to fly - see pic below.

Thanks for reading and watching.

Bye for now.

Annya

TribalMoto