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Prelude Unfortunately Black Magic couldn’t come on this ride so she asked me to do the ride report. After reading it I’m sure you’ll be hoping she makes the next one. Regards Muttly   Introduction This was the ride we had to have. Back in March we attempted this ride and due to some terrible weather, a patch of oil and a wooden bridge, we had two riders go down. Luckily everyone was ok but it meant that by the time we had dealt with the stricken bikes, we didn’t actually get around the loop. This time we were going to make it no matter what (unless it looked like rain again and then we were going to call the whole thing off).   1st Leg – Brisbane to Rathdowney The meet point was McDonalds at springwood and the ambient temperature gauge on the Lux-o-barge at 7:30am read -110 degrees Celsius. TanyatheCheeky came down to see us off before heading off to Willowbank to support some friends of hers who were racing out there and who might have needed to use her bike as spares. Seven of us headed off from Springwood (Iffracem, Balmy Browny, Cuvy, Shane750, Righty, Fabes and Muttly) at around 8:20 after we waited for a few no-shows (note to self: when people say they are coming, get their mobile number in case they don’t show up). As this leg was the transport leg not a lot happened except that there were a few complaints of the freezing weather and cow manure being flung up by the back wheel of the leader. In Rathdowney we met up with Mr & Mrs Zedman and Waspy so we now had nine bikes on tour.   2nd Leg – Rathdowney to Kyogle via The Lions Road This was the leg that we wanted to complete. It’s a great road but you really have to be focussed the whole way. The scenery is fantastic and the road is very well maintained considering it is done by the Lions Club from donations left at the border. Everyone made it through the leg safely although we were a bit concerned about Waspy, Fabes and Iffracem who seemed to be trailing a fair bit behind the rest of the group. Later we found out that this was because they stopped to check out the scar left in the bridge from our previous attempt at this run.   3rd Leg – Kyogle to Murwillumbah Although in the dry, it’s easier to pick out the best line for the corners, this is a bumpy road. Thanks to Cuvy for leading this leg. Unfortunately this is the major thoroughfare for people travelling to Murwillumbah from the west so it’s easy to get stuck behind some cages. Again the scenery is great and there were some decent spots to flick the head sideways and have an uninterrupted view out over the coast and the ocean. After the lead riders waited for the rest of the group at the last turnoff, we stopped in the park at Murwillumbah and made the executive decision that we were all too hungry to go to the Governer’s Inn for lunch and to stop at the Two Pines café at Numinbah where they have great burgers.   4th Leg – Murwillumbah to Numinbah I thought I was doing well leading this leg until I got overtaken by just about everyone…LOL. This leg had some really nice roads but there are some bits where you go from dazzling sunlight into dense rainforest and it usually happens on a 90 degree corner. The Two Pines Café is easy to spot when you’re heading south, a lot harder when you’re heading north, hence a number of riders having to do stoppies and U-turns on the Numinbah road. At this point we said goodbye to the Zedmans and then went and had some lunch. After lunch we said goodbye to Balmy Browny who obviously had an impending marriage proposal on his mind and the remainder of us headed for Mt Tamborine.   5th Leg – Numinbah to Mt Tamborine The roads around the Hinze Dam are awesome. Long sweepers, good road surface and quite a number of places to pass. The only problem is the ridiculous 80kph speed limit. Cops tend to frequent the place so we kept the pace quite leisurely but as Cuvy said, “with the number of speed detectors (ie. Other bikes travelling in both directions at speed), there obviously weren’t any spoilers around that day”. Just about everyone needed to refuel on top of Mt Tamborine and it was here that Cuvy, Righty and Shane750 left and took the back way down to Canungra and home, while the remainder of us went to the Naturewalk Café for a coffee before heading home.   Conclusion WE MADE IT!!!! The weather was perfect the roads were fun and the company was great. Hope to see you all next time.