Chapter 1 — Brisbane to Boorowa
Day 1: Brisbane to Walcha
20 January 2026
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While I had a constant battle with the onsie in 2025, I enjoyed my ride. So, too, apparently, did AussieFlyer, even though he had to don wet weather gear once. He was keen to ride again. And so, late in 2025, I made a vague attempt to gather a modest group of CB1100 riders: AussieFlyer, Pterodactyl, noroomtomove.
The plan was for Pterodactyl and AussieFlyer to meet in Omeo in mid January and ride north together. I'd ride south and we'd meet somewhere around Walcha and ride the Oxley Highway, before continuing south. Pterodactyl would peel off to Sydney while AussieFlyer and I would keep going to ride some mountain country in New South Wales and Victoria, hooking up with noroomtomove somewhere along the way.
Did it work? Of course not.
Ridiculous heat and bushfires in northern Victoria combined with a family matter prevented AussieFlyer and Pterodactyl meeting. Rain in Queensland and into New South Wales, combined with a general reluctance to have to have a constant battle with the onsie, delayed my start.
Pterodactyl had a pleasant solo ride and teased us with occasional vignettes and pictures.
Five days later than planned, I headed south, planning to meet AussieFlyer in Boorowa at the end of my day 3.
I left early and, nastily perhaps, enjoyed the view of the commuter traffic heading the opposite way.
What to do? I could take the New England Highway, although I knew there were extensive roadworks over Cunninghams Gap which I was keen to avoid. Or I could take the road oft travelled over the border to Kyogle, along the Summerland Way to the delightful Grafton-Armidale Road.
I did none of those. Instead, I took the uninspiring Ipswich Motorway, turned onto the Warrego Highway and rode to Gatton where I filled the tank and set off on a lovely ride through Ma Ma Creek, West Haldon and Pilton which, from a very flat start, turns into a pleasant climb onto the Downs. Now I think about it, I rode home that way after the great onsie ride.
Leaving Gatton
A cutting on the way up the hill
Another part of the ride
Up on the Downs
Thence around Warwick to Stanthorpe where I had coffee and filled the fuel tank before setting off on the ride to Texas which I always find entertaining. It didn't disappoint.
On the road to Texas
Then a new road: to Inverell via Ashford. Not so many twists and turns, but very little traffic which is always a winner with me. I stopped for more fuel, coffee and a bite to eat in Inverell before heading south with a plan to ride to Bendemeer and then Tamworth where I'd stop for the night.
Taking a break at Inverell
I've often described Thunderbolts Way from Walcha to Gloucester. It's a favourite ride with a fast northern section leading through farm and forestry land to a steep and entertaining descent into Gloucester. However, Thunderbolts Way continues north west to Inverell and I headed out along the start of the section to Uralla before leaving it at Bundarra. It was lots of fun: quick with long sweeping corners. I'll go back and ride the rest of it to Uralla sometime in the future.
I rode through the tiny hamlet of Kingston and was almost immediately confronted by a dirt road.
The start of the dirt at Kingston
Ever since an adventure in 2024 (see this report) I've been very leery of dirt roads, particularly on my own. Indeed, as I sat looking at it, I decided it was the other end of a dirt road that Pterodactyl and I baulked at on an earlier ride — see Day 2 of this report.
So, slightly reluctantly, I turned around and made my way along a sealed road to Uralla. Somewhere along the way I decided that Walcha meant little time on the highway so I rode there and checked into the Apsley Arms Hotel. Lucky, too, as the huge, annual country music festival was on in Tamworth and I'd've been bunking down in a stable somewhere. If I was lucky.
Day 2: Walcha to Rylstone
21 January 2026
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Even in summer, riding in New England is decidedly cool in the morning and I was pleased I'd packed my warm gear. I set off south along Thunderbolts Way. The road's in good condition and undulates a little as it passes through cleared farming land. It's a quick ride with little traffic to worry about.
I fully intended to turn off onto the Topdale Road and head down off the range towards Dungowan. My plan was to ride sou-sou-west to the Bylong Valley via some back roads alongside the New England Highway.
But, as with all Cormanus' plans, the cement failed to cure and I got to Topdale Road and stayed on Thunderbolts Way to Gloucester. Patches of forest — some natural, some planted — start to appear and the undulations increase.
Thunderbolts Way
On a section of the road known as the Mares Run is the Pioneer Lookout, where I stopped for a photo opportunity.
After that, there's a very steep descent with a lovely sign warning drivers of automatic vehicles that hot brakes fail. The road then flattens before running through bush along beside the Manning River and then through farmland for the final run into Gloucester.
I didn't need to stop for fuel so I kept going. At Dungog I had coffee and bought petrol. I'm happy to report that the road surface at the southern end of Thunderbolts Way, and for much of the road into Dungog is in much better condition than last time I rode them. Indeed, Dungog has always been my benchmark for just how bad a road surface can get!
The ride from Dungog to East Gresford to Singleton is wonderful. It starts with some hills and a pretty ride along a ridge, before descending into East Gresford and a plain which proves an entertaining run. I like these roads, not because they're full of endless twists and turns — they're not; or because the surface is brilliant so I can strap on the leather hemlet and goggles and ride like the boy racer — because it isn't; but because they're scenic enough to be interesting, have enough turns and undulations (and bumps) to keep a bloke interested and awake and because there's very little traffic on them.
Between Dungog and Singleton
I paused briefly at Jerrys Plains to drink lots of water — it had become hot — and to recalculate my route to get off the highway. There's a much more agreeable back road through Doyles Creek and Bureen which got me to Denman where I paused for water, coffee, food and petrol for the bike.
The first time I went to Denman was in 2014 on my second or third serious ride on the CB1100. I rode to Sydney, joined Pterodactyl and Jalalski and we went to Phillip Island for the MotoGP. Sadly the pictures no longer appear, but the report is here. I mention it because there was dirt on the quickest route from Denman through Yarrawa to the Bylong Valley. I glossed over it at the time, but it was nasty, slippery dirt which took one over a not inconsequential hill, and I didn't like it at all. Happily, the road is now sealed and lovely. What a difference 12 years and some bitumen makes.
As for the Bylong Valley Way, what can I say? The surface is variable; it can be hot — as it was this day; but it's pretty, has variable scenery, two lovely hills and very little traffic. What's not to like?
After joining it, the road runs past small escarpments, but one reasonably quickly arrives at a hill which offers an interesting climb with a couple of very tight corners, before one descends into a steepish, bushy valley for a couple of kilometres. There's a similar hill at the other end of the valley, so it always feels to me like I've arrived in a sort of secret valley protected on all sides by hills. It reminds me of a 19th century Australian novel, Robbery Under Arms where Captain Starlight's gang took their stolen horses to a lush hidden valley. I gather from the Wikipedia article that the valley is thought to be based on a sunken valley further north in the Gwydir region of NSW, another favourite riding area.
Northern end of the Bylong Valley. The grass in the paddocks is in good conditions, but the hills are showing signs of recent fires
Start of the first hill climb
The copious quantities of water I'd consumed took their toll and I needed to stop in Bylong. I parked the bike in the shade outside the Bylong General Store. In the time before COVID, this was an excellent place to stop for a cup of tea and a tank of petrol, but no more. It's firmly closed. A great pity. There's an adjacent caravan park, facilities for a roadside stop and, apparently the locals like it. A woman giving her child a run in the playground told me the store had been bought by a mining company which wanted a 'too much' for the lease and was refusing to do much of the maintenance necessary to make the business viable.
Outside the Bylong General Store
A quality piece of agricultural equipment on display in the public space opposite the store
Biology and thirst both assuaged, I climbed aboard again for the final 51 kilometres to Rylstone. Happily, the second — and, in my view, better — of the hill passages required negotiation before I got there.
A good road surface can never be a bad thing and it's good to see money being spent on it
The surface used to be more like this
I like the escarpments that can be seen in the great Dividing Range west of Sydney
The approach to the hills at the southern end of the valley
Following a recommendation from Pterodactyl, I spent a comfortable night in the bike-friendly, Bowles-Inn Family Hotel in Rylstone. There was even a lock-up shed for the bike.
Day 3: Rylstone to Boorowa
22 January 2026
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