Russells Ride 2010, Australia

Hello, my name is Russell Nurse.

This year's ride is a follow up of my first long distance dirt and tar ride last year.

We (my son Karl and I) traveled 8300km in 16 days on a pair of DR 650s and afterward I found I really had the bug.

The Donahue and Plenty Highways, the Tanami Desert, Wolf Creek Crater , the Kimberleys, Birdsville & Innamincka were no longer just places on a map and I'm itching to get going again.

Last year was about learning (lessons like running out of fuel on the Tanami or getting water in our fuel) fortunately we had vehicular support.

This year I've got a new side kick (my eldest son Luke) and we're doing it without support. On the agenda is Menindee, Tibooburra, Camerons Corner, Lyndhurst, Oodnadatta, Mt Dare, Dalhousie, Purni Bore, Finke, The Olgas and The Rock, Jervois, Boulia, Bedourie, Cordillo Downs and more.

I'll be blogging my way, as internet access permits so subscribe to the Two Wheel Touring Newsletter (see side bar) to follow my progress.

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06 June, 2010
As it had been raining for much of the 2 weeks past, we figured we'd be leaving Moss Vale in the wet for sure. Well you have no idea how grateful we were to see the sun this morning, I'm sure it broke specially for our trip!


We had packed beforehand but we were a bit slow for the first load up... we'll get better, we'll sure get enough practice!


Leaving Moss Vale we headed to Marulan. I was keen to see if this extra weight of gear, equipment and technology would affect the DR's handling so we turned off and headed across swallow tail to Taralga.
I completely forgot Luke had a brand new front tyre which was a little disconcerting in the wet and dry patches we found on the initial stretch of road, they were everywhere.
My positive first impressions of my Avon Distanzias' held true. Everyone was telling me "mate they're road tyres!" but in reality they are proving to be a great all round tyre. The swallow tail was a bit slippery but overall the performance of the bike was good and we were happy with the way they "felt", at least thus far.


From Taralga we rode on to Laggan then to Binda. We hit the tar again and headed  towards Tuena, enjoying the fabulous winding and undulating road. Somewhere, just after we crossed the Abercrombie I had the good fortune to experience our first "incident"... a Galah flew straight into my helmet! 


Initially I was a bit stunned, wondering what had happened, unfortunately for the bird it was dead so we wouldn't be exchanging contact details and my no claim bonus would remain intact!  Luke said I didn't waiver my line much when it struck and I stayed on my side the road frankly .... I had no idea I just charged on! 


From that point it was plain sailing through Blayney, Orange and Parkes. We finished up in Condobolin. 


That's it for day 1, stay tuned for more.


Regards, Russell.

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