The Ride the Byroads trail is roughly 960kms and spans from Cockle Creek at the beautiful Southern point to Eddystone Point Lighthouse to the North East. The track zigs and zags between scenic flowy trails to more technical rocky portions. I say technical lightly because Emily and I are by no stretch seasoned off-road warriors. With this being said we found the Byroads to be both challenging and extremely rewarding.
We were lucky enough to meet Darrel, the mastermind behind the byroads, at a bike meet in Hobart. Donned in his adventure riding gear, accompanied by his faithful canine companion and standing aside his monster of an adventure bike, the mighty GS 1250, we very quickly became mates with him. Darrel is very down to Earth and his passion for the byroads emanates from him with every word and to be quite honest it's very contagious. Darrel talks about the creation of a community of like minded people traversing the wild Tasmanian landscape along roads less travelled and much more interesting than that posed by highways or main roads. The Ride the Byroads track goes through small rural towns that might go amiss on the everyday Tassie tourist's roadmap, but having gone through them they each have a gem that can really contribute to any explorers adventure.
Meeting Darrel in Hobart
Despite doing a portion of the Byroads earlier in our Tassie trip we Officially started the track down in the depths of Cockle Creek. Joined by Darrel, Mark and Mike, the five of us were ready to step off. I think this is the part where they say that it's not an adventure until something goes wrong. Not 15 minutes down the road Mikes noble steed threw a battery voltage light and his speedo decided to become one with his tachometer.
Pre-bike breakdown happy snap at Cockle Creek
Being a good mate Mark decided to call it a day too and make sure the injured Himalayan limped home alright. That left only three. Darrel on the rhino of a GS, Emily on her trusty tractor of a Himalayan (not injured) and me on T7. It was a nice following Darrel though these parts, not having to worry about navigation really let me sink into the ride and fully delve into the experience of offrorad riding. You know it's a good start when the first track you turn to is labeled as "4x4 only". And sure enough it was a good start, in fact we couldn't have asked for a better start. The track twisted and turned through the forrest, becoming narrower at times as the trees and shrubs threatened to consume the dirt we were riding on.
This was my first time seeing a GS in the wild doing what it was designed for and to be quite honest I was impressed with how easily Darrel threw around the behemoth of a BMW. Meanwhile, Emily and I were fighting an uphill battle (sometimes literally) learning to navigate loose and large exposed rocks and learning to not fight the bikes when we lost traction along the way. The first leg with Darrel was a very good exposure to what was to come for other legs along the Byroads.
After resting our weary bones at Arve River Camp ground, we continued trucking along the Byroads. This section was significantly more flowy and there were much less obstacles to pick our way through. We found ourselves climbing in elevation and at times getting to see Tasmania from the eyes of the roads tucked away in the hills. Admittedly, we could have conquered these sections much faster than we did but we took some advice from some friends to "slow the whole thing down and enjoy looking out the window". To say we enjoyed looking out the window is a vast understatement.
Along the track towards Bushy Park we were blessed by the Motorcycle Gods in a big way. Having become a smidge geographically confused (lost) we decided to pull over and consult the oracle (GPS). Not even 3 minutes after being stopped off the road a massive truck came screaming around the corner, right tires making brief contact with the gutter that was on our side of the road. In this case as it is usually, getting lost isn't always a bad thing. This time it saved our lives. Once we reached Bushy Park we were once again back in familiar territory. We picked up some groceries from New Norfolk and continued to our Christmas home at Mt Field National Park where we would tuck in for a couple days.
Gearing up to leave the national park the mighty Tenere 700 decided she wanted a sleep in and promptly took a nap just as we were getting to leave.
Pictured: Not me dropping the Tenere after failing to take it off the centre stand.
Ross proved to be a sleepy old town which housed two hidden gems. The first being the third oldest bridge in Australia that is still in use. The second being something that I somewhat refuse to fact check because ignorance in this regard holds Ross in an air of bliss. This hidden gem is that one of the sheep farms local to the area has quite an exclusive contract with Gucci. True or not this fact is probably what I will be remembering Ross for.
The third oldest working bridge in Australia (NOT the Gucci sheep)
By the time we packed the tent up and loaded the bikes, Ross was still in a deep sleep. We saw no cars on the road as we continued in search of the infamous Honeysuckle Road. Maybe infamous is a little harsh, but it was a road that had a fairly large array of terrain for us to tackle. Starting on a few tight dirt corners we soon transitioned to more rocky sections that required us to once again pick our way up their inclines. Bouncing and laughing our way along the road we were confronted by an impassable water crossing. Of course I'm exaggerating because it was nothing more than a puddle which proved to be both a highlight of the road but also a free mud bath for the bikes.
Continuing the track we had our sights set on a night at Ben Lomond for us to climb the stellar Jacobs Ladder. Not to be confused with the Jacobs ladder in Perth, the one in Tasmania is far more impressive mostly because we have done it, also because I haven't the foggiest about the one in Perth. After Honeysuckle road the track was mixed between long sweeping dirt roads and the blacktop which was a somewhat welcome rest from standing and bouncing along the road. Fighting fatigue and trying to hush injuries from my past, we limped into Ben Lomond National Park and set up the tent in the quiet and cozy camp ground.
Day 6. Determined to beat the impending rain, we decided to do one more push on the Byroads and make it to Eddystone Point Light House that day. Before that however, it would be rude for me to talk such a big game about Jacobs Ladder without talking about it. The brisk morning meant that before the accent at the ladder we had to remove our goggles so the misty air didn't completely blind us. To me, this part of the Ride the Byroads really proved that people can ride the exact same track, a mere day apart and the conditions will be extraordinarily different. The way Jacobs Ladder was described to us was this twisty mountainous road that had you scaling the cliff sides like a goat. And the views, oh god the views they told us. For us, being just the two of us on these roads, almost completely encapsulated in the tall mountain fog, we really felt like we had all of Tasmania to ourselves. As we climbed, our right side was rock face that was both enthralling and intimidating and on our left, rather than seeing the stomach tangling cliff side, we saw the abyss. In those minutes climbing the ladder it was just the Himalayan, T7 and the road.
Emily atop Jacobs Ladder, visibility at an all time high
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