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for the 8am rendezvous, the car park was filled with 4x4’ s, SUVs, and occasional adventure bikes. I met Phil and Peter in the carpark and found that the two other riders we were to meet had pulled out at the last minute due to the adverse weather. Everyone has their comfort zone to keep within. Eight o’ clock must be peak time for McDonald’ s. Entering to order a warming coffee and burger, it felt like an amalgamation of a rookery and a bingo hall. People noisily huddled together for warmth while a girl at the counter called out the winning numbers for your burger.
Once fed, rested, and thawed, the three of us hit the cold grey road toward Ilford. This route would bypass the traffic heading to the Bathurst race. The heritage listed Bowenfels Rail Viaducts rose over the valley heading out of Lithgow.
Built in 1870 and 1921, they are impressive brick viaducts and bridges built for the western rail line and are worth keeping an eye out for when passing through.
Taking the Mudgee turnoff, skeletal remains of the Wallerawang power station sat in an empty paddock. Once an iconic landmark, the coal fired power station was
closed in 2014 and demolished. It’ s now waiting to be resurrected as a Battery Energy Storage System( BESS) that will house a $ 400 Million 500MW / 1000MWh battery. Slowing down to 50kmh, we came into the high street of Cullen Bullen. The pub has closed, and the service station still has old petrol bowsers on the footpath. Further north, Ben Bullen Railway station, built in the 1800s, sat abandoned on the rail line. Riding past in the fine mist, only ghosts walked the platform, looking and waiting patiently for the plume of smoke of the steam train that never comes.
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