MX500 – MX5 BREAKFAST CLUB – SUNDAY 12 SEPT 2010
Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:15 pm
Meet: McDonalds at Richmond, on the corner of March Street & East Market Street, Richmond (adjacent to the train station, opposite Richmond Park).
Date: Sunday 12 September 2010 with sign in and briefing commencing from 7.30am. At 8.00am sharp you will be asked to "start your engines" then hit the road.
Google Map: Link, Image
Download, print and bring these forms: Breakfast Menu Order Form | Lunch Menu Order Form | BreakFast Club Run Rules | BreakFast Club Incident Sheet
The MX500 is a classic BreakFast Club one day event for people who love a good drive. The spirited 500km drive is not for the faint hearted. The MX500 is a challenge for one driver, or a bit more laidback (but no less fun) for two. The route is a loop taking in parts of the Blue Mountains, the Central Tablelands, National Parks, State Forests, steep gorges, ridgelines, a cave, farmlands, colonial settlements, over freeways, A , B and sealed C roads out and back to the city.
The route opens with a 77km drive over the Blue Mountains on the Bells Line of Road then across the Causeway for an exhilarating descent of Victoria Pass to Little Hartley for breakfast at the Ambermere Rose Inn, a restored Cobb & Co staging post opened in 1845.
After breakfast a route of 80km dips down through the Grand Arch at the Jenolan Caves then up the switchbacks before a quick run via Edith over gently rolling country to chilly Oberon. A brief rest & revive stop is scheduled for Oberon to allow you to stretch your legs and exchange stories about the long sweeping bends leading to the corkscrew down and out of Caves House and the fast smooth undulating run through Edith.
From Oberon the route heads south for 102km via Norway to little known localities with quaint names like Black Springs, Porters Retreat and the Paling Yards to Taralga over, around and through mountains, cleared valleys, forests and isolated farms on a road rarely travelled. The road was recently sealed all the way from Oberon to Taralga with the new sections reputed to be fantastic. The lunch stop is at the historic Taralga Hotel built in 1876 with its open fireplaces, dining room and courtyard serving up Australian gourmet country pub cuisine.
After lunch the route continues south for 44km to Goulburn. Following a refuelling stop, the route is down the Hume Highway for a 200km run back to the city with the option of taking afternoon tea in a cosy cafe like the White Horse Inn, Stewards or the Old Bake House in Berrima before heading home. From the Southern Highlands you can return to Sydney either down Macquarie Pass entering the city via the Shire, or a quick run down the Hume into western Sydney and the M5 and M7.
Reservations: Not required, just turn up on the day.
What to bring: Start with a full tank of fuel! Pack a UHF CB radio if you have one. Print-outs of the forms linked above.
Organiser: Bryan Shedden (Guran) ... with thanks to Michael Soulos (Midori) for his guidance
Phone: 0422 340010
Ambermere Rose Inn - breakfast venue
Near Oberon
On the Tablelands Way
Some of the lovely corners and freshly sealed road surface
Taralga Hotel - lunch venue
This run looks tops 
