There was 15mm of rain when I checked the gauge at 9am but the sky was mostly blue and it was clear that the rain band had passed. So, I expected a good rollup for the Chomp & Chat ride to The Loaded Dog pub in Tarago.
Perhaps all the nervous, ill-informed debate on the branch Facebook page put people off, or perhaps it was just the uncertain weather, but only six of us rode out of the BP servo at Watson. I had booked a table for 10 (the maximum allowed with today’s Covid restrictions) but rang Tim at the pub and updated the number.
Apart from some gusty winds, it was a pretty straightforward ride out via the freeway, Macs Reef Road and the Tarago road, and we arrived at The Loaded Dog at 11:30am. After sanitising our hands and signing in, we were directed to our table, right in front of a gigantic roaring fire in the beer garden out the back. Perfect!
We put the fire to good use as we chatted over coffee till we could order our tucker at 12 o’clock. Good pub food, as usual. As we ate, we observed the now completely blue sky and postulated that, on the available evidence (which wasn’t much), the wind had dropped. However, as we headed back towards Canberra it was obvious that the wind had not only not dropped but had redoubled its ferocity and was now doing its best to wipe us off the face of the earth. There were no reports of Category 5 cyclones, so all we can say for sure is that the winds did not reach 280 km/hour. Which wasn’t too bad, and we all made it home OK.
- Ian Paterson / Honda GL1800
- Kevin Sherman / Indian
- Klaus Tamm / Honda GL1500
- David Burfoot / Suzuki Boulevard 800
- George Attard / Triumph Tiger XRT
- Warren Richer / Triumph Thruxton R
