Despite the forecast for 36 - 38 degrees, there were about 15 bikes lined up at Hume to go for a ride to Dalgety. I don’t have a list of riders - I think the ride leader wanted to keep that a secret!!??
The ride leader for the day was Peter Arday and as part of his pre-ride briefing we were all asked if we had plenty of water on board for the day - yes sir!! was the reply.
The plan was to turn off at Polo Flat before Cooma and head towards Nimmitabel for morning tea. Lunch wouldn’t be served at the Dalgety Pub until 12noon, so we may as well ride the long way round.
Riding conditions were quite pleasant and everyone was ready for their coffee (and/or pie) when we arrived at the Nimmitabel Bakery. Does anyone ever go past there without stopping for a pie? They have all sorts of pies!!!
So, on we must go. We left Nimmitabel and headed towards Bombala on the Monaro Hwy, but had to make sure we didn’t miss the turn off onto the Snowy River Way to get us to Delgety. All good. The wind was very strong across this stretch of road. A great place for them to put plenty of Wind Turbines.
We arrived at the Pub a little bit early, but none the less, the owners welcomed us with open arms and showed us through to the dining room in this very old building. I wasn’t sure if it was cooler in the dining room or out on the verandah. The majority of us had a hamburger (with or without chips) and a cool drink.
It was warming up, but we had to get home, so on we ventured to Cooma were we planned to stop again for those who needed fuel and for another chance to rehydrate.
Some pulled into the Shell Servo and enjoyed a ice cream, while others went to the next servo to spread the business around a bit. After a drink and rest, everyone head home at their own pace. Margaret and Derek stopped off at the Christmas Barn in Bredbo.
It wasn’t until we got to Michelago that the wind started to get hotter and by the time we arrived home, it was pretty warm, but we still enjoyed the day with great company (as usual).
Lyn
Ulysses Club, Canberra Branch Website
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
Saturday, November 15, 2014
For Sale updates 15 Nov 2014
Three new items in the For Sale page
Further details at: http://ulyssescanberrabranch.blogspot.com.au/p/for-sale.html
WOW!!!!!
- Women's size 16 black Draggin jeans and
- a Suzuki SV650 Naked
- 2005 Honda Deauville NT650V
Further details at: http://ulyssescanberrabranch.blogspot.com.au/p/for-sale.html
WOW!!!!!
Saturday, November 8, 2014
The Long Ride 2014
The Long Ride 2014 is now complete. There were a few incidents / accidents and a larger than usual number of bikes came to grief through mechanical problems (mostly Harleys), and quite a few needed new tires along the way.
The success of this event was due mainly to the efforts of all riders and of course the tireless organisers. The Police were awesome in Victoria as our trip to Sale and eventually to Cerberus was not interrupted by any Police with poor senses of humour. They were all at a parade in the City …. Yippee, so the quick twisty roads were all the more interesting.
Organisers of the Defence Riders handed over a cheque to PCFA management $318,000, although some money is still filtering and was up to $318,905 as of Monday this week. This is an amazing amount and one that every rider should be proud of achieving. This amount will be used to fund further research into prostate cancer.
For my part, the ride was right up there with one of the hardest things I have done for some time. Apart from riding the bike which was a breeze.
The Hyabusa never missed a beat and indeed hardly even noticed the weight on the back. The only time I think I really noticed it was after we left Swan Hill heading north west towards Port Augusta where we faced a cross wind gusting to 55km per hour (some of the gust felt higher). Some riders reported turning to the right but leaning to the left to counter the high wind and even higher gusts.
Tanunda Caravan park (SA) was the last time we saw grass until we set up camp at Ayers Rock and it was rather sparse there.Organisers of the Defence Riders handed over a cheque to PCFA management $318,000, although some money is still filtering and was up to $318,905 as of Monday this week. This is an amazing amount and one that every rider should be proud of achieving. This amount will be used to fund further research into prostate cancer.
For my part, the ride was right up there with one of the hardest things I have done for some time. Apart from riding the bike which was a breeze.
The Hyabusa never missed a beat and indeed hardly even noticed the weight on the back. The only time I think I really noticed it was after we left Swan Hill heading north west towards Port Augusta where we faced a cross wind gusting to 55km per hour (some of the gust felt higher). Some riders reported turning to the right but leaning to the left to counter the high wind and even higher gusts.
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| camp site at Coober Pedy |
Believe it or not this highly desirable camp site at Coober Pedy cost $16, best bit of dirt I have ever rented…!!
What made the challenge so hard as indicated above was the fact that my backside was NOT up for the challenge…. And the final assessment confirmed … it wasn’t.
So I rode MOTOGP style for at least half the ride. Each time we got to the end of a very very very long straight we’d go through a nice bend then back to very very very long straights again.
So I rode MOTOGP style for at least half the ride. Each time we got to the end of a very very very long straight we’d go through a nice bend then back to very very very long straights again.
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| Standard lean angle |
Some statistics along the way involving collective costs are quite staggering. Collectively, we spent approx. $1.6m in participating in the Long Ride.
So when you factor in such things as food, drinks, accommodation, maintenance, tyres, fuel and clothing, this amount is amazing. The youngest pillion was 8, two sisters rode behind their dad at intervals, one 8 year old rode behind his grandfather for over 8000ks, the oldest rider is 81, a family of Dad, Son and Grandson rode all the way together.
I rode all the way out there and back with a long lost Navy mate that I hadn’t seen for close to 30 years and we are now firm friends (I think I have spent more time with him than my wife over the last few months). To be honest if he had not kept going all the time (experienced long distance rider) I think I would have stopped a lot more for ‘sooky la la’ breaks and taken twice as long to get there.
So when you factor in such things as food, drinks, accommodation, maintenance, tyres, fuel and clothing, this amount is amazing. The youngest pillion was 8, two sisters rode behind their dad at intervals, one 8 year old rode behind his grandfather for over 8000ks, the oldest rider is 81, a family of Dad, Son and Grandson rode all the way together.
I rode all the way out there and back with a long lost Navy mate that I hadn’t seen for close to 30 years and we are now firm friends (I think I have spent more time with him than my wife over the last few months). To be honest if he had not kept going all the time (experienced long distance rider) I think I would have stopped a lot more for ‘sooky la la’ breaks and taken twice as long to get there.
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| RAN target towing Jindavic |
We stopped in at Woomera along the way and had a look at a former RAN target towing Jindavic (I think that’s how you spell it), my travelling mate Stu actually had a direct history with this plane as parts of it were removed by Stu to keep another one going.
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| AYERS ROCK (Ularu) |
Willmington to Port Augusta South Australia was probably the longest windy road I have ever ridden on and the best bit is I got to do it twice.
 | |
| It’s much more twistier than it looks, all 55kph turns. |
After 8000ks on a two year old OEM tyre…..
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| It lasted til home…….. JUST |
Lorne Thurgar
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Club Ride to Batemans Bay, 2 November 2014
Met at Caltex Hume on this fine day – seems they again have ’95 but most people didn’t take any chances and had already fuelled up prior to arrival.
Thought there would be more riders as it was such a great day – but maybe the Snowy Ride had dwindled our numbers somewhat. Rider briefing had, we set off along Lanyon Drive, through Queanbeyan and onto the Kings.
Our mandatory Bateman’s Bay run coffee stop – Braidwood Bakery. And who should we meet: Trevor Macleod, who had missed the hookup in Hume and taken the shorter route from home. After a leisurely coffee, we got back on the road, with me having a crack at getting some GoPro video happening of the run down the Clyde. Fail – USB plug on my ‘GoPro battery eliminator’ gizmo decided it didn’t want to stay in the power socket under the vibration, and it had stopped recording within 5km of Braidwood. Damn.
Road was rather devoid of traffic, save for a few that didn’t allow us a clean run down the Clyde – except for Andrew, who has a knack at finding an open road every time we do this run.
Arrived at the Bay, just in time for lunch of Fish & Chips. Managed to park on the pavement right outside the F&C shop. Clearly our timing was perfect, as a sizeable group of riders from Victoria, en-route back from the Snowy Ride, arrived moments later. They had to park on the grass.
After a leisurely lunch, we bade our farewells to Peter Arday, who was staying on to meet up with his beloved Suzanne and friends, and Trevor made his own way. A quick discussion on which was to go home (long route via Nowra and Nerriga, or direct) – Direct won out, and Andrew made some feeble excuse about having to get home and do some shopping.
Discussion had about where to fuel up, and all decided there is enough to get to Braidwood or beyond.
Some tape on the GoPro gizmo to hold it in – and we set off at a reasonable pace up the hill. I’m thinking ‘This should be good’, but we got gazumped by (dare I say it) dumb Canberra drivers towing boats and trying to pass on the slow sections another car towing a caravan. I got through, but then he pulled out between me and Adam without warning, and almost took Adam and Neil out.
Worse was yet to come – just above one of the tight hairpins, another Canberra ute with a boat had its’ tailgate open, and he dropped some of his load out the back. And what did he want to do? Back the boat down the hill to pick up his lost load.
Arrived back at Braidwood for an ice cream and a break, although some decided to head straight home after filling up. The GoPro has not finished with me yet – while the concept of the battery eliminator is good, “Note to self – switch off GoPro before switching off bike”. I found if you do not do this graceful shutdown, the camera does not write to the storage card correctly, and no footage results. Gives me an excuse to do the run again!
A pleasant day out with fellow riders, thanks folks.
Chris
Riders:
Thought there would be more riders as it was such a great day – but maybe the Snowy Ride had dwindled our numbers somewhat. Rider briefing had, we set off along Lanyon Drive, through Queanbeyan and onto the Kings.
 |
| Trevor explains the finer aspects of cornering |
Our mandatory Bateman’s Bay run coffee stop – Braidwood Bakery. And who should we meet: Trevor Macleod, who had missed the hookup in Hume and taken the shorter route from home. After a leisurely coffee, we got back on the road, with me having a crack at getting some GoPro video happening of the run down the Clyde. Fail – USB plug on my ‘GoPro battery eliminator’ gizmo decided it didn’t want to stay in the power socket under the vibration, and it had stopped recording within 5km of Braidwood. Damn.
Road was rather devoid of traffic, save for a few that didn’t allow us a clean run down the Clyde – except for Andrew, who has a knack at finding an open road every time we do this run.
Arrived at the Bay, just in time for lunch of Fish & Chips. Managed to park on the pavement right outside the F&C shop. Clearly our timing was perfect, as a sizeable group of riders from Victoria, en-route back from the Snowy Ride, arrived moments later. They had to park on the grass.After a leisurely lunch, we bade our farewells to Peter Arday, who was staying on to meet up with his beloved Suzanne and friends, and Trevor made his own way. A quick discussion on which was to go home (long route via Nowra and Nerriga, or direct) – Direct won out, and Andrew made some feeble excuse about having to get home and do some shopping.
Discussion had about where to fuel up, and all decided there is enough to get to Braidwood or beyond.
Some tape on the GoPro gizmo to hold it in – and we set off at a reasonable pace up the hill. I’m thinking ‘This should be good’, but we got gazumped by (dare I say it) dumb Canberra drivers towing boats and trying to pass on the slow sections another car towing a caravan. I got through, but then he pulled out between me and Adam without warning, and almost took Adam and Neil out.
Worse was yet to come – just above one of the tight hairpins, another Canberra ute with a boat had its’ tailgate open, and he dropped some of his load out the back. And what did he want to do? Back the boat down the hill to pick up his lost load.
Arrived back at Braidwood for an ice cream and a break, although some decided to head straight home after filling up. The GoPro has not finished with me yet – while the concept of the battery eliminator is good, “Note to self – switch off GoPro before switching off bike”. I found if you do not do this graceful shutdown, the camera does not write to the storage card correctly, and no footage results. Gives me an excuse to do the run again!
A pleasant day out with fellow riders, thanks folks.
Chris
Riders:
- Chris Dietzel: Kawasaki GTR1400 (ride leader)
- Peter Arday: Honda ST1300
- Jeff Heiler: Triumph Rocket III
- Neil Goldfinch: Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird
- Adam Kral: Suzuki GSXR1100 (a newby! – an associate of Garry McCurley)
- Mark and Cathy Walker: Honda NT700V Deauville.
- Gary Thomas: Suzuki DL650 VStrom
- Andrew Campbell: Kawasaki ZX14R
- And caught up with - Trevor Macleod: Yamaha FJR1300
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