We were supposed to be going to Junee but for most of the week before, the weather bureau had been forecasting Sunday temperatures of 38°–39° out Junee way.
Not wanting to have anyone cark it because of heatstroke, and also because I reckon riding in that sort of heat when you don’t have to isn’t much fun, I looked around for cooler destinations and came up with a Plan B and a Plan C, the winning plan to be decided on the day by either democratic vote or dictatorial fiat (or should that be dictatorial ducati in a bike club?).
Plan B was to ride via Taralga to Crookwell for lunch, then back home. Plan C was a short ride to Gunning for coffee, arriving home around lunchtime to avoid the worst heat of the day.
At Nicholls on Sunday morning the early sentiment was leaning towards Plan C, although Mick hadn’t heard about the change in destination and labelled us “a bunch of wimps” before deciding that if he couldn’t beat us he’d join us. When it came to a show of hands, however, Plan B was a clear winner.
But wait . . . Marilyn had another suggestion, sort of a combination of Plans A and B, which was to ride straight to Crookwell for brunch. After all, it’s not that far to Crookwell. So Marilyn’s Plan D was put to the group and adopted unanimously except for Mike, who at the last second thought Laggan might be nice.
That’s the great thing about being me. I’m not the world’s most creative or lateral thinker, and I can come up with as many plans as there are stars in the sky and someone will always have a better suggestion. Sometimes I wonder why I bother, but then I tell myself that my failed ideas are triggers for someone else’s more creative ones, which makes my floundering efforts worthwhile and gives me some sort of obscure purpose in life.
But I digress. Amazingly, we left right on time at 9:00am and rode via the Barton Highway, Nanima Road, Gundaroo, Gunning and Grabben Gullen (no fancy route finding today), arriving at Crookwell at 10:15am.
With a plethora of eating houses to choose from (well, a small plethora) we decided on Paul’s Café which is a big, echoey, mostly takeaway sort of place but with lots of tables and chairs and, importantly on a day such as this, air conditioning.
Jim and I had very generous and tasty egg and bacon rolls, while Chris had a Big Brekky, which came on a Bloody Big Plate and consisted of enough eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, hash browns, toast and other sundry delicacies to feed three or four ordinary mortals. On top of this nutritional abundance, the service was friendly and the coffee was excellent.
After about an hour, which gave Chris just enough time to finish his feast, we went our various ways. I returned home via Gunning and Yass while most of the rest had a jaunt through Goulburn. And, as far as I’m aware, nobody died of heatstroke.
Ian Paterson
The Riders were:
Ian Paterson GL1800
David Dawson R1200GS
Jenny Carlin C600
Mike Kelly R1200RT
Neil McRitchie GTR1400
Chris Dietzel GTR1400
Steve Hopkins Ducati 1200
Marilyn Starick Ducati 1200
Mick Beltrame Victory XC
Jim Bass Boulevard C50
Andrew Campbell FJR1300
Ulysses Club, Canberra Branch Website
