Late starts don't cut the mustard either. They limit how far you can ride to lunch and offer little opportunity or desire for a coffee on the way. Maybe the problem is one of 'We couldn't be bothered' if there is no ride leader and no destination along with a late start to the day. No, D&R days are generally off the menu for me. I could change that by volunteering, but I rarely know in advance of a weekend if I can even do a Sunday ride.
So here I was, unanimously being elected as ride leader, ride scribe, ride photographer, destination planner and lunch venue chooser. It was the middle day of the peculiar ACT-only long weekend and I had had a sleep-in. Damn that late night movie. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping, so I figured I might as well get the machine out and go for a ride.
The D&R departure was set for 10 am at Nicholls, so I called in for fuel and coffee. Miracle of miracles, so did three others. We had a ride to plan. The only thing I didn't have to do was the corner marking and tail-end-Charlie.
I had a little help with the lunch venue as Mick R had been to the Tangled Vine (Ed: 79 Orchard Street Taralga) recently and said it was still good. That made the lunch venue and destination an easy pick.
Riding with a small group of experienced riders has its upsides. There was no need to explain exactly what a three-second gap was and how to calculate it without repeating Year 12. No need to explain or even use corner markers, no need for a tail-ender and no need to enter the murky depths of discussing speedo accuracy versus GPS speeds and refresh rates. We even failed to discuss the perils and risks of not riding within our own abilities or the abilities of our bikes. Clearly we were doomed to wander the roads of NSW aimlessly and fall upon hard times as our bikes and bums parted company somewhere along the way.
That didn't happen of course, and the need to include such things in the ride briefing is accepted, but sometimes you just have to accept that it isn't necessary. This was one of those times.
Where did we go? Given the short two hours to lunch and already selected destination, the boys decided to follow me to Nanima Road then on to Gundaroo, Gunning, Crookwell and Taralga. Nanima Road is still as rough as buggery - not that I've had the experience of that. It's a strange term
in Australian slang, I wonder where it originated? I digress. It was an easy run along oft-ridden roads with little cause for excitement or fright. The roadworks between Gunning and Grabben Gullen are done, but it looks like some extra bits are in the running for attention, so maybe a new stretch of temporary dirt will be forced upon us and our shiny bikes.
The lovely Thruxton needed a splash of fuel at Crookwell, resulting in the first rush of petrol bouncing out of the tank and down over the tank, hot engine and headers. Oops! There was no fiery ending to the bike, rider or petrol station, but the clean-up made it a suitable photo opportunity. The despair in Warren being unable to rapidly find some paper towel was a sight to behold and he eventually cleaned up the mess, filled the tank, and then walked away to kick
something.
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| Fuelling the Thruxton at Crookwell - no fireball thankfully |
The rest of us waited in the wings a short distance from the pending fireball, socialising as required under the Ulysses charter of being a social club for motorcyclists and not a motorcycle club for socialists.
Mind you, I would have liked a socialist's share of the Thruxton.
We continued our mutual socialising at 100 kph all the way to Taralga where lunch was ordered, received, eaten and digested in fairly quick order. The usual food photo was taken, and all parties gave their approval to have their mugshots included. Taralga was its usual busy self, with bikes aplenty either parked while their riders consumed the local fare, or breezed through in both
directions on the way to somewhere else.
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| The hungry D&R crew dismount is search of lunch |
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| Time to eat! |
With farewells proffered and decisions made, Neil and Mick R chose to head Goulburn way and then split again for their individual home locations. Warren and I decided to retrace our path and do the same run in reverse.
It is effectively a different road if you look at it logically. The uphill bits become downhill bits (and vice-versa), the left corners become right corners (and vice-versa), and the rough bits become smooth bits (maybe that's stretching it too far). The rough stays rough and the smooth stays smooth, except where the rough and smooth are on opposite sides of the ride.
Of course, that further assumes that you were not overtaking on one of the rough left side bits in one direction and missed the rough altogether on the return journey. Have I baffled you?
It was a very pleasant day out with a small group of good riders. Yes, we socialised. No, we didn't stop half way for coffee due to the short ride duration to our lunch stop. Yes, we did split and go separate ways after lunch. No, that isn't being unsociable but merely recognises that some have other things to do, or live in places where a more direct route home is desired. It works for me.
Has it changed my mind about D&R days? Not really. (Webmaster: OK, so how do we make them better/more appealing?) We struck it lucky today, but consensus was that it was a fairly late start and the lack of a pre-determined destination didn't help. Perhaps that makes me the unsociable socialist. If so, then clearly we must have had a miserable time today socialising from 3 seconds away at 100 kph. From where I was (leading the ride), it was a great day. I'd be happy to do a longer ride with Neil, Mick R and Warren.
Thank you for the company gentlemen. It was a pleasant day on the bikes.
Mick B.
Participants were:
- Neil McRitchie on the GTR1400
- Mick Riddle on the R1150RT
- Warren Richer on the Triumph Thruxton R1200
- Mick Beltrame on the R1200GSLC
