Dawn dawned, as dawns tend to do, and with this dawn came the portent of a fine day, 25-ish degrees, and light winds. Perfect riding weather, and so machinery was set in motion to assemble at Caltex Nichols, for a mid-week ride into the surrounding countryside.
Six eager motorcycles, plus their attendant riders, assembled – on or before the allotted time – to be briefed by fearless leader Warren, and set off initially for a coffee stop at Boorowa via Binalong.
Whilst departure was orderly, the first bike dropped by the wayside within sight of the departure point, as gremlins impacted Noel’s BMW. It must have been gremlins, as BMWs don’t break down. Noel pulled over and searched through his book of magic spells for the more reliable incantations to cast the gremlins aside, with a view to re-joining the ride at Boorowa, which he managed successfully.
And so, on we went. As anyone who has traveled either around or out of the city over recent months has noted, rain has transformed the countryside – the grass is waist high, the crops lush and the whole place looks amazing. Its not quite Ireland, but the bright green and yellow of recent weeks has given over to a more olive hue, as the grasses cure and crops mature, but it provides a magnificent contrast to the past few years of drought, wildfires and smoke. (Q = what do you call a 2-week period in Ireland without rain – A = summer….).
Joining the group, as planned, was Carolyn (from Yass) who, despite offers to meet with her under a tree somewhere on the side of the road, thought the Superb Bakery would provide for a better meeting point. Also joining the ride was John who, having anticipated much of the opening para of this report and not aware of the organised ride, decided to go for a ride solo.
And so the group, now numerically 8, helmeted and gloved etc, departed Boorowa for Gunning via Rugby and Crookwell. The departure was not exactly as anticipated however, as somewhere in the departure phase the gremlins again caught up with Noel, leaving him wondering whether or not he needed more air in one tyre. And unfortunately, it was some Kms later (at a halt for fuel, which also split the group) when a couple of us doing a ‘head count’ only recalled 7 bikes, not 8 – the missing 8-th, being Noel’s BMW.
The group did not reform until just out of Gunning, and the head count confirmed no Noel in sight, so the decision was made to attempt to phone him from Gunning (probably after firstly ordering coffee - no offense, Noel…). But on arrival at the café, a very familiar BMW F800GSA, its attendant helmet and gloves awaited us. And to top it off, the BMW, helmet and gloves, had Noel with them.
Discussions of his arrival ahead of the group included travels thru’ time and space, or another dimension entirely, but these were cut short (thankfully – we were getting into ‘head spin territory’) by the arrival of the remainder of the group, and Noel’s admission that on sorting out his tyre issue, he took a short cut via Dalton.
Lunch was the usual fare of coffee, sandwiches, hamburgers and bull$%#t in the backyard warmth of the Old Hume Café. Discussion of puncture preparedness and repair drifted into anticipatory tyre sealants such as “slime” and it was agreed that whilst they could work as an emergency measure, it made professional patching of a puncture less likely afterwards (tyre repairers hate it). And those who had used it largely agreed that a 1-litre bottle is required per wheel – one generally manages to get about 250Ml into the tyre and the remainder everywhere but into the tyre – wetting the surrounding area/bike/persons involved beforehand does assist the cleanup, but liquid latex infused with a fluorescein dye can prove problematic to remove when it doesn’t really want to cooperate.
On departure from Gunning, the group essentially went its own way home, however it should be noted that Noel was ‘off like a shot’ – methinks he may have been worried the gremlins were looking for him again.
Great weather, great roads, great company, and motorcycles – what more can one ask for? (my spouse just reminded me I should add ‘coffee’ to that last sentence).
And a hearty 'thanks' to Warren for organising/leading a(nother) great ride.
Robert
List of culprits:
- Warren Richer Triumph Thruxton R
- Anthony Hanson Honda Goldwing Aspencade
- Dave Mossman BMW R1250RS
- Noel Bentley BMW F800GSA
- John Dean Suzuki DL650
- Carolyn Hutton Ducati Supersport
- Heike Apps BMW R1200GS
- Robert Apps BMW R1200GSA
