I’ll be honest - being an unapologetic fair weather rider, if I wasn’t the Ride Leader (and a virgin one at that) I wouldn’t have gone. The forecast was for solid rain all day, with freshening winds.
Still, needs must, and when I arrived at Nicholls, Scott and Kevin were already there champing at the bit. Damon and Aeron arrived shortly after. Consulting the radar app showed that the rain shouldn’t last long with the worst passing north of our intended track, so we decided to chance it. I did modify the route to avoid the Brungle Road as I’d passed that way a couple of weeks before and it was in very poor shape.
The rain did indeed stop a bit north of Murrumbateman, and soon afterwards the raindrops dried off my glasses and the inside of the visor and I could actually see the road! A pleasant ride to Harden / Murrumburrah and a stop at Barnes Store for a coffee. (Despite me having reminded everyone that proof of double vax was needed to get into any café in NSW, they didn’t actually check!).
Kevin obviously decided his bike didn’t like associating with the others, as he parked on the other side of the road.
He did the same at lunch too. It’s not even as if it’s a BMW thing, as the majority of bikes on the ride at all times were BMWs!
The weather was staying fine, even with patches of sun, so we decided to continue, but Damon and Aeron said they would be heading for home at Jugiong. And the weather did stay good over to Tumut, with the wind picking up to “annoying” (Scott’s assessment) but not too bad.
A very firm Vax check, and masks to be worn while moving around edict greeted us at Tumut River Brewing Co. as three of us fronted for a lunch of two pizzas and a salad (oh well, there’s one in every crowd). I thought their “back by popular demand” Kransky and Pineapple Pizza looked interesting and it turned out to be excellent.
Then came the ride back. We headed off broadly together but strung out, and I didn’t see the others again after they got past a couple of cars just before a long section with no passing opportunities. I trust they had a good ride, but I had huge problems with the wind on the Hume – right down to dodging trucks and swerving SUVs, and random lane changes in the crosswinds. After I got home, I checked Ventusky for the record of the winds along the Hume at the time we were travelling there – generally 30kph with gusts over 60kph. No wonder it was difficult!
Mostly a good ride and, as ever, great company. But the weather needs improvement for next time!
- Neil McRitchie Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro (Leader & Scribe)
- Scott England BMW R1250RT
- Kevin Sherman BMW R1250RS
- Aeron Johnson Suzuki SV650
- Damon Hatchett BMW R1250R
