Day 364: Heat Relief

I went riding with Pete, Andy & Matt today and it was pretty warm. As usual we rode some great trails around Tallaganda and had a fantastic time on our bikes. I took off a little ahead of the guys to grab some photos of them coming through the crossing, they didn't disappoint and took the opportunity to cool off in the spray of an enthusiastic crossing. My photo today is of Pete who failed in his attempt to wheelie over the water and in doing so managed to create a decent splash when his front wheel came down in the middle of the creek.

We come this was quite often and ride out here in winter too, the crossings are generally at a more sedate pace in the cooler weather though.

Day 351: Playing In The Mud

Pete, Andy and I went for a ride out near Andy's place today. It had been a while and it was good to get out on the Dirty Husky again. We rode some trails that we hadn't done in ages and some of them had seen some water recently which always adds to the fun.

My photo today is Pete attempting to navigate one of the slushy gullies. The entrance is pretty steep and required ducking under the partially fallen tree before hitting the deep ruts full of watery mud. The exit is as steep as the entrance and without a bit of momentum to get you through the slush you can find yourself bogged with wet feet and a climb ahead of you that looks more daunting than it really is.

Pete did end up having to lift his back wheel out of the rut he got bogged in, but once he'd done that he made the climb out look relatively easy.

I could have offered to help lift the bike out, but Pete's got plenty of experience doing that himself and besides, I was busy taking photos.

Day 311: Heading Home

For reasons too long to explain, Andy dropped Pete and I with the trailer at Pete's sister's place to bring their dad's car back to Canberra. Along with this we also picked up Bron's bike that she rode in the Ride to Conquer Cancer in October. It was quite an effort to fit all the stuff we had from the ute into the car but with a few adjustments and some minor repositioning of things we made it all fit. It was convenient that Pete's dad's car had a tow bar.

The drive home was pretty uneventful with the exception of getting a call from Andy who was a good half hour ahead of asking us whether we'd drop some fuel to him if he ran out. He'd hoped to pull in to a small town on the highway to refuel but found the servo there was no longer in business. As it turned out he managed to limp the ute in to the next town. Apparently the guy at the servo asked Andy what was wrong with his ute when he pulled in because it was chugging and spluttering up to the fuel pump. Andy called to let us know he'd made it so we could stop looking for the old white ute on the side of the road. The whole sequence of events was a welcome distraction from the boring highway.

Day 310: How Good Is This?

This morning was great, it was another glorious day at Phillip Island and my photo for the day is of the bike all set up ready for the day ahead. The morning sun was shining in through the back door of the garage and my coffee was still hot in my travel cup on the tail of the bike, what more could I ask for?

I was looking forward to getting out on track and putting everything I learned yesterday to practice, unfortunately as soon as I got out there I promptly forgot everything and just tried to ride really really fast. The funny thing is, when you try to ride really really fast you end up going slower than when you just work on being smooth.

Once I had the first session out of my system I was able to focus on my lessons from yesterday, I worked on keeping my vision wide and taking each corner using the three step method I learned. This helped to improve my lines and in turn my corner speed.

It's amazing how having a process to follow makes it feel like there's more time for you to prepare yourself and the bike for the next corner even though you're actually arriving there much quicker than you were previously. I'm not sure that this will actually make sense to anyone who hasn't been through the this kind of tuition but it seemed to work for me.

In any case, Andy, Pete and I all had another great day on the track. We all felt quick and we all came away unscathed, what a great way to spend a few days away with mates.

Day 309: End Of The Day

I had a big day at Philip Island today. It was a full day of California Superbike School with a heap of sessions on track and an equivalent number of session s in the class room. The weather was perfect, clear skies, sunshine and not too much wind.

The class room sessions are packed in between the on track time with barely 10 minutes for a debrief with the instructor before needing to be in class, this doesn't leave any time for putting bikes up on stands, fitting tyre warmers and plugging them in. I was a little worried about the effect his would have on my new rear tyre and also about how the first couple of laps would feel while the tyres were working their way up to the right temperature and pressure levels. It was ok, the tyres only felt mushy for the first half a lap or so and the wear seemed to be ok, certainly better than it was before I had the suspension sorted by Laurie.

Because it was so busy I really didn't have a chance to take any photos on my new camera, so tonight after a few beers with Pete & Andy and while getting organised for dinner I took this one. It's the view from the house we've rented, the sunset was pretty spectacular and the new camera has done a decent job to capture it. The best thing about today was knowing I'd be back on the track again first thing tomorrow morning.

Day 308: Forgotten Camera

Today got off to a good start, Pete & Andy came to collect me at around 7am and I had some coffees in travel cups organised so we were ready to go. We loaded my gear into Andy's ute, hooked the trailer up  and hit the road.

It was roughly 45 minutes into the trip that I realised what I'd left behind. The bloody camera. Despite my best efforts to convince the guys that we should stop, unload Pete's bike and let me ride it back to retrieve the camera and I'd catch them at Nimmitabel where we could load Pete's bike back into the trailer, we decided it wasn't really worth it.

Speaking of Nimmitabel, I've been trying to get one of their famous pasties (their pies are great too) but every time I've missed out. On more than one occasion I've missed the last pastie by one customer and once the last customer was Andy. This time I was adamant that I'd get one so I jumped out of the ute when we arrived and rushed to the bakery before Pete & Andy could gazump me. On my way to the bakery I saw a guy walking out with one and thought I'd be in luck... unfortunately that wasn't the case. I'd missed the last pastie by one customer again. One of these days I'll get one...

Our next stop was for lunch at Bairnsdale where I tracked down the local Dick Smith to buy a cheap little camera to get me through the next few days without my real camera. What I ended up with was the one pictured: a FujiFilm XP thingamajig that's waterproof. I didn't really go in looking for a waterproof camera but I figured that since I was buying another camera I might as well add something to my existing photographic capability. Time will tell if it's any good.

Day 275: Labour Day Ride

Today was Labour day so I spent the day riding around Tallaganda on the dirty Husky with Andy, Pete and Matt. Andy had recently upgraded his bike from the old XR400 that he'd owned from new to a fancy Husqvarna that makes mine look a little dated.

He says it's been taking a little getting used to and I guess that's easy to understand with the new bike having brakes the work, roughly 3 times the power and modern suspension that allows him to choose which part of the trail he wants to ride on regardless of ruts, roots or rocks. There is however one part of the new bike that hasn't taken much getting used to for Andy and that's the magic little button that starts the bike, you see the old XR was a kick start only bike and this was the main reason for the upgrade.

I only took a few photos today because the new camera is much less portable for taking out on the trails than the old Canon and the photos I did take were of Andy's XR so he could advertise it. So today my photo is likely to be the last one I'll ever take with Andy's old bike in it.

As usual it was a great day out with the guys, only this time I came back a little jealous of Andy's new toy...

Day 273: Footy Finals

I headed out to Andy's place this arvo to watch the AFL Grand Final. It's not something I would have done previously but after Andy & Pete took me to watch the Hawks play at the MCG, I've had lot more interest in this historically Victorian game.

Now looking at todays photo you might think that the Hawks had won. Unfortunately this wasn't the case, they were beaten by the Swans in a pretty exciting game that saw the lead change a number of times. The Hawks also lost when the guys took me to watch them at the MCG... I'm wondering whether Pete & Andy will invite me to watch another game with them after this, it could be construed that I'm bad luck based on the two losses from the two games that I've watched with them. We'll see what happens next season.

My photo today was taken after the game, and a few drinks, in Andy's kitchen where we were preparing dinner. Andy had cranked up the volume on one of his playlists which lead to dinner preparation being interrupted with bouts of dancing around the kitchen that could only be described as exuberant, energetic and maybe a little inebriated. I have to give it to these guys, even after watching their team lose the grand final they partied like they'd won. We all had a great time despite the wrong team got up.

Day 217: Bits Of BMW

Who'd have thought it would take so long to change over a throttle cable? We arrived at Heyfield a bit after 12:30 and started dismantling Pete's bike on the footpath, we needed to completely remove both side fairings and the fuel tank to access the engine end of the throttle cable. Once we'd pulled it all apart there was a fair bit of fiddling about with pulling the junction box out so we could remove the end of the cable that was still in there.

Just to make our job a little more fun, the bike had developed a flat battery as well. When we left the bike here overnight we had an inkling that we wouldn't make it back before midday, the time that the shop looking after Pete's bike was closing. The guy who'd let us store the bike had wheeled it out the front and had left the accessories switch on causing the radio to flatten the battery. This meant that after spending just over 2 hours replacing the throttle cable we had to push start it to make sure the repair was effective. Push starting a 250+ kilo two cylinder BMW wasn't too bad, it started on the 3rd attempt after Pete tried it in 3rd gear instead of locking the rear wheel up with the engine compression in 2nd. 

Before all this had happened we'd payed a quick visit to Wapshott Motors to collect payment for the warranty repairs that were required a couple of months ago. After being mucked around for months with the old 'the cheque's in the mail' story, then actually receiving a cheque that couldn't be processed because it was dated incorrectly I figured dropping in to collect in person was the only way I was likely to see anything from this dodgy dealer. The pick up was fairly painless and hopefully this will be the end of the dramas that I've had with the car. At least I was able to tie this little mission in with a road trip on the bike.

Day 216: Happy Birthday To Me

Andy, Pete and I left my place just after 7 this morning for our ride to Melbourne to watch the footy, celebrate my birthday and go on a little debt collecting mission.

The ride down was cold enough for us all to put on an extra pair of socks at our first stop in Bombala. After that it was a little more comfortable and Andy took us on some great roads, until Pete broke his throttle cable somewhere between Maffra and Heyfield. He was able to limp it in to Heyfield using the fast idle (normally used like a choke when the bike is cold) where we left it in the care of the local hardware store/Suzuki dealer.

Eventually we made it to Pete's sister's place in Fitzroy where we were welcomed with some pre footy beers. Andy slapped a Hawks hat on my head and we were pretty much ready to catch the tram in to the MCG. What an experience and what a game, for my first time at the MCG and my first game of AFL I don't think we could have had a more exciting game. The Hawks let the Cats get off to a strong lead in the first quarter and then fought their way back to be in front by a few points in the fourth, unfortunately the Cats had one last kick at goal on the full time siren and didn't miss giving them the win by 2 points.

Despite the loss we were still in good spirits (the beers may have helped with that) so we Trammed it back in to Fitzroy for Pizza and a glass of wine before retiring back to Pete's sister's place for the night.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my birthday.

Day 206: Birthday Plans

I'll be heading to Melbourne on my Birthday with Pete & Andy for my first ever game of Aussie Rules, it'll also be my very first trip to the MCG. Pete emailed me the tickets today so I could print them up for us because almost unlimited printing is one of the perks of working where I do.

Pete and Andy are quite into the Hawks, I first got a taste of this one time on our way back from Philip Island when they took me to the 'Hawks Nest' where I witnessed two grown men getting very excited by a large room full to the ceiling of Brown & Yellow paraphernalia. Obviously we'll be backing the Hawks to win.

I'm really looking forward to the trip, as long as the weather's not horrible we're planning on riding down so I'll get to test out the new bike as a tourer for the first time as well. So I'll be having a birthday of firsts this year:
- First ever game of AFL
- First time ever at the MCG
- First long ride on the ZX14R ever
- First time I've ever turned 37

Should be the best trip ever!

Day 201: Noticed Nothing Note Worthy

Not much happened today, I went to work - it was uneventful, I had lunch - it was good but  didn't take a photo of it, I went to the pub and caught up with Pete & Andy - it's always a good catch up but still wasn't photo worthy.

I thought I'd try to find the word nothing in the book I'm reading but that didn't work to so I resorted to the Dictionary. Then I noticed that the two words on either side of 'nothing' pretty much summed up my day when read from bottom to top

Day 190: And Home Again

This morning Andy, Pete and I rode home after a very cold but still enjoyable night in Oberon. We had chinese for dinner at the local RSL and were surprised by the 'choice bro' population in that little town, there must have been some kind of Maori thing going on because we ate dinner to the sound of the Haka being performed next door.

Some of the roads home were a little damp and some were a little icy in the shade, they were all still enjoyable despite the stabbing pain I was feeling in my shoulder (the joys of touring on a sports bike with an inappropriate for touring riding position). I made it home in time for lunch and after I peeled myself out of my wet weather gear, leathers, 5 additional layers of clothing under the leathers and wheeled the bike into the garage I was about ready to collapse. I ended up having a little afternoon snooze while Henry was still having his.

My photo today is Henry in his pyjamas, keeping track of his finances after his bath. I'd never heard of the 'Money Hound' website that he was checking out but after a little research it looks to be a site where you can compare interest rates on home loans, credit cards, Gas & Electricity, personal loans and all manner of other finance related things... Wonder what Henry's planning to get a loan for?

Day 189: Rocking The Suburbs... Of Tamworth

It had to be done, I've never been to Tamworth before so I had to get the photo in front of the large guitar. Obviously I didn't take this photo as it's a picture of me acting the goose, my special guest photographer today was Pete and I think he did a great job of capturing the moment.

We'd actually already started heading out of town when Andy pulled over and to make a U turn so we could go back for my photo. He's a good bloke like that.

From the overgrown country & western guitar we headed off toward the Upper Hunter region passing a few wineries along the way. There were some spectacular bits of road and some equally impressive scenery which I'm now regretting not stopping to photograph. It was a tough call for me, stop and take a photo of the amazing escarpments along either side of the valley we were riding or keep going on that particularly enjoyable bit of road... I chose to keep riding.

The time that I did stop for a photo in the afternoon sunlight as we were heading in to Oberon gave Pete and Andy a scare. I was following along behind with no way of letting them know I wanted to stop for a photo, they arrived at an intersection and I wasn't behind them so thinking the worst they turned around and headed back to try & find me. It's nice to know your mates will come looking for you if you're running behind, it didn't take long for us to catch up to each other and then continue on to Omeo where we stayed for the night.

Day 188: The Morning Stroll

After a good nights sleep at the Ocean View Hotel in Urunga we were all up fairly early for a gentle stroll down the 1km long board walk that's pretty much out the front of the Hotel. We did this before Breakfast and I took a bunch of photos along the way. I chose this one because it's a bit of a break from bikes and blokes in leather.

After Breakfast we rode one of the best bits of bitumen I've had the pleasure of traveling on two wheels, it was the Water Fall Way that heads up into Dorrigo. From there we headed to Nymboida for morning tea at what has been dubbed 'Rusty's Pub', it's actually the Nymboida Coaching Station Inn which is owned by none other than that famous Kiwi, Russell Crowe. It's a beautiful old building that sits high above a river that flows behind it and next time I'm up this way I'll actually have a look in Rusty's 'Museum Of Interesting Things'.

From Rusty's pub we headed on to Tamworth which unfortunately involved a fair bit of highway riding which was less than comfortable on the R1.

Day 187: Wet & Grubby

I can't remember exactly where this is... I know it's somewhere between Clarence Town and Urunga and I know it was where we stopped for lunch. I think it was Walcha Road or Thunderbolts Way... Are they the same thing?

What ever it was, it would have been an awesome stretch of road to ride in the dry, instead we had light rain and muddy roadworks to contend with. I don't think the R1 has ever been this grubby. From here we continued on in the drizzle and did a section of highway that lead into Urunga, it was nice to be on smooth roads, it was also nice to have the heated handgrips running.

Day 186: Lunch At The Grey Gum Cafe

Day one of our ride saw me leaving Canberra on a balmy -4 morning, I met up with Pete and Andy at Bungendore where we headed out to Tarago, down to Nowra, up through the Kangaroo Valley, on to Moss Vale and then up the highway via the M7 to Windsor and the Putty Road.

Today's photo was lunch at the Grey Gum Cafe which is along the Putty Road, the burgers are great and the road you travel to get there is even better.

From here we continued along the Putty Road and off into territory I'd never visited before, the last 30 odd kilometers of our roughly 650km day were some of the bumpiest roads I've ridden on a road bike. There was one section with some fairly steep rises and falls that made the front wheel feel light. I thought it would be a good idea to wind the throttle on a little as I approached the crest of one of these rises and promptly launched the front wheel up into the air, this was fun until the rear got light causing the tyre to spin under power while the front was still in the air. It was an interesting sensation, the bike never felt unstable and touched down nicely when I eased out of the throttle. All's well that ends well.

We arrived in Clarence Town a little after dark, Andy's mate Al was kind enough to put us up for the night as well as feed us a fantastic slow cooked stew and share his beers & wines with us.

It was a pretty big first day.

Day 179: At The Pub

Henry joined me at the pub this afternoon, I was catching up with Pete & Andy for a quick planning meeting for our ride next week. It was Henry's first time at the pub and I think he handled himself pretty well: he kept us entertained with his party tricks that involved throwing things on the floor and then climbing off his chair to retrieve them and he held his drink for quite a while before wetting himself, I'm sure he'll get better holding his drink with more practice.

Day 115: A Bit Like Church

I spent today riding my bike around Eastern Creek with my mates Andy & Pete. Now, I'm pretty far from being a religious man but spending a day riding my bike around a race track gives me a feeling of peace and joy that would make any cashed up Hill Song groupie green with envy.

The weather held out pretty well for us during the day too, with the only bit of rain falling at the end of one of our sessions and then stopping in time for the track to be dry before our next session. Today, since the weather was good, we parked in the open carports instead of the garages that open on to Pit lane. The main reason for this is that out in the carports you can hold a conversation between sessions without having to yell over the sounds of the other groups bikes echoing through the garages as they  scream down the main straight, the other advantage today was we could put our chairs in the sun to soak up the remaining heat as it cooled a little in the afternoon.

We all had great day on the track without injury or incident, except for Pete burning his arm on Andy's exhaust when he had to catch the bike as it was falling off its stand. Andy was very appreciative of Pete's sacrifice to save his bike from damage. Despite the burn, Pete enjoyed his first track day on my old bike with the enormous grin on his face at the end of each session being a fair indication of just how joyous Pete was feeling today. I even managed to do a little bit of sneaky lap timing so I could compare the new bike against the old. Turns out I'm close to 3 seconds a lap quicker on the 675 which gave me even more reason to be joyous.

If church was as good as a day like today, I think the three of us would be incredibly devout.

Day 92: Minor Mechanical Issues

For weeks I'd been looking forward to riding with Andy, Pete & Lachlan today and as usual, I ended up having a great time with some great mates out in wilds of Tallaganda. The day wasn't without its hitches, first Lachlan had a gentle stack before we made it to the single trail which resulted in a sticky throttle. We were able to ease the stickiness a little but it still wasn't as it should be, Lachlan soldiered on with it as it was.

A short ride later I discovered I could only change into higher gears and not shift down to lower gears, this was because my gear lever had slipped on its spline so that when I tried to push it down to shift into a lower gear the lever would hit the bikes frame and stop it from engaging the lower gear.

Today's photo is of Andy loosening the bolt that secures the lever to its spline so we could remove it and refit it so it wouldn't foul on the frame. The teeth on the lever were pretty chewed up so the repair only lasted a short time and had to be repeated about 10 minutes later. After the second repair I shifted into second and left it there for the rest of the single trail. I had to be very gentle with it for the rest of the day because there were sections of road between the different trails that required higher gears.

A few of the highlights of the day for me were being able to complete the ride with minimal gear shifts, the enormous 'puddle' that made us all very wet (it must have been close to a meter deep) and the multiple laughs we all had at the expense of each other when falling off, getting pinned under out bikes or just being generally unco.

Now I need to go and buy a replacement gear lever so I'll be ready for the next ride.