The good lady of the house had a shopping expedition to Sydney planned today along with some of her colleagues from work, so, guess what I did? Right.
After doing the domestics, I hit the road about 0900. Brand new Michelin Pilot Sport on the front so nothing too fancy on the Pass, but it still felt good. Down the *yawn* Hume Highway to Marulan and a stop for a hot chocolate (still a little nippy on the tops so glad I wore a sweat shirt under the jacket.)
The folks at the BP have gone to a lot of trouble to resuscitate the old road house with a complete refit inside and even a nice garden outside.
Then it was on to Canberra along the flattop. I arrived at Chris’s place unannounced, so wasn’t surprised to find he and Annette weren’t home. But they were down at the shops having a coffee, so I was told, so I tootled down and joined them. Very pleasant it was, too. We went back to their place and Chris put his bike gear on and we went for a run down the Canberra riders’ favourite twisty road, “The Cotter”. This road runs south-west from Weston Creek and follows the Cotter River for much of the way, hence the switchback nature of the track. It was sad to see the countryside that was devastated by the 2003 firestorm still struggling to recover. And the Cotter Pub, where we spent many happy Sunday afternoons in front of the roaring fire, is no more, its place now being held by a patch of freshly-grown grass. Nothing remains.
However, the road was good and I found that nearly 5 years of riding the Illawarra twisties has certainly sharpened my skills, as the road seemed much easier and less daunting to ride than what I remember it to be.
Funny incident. Chris rides a white ST1100, that was prepared as an ACT Police bike but never delivered to them. Nearing the Tidbinbilla Tracking Station, we closed in on a learner rider on a Hyosung, and he was really hooting along. It actually took some time to catch him and he was obviously concentrating hard on his riding. That is until he looked in his mirrors and saw this white ST hoving into view. He sat up, slowed down dramatically and wobbled towards the verge on the side of the road. Chris pulled out and passed and I sat behind, laughing myself stupid until an opportunity for me to pass presented itself. The line from the Jimmy Buffett song seemed so appropriate, “Panic in the grey room..”
We pulled up at Point Hut crossing at the end of the road for the obligatory photo shoot and fell about laughing. Apparently it happens to Chris all the time. I’m so glad I was there to see it.
Time was getting away, but we couldn’t resist the opportunity of a couple of spirited laps around Macarthur Park (no pictures, we were going too fast) and then it was time to separate and for me to head for my evening appointment, the Practice Night for Nowra Speedway.
Queanbeyan, Bungendore, Braidwood and the Clyde. Heaven on a stick. 2nd funny incident. On the outskirts of Bungendore I passed a line of cars including an “S” Type Jaguar. A while later I noticed a car closing in on me pretty fast. Mr Jaguar, who, apparently, had decided that he didn’t like being overtaken. Unfortunately, he chose to start something just as we got to the Clyde. If I hadn’t been concentrating on scrubbing in my new front tyre I’d have been laughing like a drain again. 🙂
I pulled in to Batemans Bay, desperately in need of a break and a coffee, and found both.
Then it was north to Nowra. Tonight was the first meeting of the Summer season and a chance for drivers to try out the track and shakedown new machinery. No racing took place, just testing and hot laps.
Gary Peers talks to Justin Watts who is just about ready to go out and drive his new NOS Sprintcar for the very first time.
And veteran sedan car driver, Trevor Wonsson, stands beside the new, home-built Litre Sprintcar that is going to be driven this season by his son, Tim. This car was completed at 1430 this afternoon and loaded on a trailer for the run to Nowra. Tim is about to drive it for the very first time (he did well, too)
I headed home around 2000 and got home an hour later. 675kms for the day, and 2 tanks of gas. The first fill-up today was at 324 kms and it took 16.6 litres. That equates to 54 Miles per Gallon. Can’t complain about that.
Nor could I complain about the weather, the roads, the traffic, or the joy of solo touring. A great day in the saddle. Can’t think of any other way I’d like to spend the day more.
For the benefit of those who are not sure what I’m talking about when I say “Macarthur Park”, this is the explanation
