I pride myself on the fact that I rode through every Canberra winter while we lived in the ACT. This includes one night when I rode around to visit a mate in the next suburb and came home with my beard encrusted with ice. I found out the next morning that it had been -9 that night. No wonder.
When I first moved down to the coast I watched with some amusement as the local citizens rugged up for winter and complained about how cold it was! I was toddling around in t shirts and shorts.
But I must have become acclimatised because I’m finding this winter much colder this winter than any of the previous 5. And it certainly hasn’t been suitable riding weather. Even the bright sunny days have had thei dangers with many of my favourite riding roads still damp and treacherous in areas where the sun doesn’t get a chance to dry them during the day. Of course it could also be that Iam super sensitive to indifferent road surfaces after my little “off” earlier on in the year! Anyway, in whatever event, my motto has become, “Roll on Spring.”
Aussies overseas are still starring; Damian Cudlin set pole position and won his race on Sunday in the German Superbike Championship, leaving him leading the title charge by 20 points with just two rounds to go. Not so fortunate for Troy Corser who had a Silverstone to forget. Josh Brookes had a “wild card” at Silverstone but destroyed the #1 bike in practice and had to ride the #2 bike with a suspension setup that he couldn’t fathom. Josh is an incredibly good rider (witness his WSS win at PI a few years ago) but he is also a real “confidence” rider and, if he doesn’t have confidence in the bike, he never pushes it. So two finishes, one just outside the points and one just inside for Josh.
Thanfully he’s doing much better in the BSB.
