Did an overnight ride on Monday/Tuesday with my brother. We’ve always toured together and also done lots of solo riding as well. These days it is rather fun to see the looks on peoples’ faces when we turn up on near-identical bikes, get off the bikes, take off our helmets to reveal identical twins!
Paul and I have developed an excellent on-the-road telepathy and this has become much more relevant since my accident. These days, usually around 100-150 kms is all that I can manage before my leg starts hurting and sometimes it happens much sooner. When I need to stop and rest, I can be sure that he is in tune with that and he will pull over with me, even if I happen to be travelling behind him at the time. We swap places on the road on a regular basis and thus avoid boredom and fixation problems that can sometimes occur if you are travelling behind the same vehicle for long periods.
This is not to say that I don’t like group rides, I do, but Paul and I have the “knack” of travelling together that makes it much easier than trying to manage my pain threshold while riding with a large group. Indeed, he will often sense that it’s time for a break when I haven’t even given any indication that I am needing one, “Time for a stop, I reckon your leg must be getting sore by now.” and it usually is. I guess it’s just a twin thing.
Well, on Monday, just near Kulnurra, I was travelling in front and Paul behind when I looked in my mirrors (I check them regularly) and he wasn’t there. Whoops, something’s wrong. I check again more thoroughly and I see that the lid of my top box is flapping open. Bugger, it’s come undone (never has done it before) and he’s stopped to collect the debris. I did a quick U turn and, half a k or so back down the road here’s his bike parked by the road and him sprinting up the road to retrieve my sweat shirt. Just abreast of where I pulled over I notice the glasses case (above) that contains my reading glasses, in the middle of the road.
Now those of you who have done a lot of backroad touring will know that finding a place on narrow country roads where you can a) pull over, and b) stop, is a very difficult thing. It seemed to take ages before I could find a place where the verge was wide enough for me to do so, so I put the bike on the sidestand, hopped off and hobbled back to get my glasses case. The road was quiet, deserted, in fact, so I figured it would be easy. However, and you knew there would be one, didn’t you, just as I got abreast of the case lying on the road two big trucks hove into view. Both tippers, and both towing a dog trailer. No time to dash out and get the case now (I don’t “dash” these days anyway) so I stood by the road and watched mutely as both trucks roared by, both drivers contriving to run over the glasses case with not only the truck wheels but also the trailer wheels as well.
It was a bit like watching a train wreck, really, and I knew that the end result wouldn’t be pretty. Both trucks rumbled off into the distance, neither driver having any idea at all of the carnage that they had created.
I might add that Paul had arrived back from retrieving the sweat shirt by now and neither he nor I had any desire at all to actually open what remained of the glasses case and examine its contents. I might also add that, even after adding an occy strap to try and ensure the same thing didn’t happen again it did, on Tuesday on the way home, this time with just inconvenience rather than damage being the end result. My thanks to my brother for cleaning up my mess both times.
So, guess who is going to Specsavers this morning and guess who will now be looking for a small top box with a lock that actually locks?
POSTSCRIPT.
Well, yesterday afternoon I went to Specsavers and ordered a new set of reading glasses (2, actually, as they were having a special. Because of my health fund I could get two pairs for only $30 so I took the deal.) After completing the transaction, the lovely girl behind the counter said, “They usually are back in around two weeks.” “Hang on,” I replied, “Two WEEKS??” Yep, that’s about how long it usually takes. You see the problem is that next Tuesday (in 6 day’s time) I’ll be on the road to Phillip Island for the Island Classic. I patiently explained this to the young lady and she assured me she’d put an “URGENT” note on the order and hope that they came back before then. In the mean time, she suggested that I could try some of those ready-made reading glasses that you see at chemist’s shops. “It has to be a -2 prescription,” she said. So I looked in all the shops at my shopping mall and, of course, no glasses fitted the description (or even the prescription). No worries, I thought, I’ll check on the net when I get home. Fat chance. No reading glasses with a minus prescription anywhere to be found….Sheesh, what a can of worms this is proving to be.
Today I’m going to go to the chemist and just try out some of the glasses there and see if I can get a pair that’s even mildly close. Using my distance glasses (they are multi-focal but I reckon it’s a crock) for close work, computer, etc, just isn’t going to work.
The struggle is real.