Foxy ANZAC Day Ride 2023

cjmckay

Premier Member
#1
A few weeks before ANZAC Day the itch became too much to ignore - so a very rough plan was hatched and members of the first FOXY SS1600K ride crew (plus the missing member) were invited. As it turned out, for various reasons the majority of the team couldn't/wouldn't make it but the one member who had missed out on the first ride was keen. In the weeks prior, more planning was done and rules questioned in the forum which opinion and conjecture free-flowing. The plan was set, changed, amended and manipulated a number of times (often based on feedback)and then pretty much locked down. @bipyjamas decided to do his thing in parallel and not join us on the ANZAC Day Ride. Last minute (days) checks were done re: location receipts and there was a frantic purchase and install of auxilliary lights on the new ride (my first SS1600K was done on my HD Street 500, this attempt was to be on the relatively new (to me) HD Ultra Limited). The night before sleep was attempted and some gained (one day I hope this mad pre-ride excitement settles to make the sleep-gathering easier) until the 4:30am alarm went off signalling the start of the long day ahead. Out of the house shortly after 5 and a short ride to Arncliff for the 6am ANZAC Day service. Of course, nothing ever goes quite to plan but we got the ANZAC Dawn Service photo, waited for the service to finish (delayed for various reasons) and picked up the start receipt.

A for Arncliff was the start point with us departing only a couple of minutes behind the planned schedule - there went the opportunity to gain a little time on @bipyjamas and off we set...

M5, M7, M4 and into the Blue Mountains. A little moisture and some fog on the M7 - it was cool but not too cold. Soon we were climbing through the mountains with a little light rain and misting on the visors then westward. As we pulled into Bathurst the conversation on the intercoms (the group runs Cardos in DMC mesh mode) quickly turned to "do we or don't we?" with the answer being settled on "You do what you have to do (on the clock or otherwise)" - a quick lap of the Bathurst Race Circuit, with my riding buddy never have done so before (and I once only prior) pushing on towards Orange for our first fuel stop. We arrived slightly ahead of schedule (so we were making up time) and then departed slightly behind (we will get better at these stops) so it looked positive on closing the time gap with @bipyjamas.
Out of Orange and on to Parkes.... why? because we needed the kms. A quick top up in Parkes (to collect a corner receipt) and we turned south. The weather was great, sunny, blue skies but not too hot. Forbes to West Wyalong (it must be over a decade since I've been to either Parkes or West Wyalong having travelled out to both locations for work). Again, getting in ahead of schedule, collecting another corner marker and leaving slightly behind schedule (we will get better at these stops).
On to Narrandera to collect our 'N'. A photo at the Narrandera Memorial Gardens seemed fitting, again departing slightly behind schedule despite arriving a little ahead. We looked up @bipyjamas' progress (we share Spotwalla maps) and it looked like we were pretty much in sync to meet up in Shepparton as planned (and possibly slightly ahead of time).
The next leg was uneventful as we continued through the afternoon and longer shadows to arrive in Zeerust shortly before sundown to collect our 'Z' photo and a quick trip down the road into Shepparton. We pull in, on time, fuel up and grab a receipt. Checking on @bipyjamas, we see he's a little behind us in time so we grab some food (the first half decent feed all day) at the service station and wait for @bipyjamas knowing we are ok again the clock but that @bipyjamas is up against it. As the sun sets, I decide it is time to swap out the prescription sunnies for by prescription glasses for the night leg. Open the top box, pull out the frames and there is only one arm connected. Great! 2nd arm found - not broken - great! but there is that tiny, tiny screw? Everything is very carefully removed from the top box and finally the tiny screw is found but nothing in the tool set is small enough to fit it. Some finger pressure and the screw is in, not tight but in and then wrapped in electrical tap for the night (a job for tomorrow). With that resolved, @bipyjamas arrives after some messaging in a group WhatsApp we have and we exchange notes from the day.
The night leg begins.... now the reason why we were scheduled to meet up with @bipyjamas was to run a little support for the night leg. @bipyjamas was on his Honda Address with 35W (only slightly better than candlelight) headlight so the plan was for me to lead (with my newly installed 2 x 25W Stedi MCX25s spots as were on the Street 500), @bipyjamas and our ride buddy to bring up the tail on his Harley. As we rode out of Shepparton, @bipyjamas discussed over the comms his concerns re: time, and as he did I started running numbers in my head deciding I was confident he could make it to the end point in time and attempting to convince him of the same. At the same time, we started running more numbers on possible alternate end locations for his ride within his 24 hour clock - we knew that we were ok for time on our ANZAC Day ride at this point and the conversation turned to our next fuel stop and why there were no signs to Albury as we rode through Victoria. As we came up to Wodonga, @bipyjamas pulled up to do a roadside top up and we rode on into Albury, getting a little misplaced getting to the Albury & District War Memorial. Our 'A' photo was had at the memorial and we headed back into town for fuel and our receipt - unfortunately, the service station we had planned on stopping at appeared to no longer exist so we went to a backup location.
The night leg continues... with our stuffing around in Albury @bipyjamas managed to get in front of us so we were off in pursuit. After half and hour or so we saw a single tail light off in the distance in amoungst the traffic so we pulled into the right lane, slipped up, gave a wave and slotted in in front and behind @bipyjamas to provide some more light. Conversation returned to @bipyjamas' time and we were still confident he was good to make it to the finish. Just short of Gundagai and @bipyjamas pulled up for another roadside topup while we continued on to Gundagai for fuel. A quick top up and as we were about to leave @bipyjamas pulls into the service station. It starting to get cold so it was time for an adjustment to the riding gear before we departed.
We pull out with the aim to catch up with @bipyjamas in Goulburn. We head towards Yass where we end up confused about which turnoff we were going to take (I am still getting used to the SatNav on the Ultra and my riding buddy was running a separate phone based GPS on his bike) and with a sudden realisation that we are about to miss the turnoff we want I pull up hard - right on the apex, with my riding buddy stopping shortly (say 50m or so) in front of me. At this point, for some stupid reason, I drop the bike. No big deal... except at 10:30pm I couldn't for the life of me get it lifted. Everytime I lifted it, despite it being in gear, the front tyre would spin and rotate the bike out into the lane of oncoming traffic. Eventually, my riding buddy gave me a hand, we got the bike up and restarted (having left a few expletives on the side of the road) and decided we can take the next exit as we weren't about to back up two harleys into oncoming traffic at 10:30 at night. All seemed ok with the bike, but it is now starting to get very cold (~4degC) and we are starting to get some fog as we continued into Canberra slightly behind schedule. Now, the plan was to go into Canberra City and pick up an ATM receipt. Good plan - however on arrival, all the ATM lobbies were locked down and no-one seemed to know why (even though advertising 24/7 banking). We wandered around... maybe a parking ticket will do the job - nope, not sufficent information contained on it so we wander some more. Then we spot it, an ATM on the external of a building. We pull a receipt - YES! It looks like the info is good (or at least, good enough...). A quick stop at the Australian War Memorial (which is actually located in Campbell and not Canberra for those that want to get into the semantics of suburbs, towns and locations) and we've got our 'C' photo and we head off in pursuit of @bipyjamas. The ANZAC bit is done, now it is about kms and the clock.
The penultimate leg.... What could go wrong? So, out of Canberra we head a little after 1am. Our fuel situation is good, it is cold (lowest we resorded on the bike's temperature gauge was 3.5degC) and the fog is getting heavy. We are doing the speed limit and sitting back behind a semi-trailer on the main road heading back out of Canberra when the I notice the brake lights on the semi flash on for a second. Hmm... strange I think, then out of the fog appears a wombat, on its side. Somehow, and I'm still not sure how, I managed to miss it. A message went out on the intercom and then there was a yell - my riding buddy has hit it and launched just over 300kg of Harley into the air off the wombat. Somehow he landed it and we slowed down, had a chat and took stock. All seemed ok with the bike but we pulled into the next truck parking bay and did a quick check. Everything looked ok - no obvious leaks - so off we went into the night. We pulled into Goulburn and fuelled up and checked the Spotwalla on @bipyjamas - he'd departed just before we had arrived. Knowing we had some time on the clock, I decided a coffee was in order - more to warm up than anything.
The final leg... so we pull out of Goulburn and are on the home stretch. At this point, everything is still feeling good but it is cold (and I've thankful I've got heated grips) and there is a fair amount of fog. Again, my mind goes to running number of @bipyjamas - I think he's still good to make it in time, with a little left to spare on his clock and thinking we might just catch him as we get into Sydney. In fact, it wasn't to be. We pulled into our final destination some 1680odd kilometres later to see him sitting there waiting for us. We fuel up to grab our end DBR. Its 4:30am, I've been up 24 hours and I'm feeling good. Another SS1600K down, a new member added to the group with only the paperwork to go. After a quick chat and congratulations all round I head off - home is only minutes away, with a warm bed and sleep to wake a few hours later for a scheduled work call (I had taken the day off in advance but had to do this call as it had been scheduled for 4 weeks and it was going to be too hard to reschedule it). That afternoon, the paperwork was handled and this morning (13/05) I received that all important confirmation of certification.
 

Biggles

Premier Member
#2
Great write-up of a demanding ride. I'm impressed that it's possible to hit a wombat and ride on! Maybe it was smaller than average, because the ones I've seen would bend the forks rather than launch the bike. Goodonya for doing the maths for two rides in your head simultaneously!
You went above and beyond the basic requirements by including war memorials in your themed ride.
 

cjmckay

Premier Member
#3
@Biggles - Wombat jumping goes against everything I know about hitting them. It is a pity I don't yet have cameras installed on this bike. It wasn't small - when I approached it, it was on its side lengthwise across the road with its underside facing me. We were both surprised that the saddlebags didn't get destroyed (either in the contact or in the landing).

As for the war memorials - I figured 'why not?' - it was ANZAC Day so it seemed fitting.

As for the maths - it was interesting... and was probably a good measure of my mental fatigue. It got to the point where I knew that if we caught @bipyjamas, that he wouldn't make his destination within 'the clock' so we'd be looking at his odometer/trip meter and seeking an early exit for his final DBR.
 

Fatman

Well-Known Member
#5
Well done Cameron on overcoming the additional problems that popped up on your ANZAC ride, your glasses, the wombat attempting to finish your ride early, dropping your bike after missing the turn off, all added to make your ride harder but in another way more rewarding that you saw it through to complete it.

Thanks for great ride report and taking the time to give us an insight into your challenging IBA ride. Congratulations
 

Fatman

Well-Known Member
#7
The wombat lying down with the soft part towards you was a major contribution to the survivability of the hit. A different outcome if it had been standing, I'm sure.
You are most likely correct Biggles, they are one tough critter, like hitting a large rock!
 
#10
Thanks for the write up @cjmckay

Wildlife is an open question that I have yet to find a good answer for.

The only rational compromise I have noticed is to aim to complete night time legs on main highways, which also has the benefit of a more predictable road surface and 24/7 servos.

This leads onto the secondary issue that may be somewhat uniquely Australian, which is our vast landscape providing plentiful potential destinations, but the minimal highway network seems to severely limit route possibilities.

How does everyone else manage the night time critter risk?
1684068336908.png
 
#11
Hi Everyone, It's been 13 years since I did my 1000 mile Iron Butt run....Where does the time go, It was an amazing experience, too old for it now but keep up the great work.
 

Fatman

Well-Known Member
#12
Thanks for the write up @cjmckay

Wildlife is an open question that I have yet to find a good answer for.

The only rational compromise I have noticed is to aim to complete night time legs on main highways, which also has the benefit of a more predictable road surface and 24/7 servos.

This leads onto the secondary issue that may be somewhat uniquely Australian, which is our vast landscape providing plentiful potential destinations, but the minimal highway network seems to severely limit route possibilities.

How does everyone else manage the night time critter risk?
View attachment 10395
Have a read here bipyjamas, I am still using the same beeper just a better waterproof rocker switch from Jaycar. Have a search on this IBA forum for "RooTED" also.

https://forum.ironbutt.org/index.php?threads/go-and-get-a-rooted.1347/
 

Tele

Premier Member
#16
An epic tale Cameron! As others have said, a challenge on many levels. Well done to conquer the task at hand and surmount the obstacles that injected themselves into the equation. Congratulations. I survived a beautiful Anzac Day community service and a delicious breakfast with friends afterwards!