In the words of the Meisters of the Citadel “Winter is here”. Or, a bit more accurately from an awesome band, The Ruts, “It was cold!”
These days I rock much better gear than in my youth so the uncontrollable shivering that I suffered waaaayyyy back then is a distant memory but rides like this one remind me all too clearly of riding in those distant days if only because that feeling of not having any feeling in your feet or fingers is not easily forgotten! And heated grips do have a limit of effectiveness that is easily exceeded.
I’d been looking forward the Inaugural IBA Muster since it was announced but it took a while to sort out my route. Eventually I settled on a typical LD route, first, head in the opposite direction of your destination. Into the cold. A 4.40ish start in the morning from Bellingen saw me head up the mountain and into predicted 1-2C temperatures with a “feels like” of -8C plus additional wind chill from Ebor all the way through to Inverell, and frost, frost, frost! All I know is, it was cold! In fact I had an early stop and fuel top-up at Guyra just to revel in the relative warmth of not moving.
Thankfully the muddy, slippery roadworks from the Moree FarRide had been completed so the Tingha road was free of surprises apart from the dude on a dirt bike obviously heading to work in Inverell who just had ordinary pants on – there was frost everywhere – he must have been freezing and certainly in no position to procreate. I felt so, so sorry for him.
By Ashford the frost had melted off and the sun was trying hard but not very successfully to pump a bit of warmth into the air. Turn left on to the Gwydir Hwy and suddenly a few roos popped up here a there, more than I have seen at night on this road which is kind of weird. There were some pretty big lumps of meat laying around as well. A right turn into Texas for a fuel docket and a quick chocolate protein snack, a call to work about some bollocks that I’d forgotten the day before and then head south to Warialda and a lunch and fuel stop (another choccy protein bar and a small tin of Chilli Tuna) at Tamworth. The temperature had risen to 12C but it felt cooler than that. Answered a couple of texts from colleagues who were interested in the ride (and going for their bike licenses this weekend!) and then was onto Bendeemer and down the Oxley.
The ride was going really well. The bike was purring. I was happy. Twistiness abounded and the few mobile chicanes that I encountered were swiftly dispatched. By the time I got to Wauchope for another fuel stop/corner docket and the first and only time I would take a layer of clothing off, I was ahead of my plan so I was able to factor in a long break down the road at my next corner at Beresfield. I have nothing positive to say about the journey south down the Pacific Hwy other than at least I wasn’t traversing the roadworks littered section north of Port Macquarie. Between Wauchope and the turn right onto highway I had my only confirmed fellow IBA rider sighting of the whole trip. A gigantic bright yellow FB6 with a myriad of lights was heading west and up the Oxley – it’s got to be Vlad!
So I had a big 45 minute break at Beresfield, put the layer back on that I had taken off at Wauchope, ate an unimpressive chicken and vegetable tortilla, drank an unimpressive coffee, and reset myself for the bulk of the night section and a first time on the new Hunter Expressway. When I think about it, planning this section for early Friday evening probably wasn’t the smartest idea, I mean, it was OK but still once I’d turned onto the Golden Hwy there was still too much traffic for my liking, limiting the sheer awesomeness of being able have the driving lights blasting away until most of the way to Merriwa. I had a quick stop earlier to adjust my neck warmer and left earpiece and now I was starting to feel the effects of the cold earlier in the day, with a lack of freshness that saw my pace settle into the 100-106kmh range for remainder of the journey until Dubbo.
Actually, until just out of Dubbo. That’s when I hit a beaut thick fog that lasted all the way to Parkes and limited me to 70-80kmh and a near repetitive strain injury clearing my visor with my left hand! So a final corner docket at Dubbo, a slow run into Parkes, rolling into the BP truck stop about 2 minutes before midnight, a few bikes already parked up, Mr & Mrs Hopper pulled up on the other side of the bowser on their Triumph Explorer, Fatman & LTP inside, end docket at 12.02am Saturday 2 July. The attendant seemed a little dubious about signing the Witness document, then his manager swept over, grabbed the paper and filled it in with a flourish – “I’ve told these blokes that you lot won’t bite them!” and I was outta there and swiftly arrived at the All Settlers Motor Inn to a beautifully warmed up room and a welcome bed.
This ride was just enough of a mission to be satisfying while still being stress-free and fun. Perfect.
These days I rock much better gear than in my youth so the uncontrollable shivering that I suffered waaaayyyy back then is a distant memory but rides like this one remind me all too clearly of riding in those distant days if only because that feeling of not having any feeling in your feet or fingers is not easily forgotten! And heated grips do have a limit of effectiveness that is easily exceeded.
I’d been looking forward the Inaugural IBA Muster since it was announced but it took a while to sort out my route. Eventually I settled on a typical LD route, first, head in the opposite direction of your destination. Into the cold. A 4.40ish start in the morning from Bellingen saw me head up the mountain and into predicted 1-2C temperatures with a “feels like” of -8C plus additional wind chill from Ebor all the way through to Inverell, and frost, frost, frost! All I know is, it was cold! In fact I had an early stop and fuel top-up at Guyra just to revel in the relative warmth of not moving.
Thankfully the muddy, slippery roadworks from the Moree FarRide had been completed so the Tingha road was free of surprises apart from the dude on a dirt bike obviously heading to work in Inverell who just had ordinary pants on – there was frost everywhere – he must have been freezing and certainly in no position to procreate. I felt so, so sorry for him.
By Ashford the frost had melted off and the sun was trying hard but not very successfully to pump a bit of warmth into the air. Turn left on to the Gwydir Hwy and suddenly a few roos popped up here a there, more than I have seen at night on this road which is kind of weird. There were some pretty big lumps of meat laying around as well. A right turn into Texas for a fuel docket and a quick chocolate protein snack, a call to work about some bollocks that I’d forgotten the day before and then head south to Warialda and a lunch and fuel stop (another choccy protein bar and a small tin of Chilli Tuna) at Tamworth. The temperature had risen to 12C but it felt cooler than that. Answered a couple of texts from colleagues who were interested in the ride (and going for their bike licenses this weekend!) and then was onto Bendeemer and down the Oxley.
The ride was going really well. The bike was purring. I was happy. Twistiness abounded and the few mobile chicanes that I encountered were swiftly dispatched. By the time I got to Wauchope for another fuel stop/corner docket and the first and only time I would take a layer of clothing off, I was ahead of my plan so I was able to factor in a long break down the road at my next corner at Beresfield. I have nothing positive to say about the journey south down the Pacific Hwy other than at least I wasn’t traversing the roadworks littered section north of Port Macquarie. Between Wauchope and the turn right onto highway I had my only confirmed fellow IBA rider sighting of the whole trip. A gigantic bright yellow FB6 with a myriad of lights was heading west and up the Oxley – it’s got to be Vlad!
So I had a big 45 minute break at Beresfield, put the layer back on that I had taken off at Wauchope, ate an unimpressive chicken and vegetable tortilla, drank an unimpressive coffee, and reset myself for the bulk of the night section and a first time on the new Hunter Expressway. When I think about it, planning this section for early Friday evening probably wasn’t the smartest idea, I mean, it was OK but still once I’d turned onto the Golden Hwy there was still too much traffic for my liking, limiting the sheer awesomeness of being able have the driving lights blasting away until most of the way to Merriwa. I had a quick stop earlier to adjust my neck warmer and left earpiece and now I was starting to feel the effects of the cold earlier in the day, with a lack of freshness that saw my pace settle into the 100-106kmh range for remainder of the journey until Dubbo.
Actually, until just out of Dubbo. That’s when I hit a beaut thick fog that lasted all the way to Parkes and limited me to 70-80kmh and a near repetitive strain injury clearing my visor with my left hand! So a final corner docket at Dubbo, a slow run into Parkes, rolling into the BP truck stop about 2 minutes before midnight, a few bikes already parked up, Mr & Mrs Hopper pulled up on the other side of the bowser on their Triumph Explorer, Fatman & LTP inside, end docket at 12.02am Saturday 2 July. The attendant seemed a little dubious about signing the Witness document, then his manager swept over, grabbed the paper and filled it in with a flourish – “I’ve told these blokes that you lot won’t bite them!” and I was outta there and swiftly arrived at the All Settlers Motor Inn to a beautifully warmed up room and a welcome bed.
This ride was just enough of a mission to be satisfying while still being stress-free and fun. Perfect.