Actually 2 medium rides back to back....
On Sunday I rode down to Melbourne (Edithvale) with "The Eldest", it was his first 'big' ride. We left sunny down town Wagga (and I mean sunny) at around 9am with a couple of other Redback members and "The Treasurer". As we left Macca's I said "Ok we'll be stopping at the BP on the way in to Albury so Kris ("The Eldest") and fill up with petrol". So we set off, all was good until we got to the other side of Culcairn, Kris, Dave and Gavin took off and played. Well played as much as you can on a straight road. "The Treasurer" and I turned right at Gerogery and headed to Albury on the back road, I don't know which way the others went. When we got to the BP they we not to be seen. About 15 minutes later I heard then saw Gavins' Buell, but no sight or sound of Kris or Dave. Gav informed us that Kris, who had been leading, had taken them in to Albury and he didn't know why. Another 5 minutes later Kris and Dave arrive; Kris gets of the KLR and swears at me and blames "The Treasurer" for telling him the wrong thing. Anyway, we had a laugh, and after they had filled up with go juice and I'd had a coffee and a smoke, Kris, Gav and I continued down the 'doom' (Hume) hwy to Glenrowan and "The Treasurer" and Dave piked out and rode back to Wagga (whimps).
At Glenrowan we all filled up on go juice (we worked out Kris's bike can get from Wagga to Glenrowan on one tank), and filled our bellies with Macca's, not the best thing to put in your stomach when riding longish distances. Gavin decided to actually go into Glenrowan and have a look around, while Kris and myself continued on down the 'doom' heading for Kal Kallo, but not before pulling in to a way side stop near Seymore to visit the little boys room to avoid making a mess in my leathers.
As we headed towards Melbourne I could see nasty grey and black clouds off in the distance, and as we came down the hill towards the Kal Kallo service station I could see a 'wall of water' falling from the sky and looked in my mirror only to see Kris frantically looking for the reserve tap at a 100km/h. Talk about timing, we pulled into the servo just as the rain hit and hit hard. After filling up the bikes and having a bit of a break we put on the wet weather gear on continued on to Watsonia, in a slight on and off drizzle. Kris dumped his gear in his room and met me at the front gate and proceeded to get me temporarily geographically embarressed, then I recognised Springvale Road at which point the rain hit again. After some mucking around in Springvale because of faulty railway lights we made it to my sister place in Edithvale at about 5:30.
After tea, kris road back to Watsonia before he got locked out, and I settled in to my sisters lounge with a beer or 2, didn't get to bed until after midnight.
My plan was to get up at around 7-7:30 take my time and leave my sisters at 8:30. At 6:00am I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I took my time and got myself organised and left at around 7:30.
Headed straight up Springavle Rd and turned on to the Maroondah hwy. Stoped at Lillydale for fuel with the plan of riding through Yarra Glen, Yea, Bonnie Doon, Benalla and Glenrowan non stop. When I got to Yarra Glen I looked up to the hills and again saw black clouds, so pulled over put on the wet weather gear, had a smoke etc and headed out of Yarra Glen at around 9:30. It took me nearly 2 hours to get from Edithvale to Yarra Glen, a distance of around 60km. Anyway, head off and fortunately the rain didn't come and I had some fun between Yarra Glen and Yea. Yea to Glenrowan was cold but uneventfull. I got to Glenrowan at around 11:30. This time I did around 200km in 2 hours. Had a coffee, donut, smoke etc etc and headed back on to the 'doom' heading to Albury. The plan was to have a little break in Albury, in other words a coffee and smoke. But I was feeling pretty good and stayed on the bypass and continued on to Culcairn and stopped there for a quick smoke and a wee walk before heading to Morvan, Cookardinia, Mangoplah and home. I was sitting in my lounge room having a cuppa at around 2:30.
Total distance travelled, according to my trip meter, 982km.
Did I have fun, yes. Even the really really really boring as bat shit doom can be fun in a strange kind of way.
Things I learnt on this ride.
1. The 'doom' (hume) hwy is as boring as bat shit
2. Melbourne weather sucks
3. Melbourne traffic sucks - particularly at 7:30 in the morning.
4. Melbourne drivers ARE NOT as bad as Wagga drivers.
5. MP3 players are good - long life batteries are better (as Kris found out)
6. I now understand 'highway pegs' and will fit some to the B12 at the earliest opportunity
7. The road from Yarra Glen to Yea is fun (although I already knew that from previous rides)
8. I need to replace my sheep skin seat cover
9. Wearing Leathers and thermals make quick toilet breaks difficult (again I already knew this)
10. Don't eat Macca's burgers and chips when riding longish distances - stick with light sandwiches or salad, which is what I usually eat when riding.
Topic: LONG RIDE (Read 9855 times)