Sunday ride

[hillsy v2]

I had a lot of crap to do around the yard on Sunday – so I needed to get a ride fix in before I tackled the jobs.

I didn’t need a massive ride – just an hour or so would do so I started out on one of may favourite local routes through Bunya, Clear Mountain and Samsonvale. I had a coffee and some breakfast at home then headed out about 9AM.

The Strom felt good. I recently added a Booster Plug and a TRE. The engine was running sweet. I also replaced the front brake pads and they were now bedded in nicely. I tootled off quite content with not pushing it – it was Sunday after all and I was just wanting to be riding, not scratching.

I made myself keep to the speed limits for the most part on Bunya Road. It’s a wonderful sweeping two laner and it often begs me to push – but today I just had a feeling that it wasn’t the thing to do.

I made my way across to Clear Mountain Road. There was about 4 cars in front of my as I approached the turn in. I could see no indicators on the first 3 cars….then at the last minute the car directly in front of me decide to turn. Hmmm….not many places to pass on this road so I was thinking I might be stuck behind them. As luck would have it – they turned off at the first side street.

I was still in “not going so fast mode” and just concentrated on keeping near the speed limit and picking the smoothest lines possible. After a few k’s I could see the flashing of blue and red lights ahead. It was a fire truck on my side of the road. As I got closer I could see about 5 or 6 hi-vis shirts and a few bikes on the other side of the road. My heart sank a little as I realised this was the firies attending to a rider down.

As I got closer I could see 2 of the firies talking to a rider who was sitting on the ground. His body language indicated he wasn’t seriously hurt – and he had his mates with him as well. I quickly glanced to his bike which was still on the ground – I couldn’t make out what it was except for being a cruiser. It didn't look too badly damaged - probably a low-side off. A quick scan of the bikes parked across the road showed they were all cruisers – I recognised a Suzi M109 and I think a V-Rod. Anyway, he appeared to be in good hands, so I gave a nod to the firies and kept going.

It’s a bit of a sobering experience when you come across a rider down. Kinda makes you think about your own “preparedness” if such a thing happened to you. I quickly went over my clothing in my mind – ADV boots, Kevlar jeans, armoured textile jacket, Alpinestar gloves and full face helmet. I wouldn’t say that I was going to be OK if I went down, but I felt like I was probably as well protected as I could be.

So the next few k’s along Clear Mountain Road were again a series of just picking smooth lines and enjoying the scenery.

At the end of Clear Mountain Road I usually turn left and make my way back towards home. Today there was a gathering of people and bikes at the clearing near the corner. I couldn’t make out all the people – but there was a guy who appeared to be leading a discussion or ceremony. He might have been a member, but I couldn’t see if he had any patches. There was an outfit with a large sidecar and it kind of reminded me of the funeral scene in Stone where they took their brother in his coffin on a sidecar unit to the cemetery. Anyway, it struck me as being some kind of memorial ceremony. Everyone was quite still listening to the guy who was using his hands as well to communicate.

I eased the Strom slowly though the corner in 2nd and gently pulled away. I slipped it into third and then I just had the desire to open it right up. The road at this part was straight with long sweeping curves so I just pinned the throttle in 3rd until it hit the limiter. The reverberation through the trees was glorious – and I felt like it was kinda fitting for the “gathering” to take that in as a celebration of what we love.

I short shifted through the gears to 6th and just let the bike settle back down to a normal speed after that. The ride back home was uneventful compared to what I’d just seen.

It’s good to appreciate what you’ve got sometimes.

[sgtcall]

Glad you enjoyed your day.

[Suzuki Johnny]

You high speed road devil you!!!!!!!!!!

[hillsy v2]

You high speed road devil you!!!!!!!!!!

You a bit bored, SJ? Digging up a couple of old threads?

BTW - it was redline in third gear - so probably only about 90mph or so.