Frogfoot

Christmas and New Years are gone and my holidays are almost finished. The wife starts back tomorrow, so today, my last chance, I got away for a ride. I decided to head north up Wiseman's Ferry. I wasn't sure if I would come back on the Old Pacific Highway or the Putty Rd, or even just back on Wiseman's, but I headed out about 0730 with the day free before me. I could have called up a few guys to join me, but decided that I really wanted the flexibility of a solo ride and some time to myself. It was somewhat cloudy to start, but the forecast was for it to continue clearing with a top of about 25C. Sounded perfect. First place to head for was McGrath's Hill, the launch point really. Fuelled up here and turned up the road to Pitt Town and Wiseman's. The trip to the ferry was a nice ride, only the last bit was a little annoying as myself and a couple of cars got held up behind some cyclists. There was no shoulder or straights, so we crawled along behind them for a while. They didn't have the grace to stop and pull off either. Interestingly as we hit the last downhill into Wiseman's they disappeared off the front. They had raced off down the hill faster than the car following dared. Crazy cyclists! I was first off the ferry but pulled over to let all the cars go in front. Yes, I know that sounds weird, why would I want to be held up by all the cars you ask.. First up, at 0900 on a Thursday, they're likely to be locals and therefore faster than average cars. I also knew the road was a bit rough to go very quickly on a bike. Lastly, I knew I would be cautious as I was on my own, it had been a long time since I'd ridden here and I planned to practice technique and didn't want the pressure of the cars behind me. It was rougher than I remember almost to Wollombi. It's still fine to ride, but not a sweet smooth surface. I stopped partway at a place called Spencer, where I found their General Store and got something to munch on. Chatted to the shopkeeper about the road conditions as it has been several years since I came this way. The Government is apparently promising some work to smooth it out... I won't hold my breath. After the break I rode on to Wollombi where I stopped for lunch. This is a favourite bike hangout, but there were never more than ten bikes there while I was stopped. I even managed this shot with mine the only bike stopped at the Pub. What a difference from the weekends! Leaving Wollombi after a large burger, I headed to Broke. The first part out of Wollombi to Broke used to have a stretch of dirt on it, but that's been sealed sometime in the past few years (update: It's been about OMG 2007 when I last rode through here). Broke still has fuel which was nice, topped up the tanks for the Putty Rd. The Putty is one of the best rides this close to Sydney. Its far better than the Old Pacific Highway especially since that road has had lots of speed limit changes and such. The Putty is also in very good condition and is more than 50km long, though not all of that is twisty roads. It is popular, occasionally dangerous and in the weekend strongly policed. In the middle of the day, on Thursday it was pretty empty (still dangerous) and no cops to be seen. Partway down the Putty there used to be a coffee shop, I forget the name, but its long gone now, burnt out and not reopened I think. A little further towards Windsor though is the Grey Gums Cafe which has replaced it. It has free wifi and concrete parking that is exclusively for the bikes (cars etc have to park in the gravel carpark). I stopped for an ice cream and a bottle of water before setting off on the last bit home. I had a really good day. I'm definitely enjoying these a solo adventures a lot more. It fits my timetable better and the rides are more flexible. And I don't lose three hours riding to the meeting spot, waiting for an hour for everyone etc etc. In three hours today I was halfway down the Wiseman's Ferry road to Wollombi. Spotted some kangaroos crossing ahead of me today too - never actually had that happen before. Luckily the mob (that's the correct term for a group of roos) crossed well in advance and were lost in the vineyards by the time I was close, little chance of one trying to kill me. I also had something fly in through under the chin of my helmet. I whipped open the visor which seemed to clear it, but I stopped very rapidly and took it off to check. That was definitely a new experience!

The bike was in the shop yesterday getting its new pieces, water pump and they refreshed the fork oil and replaced the seals. Honestly I can't really feel the difference, but I've only ridden up the freeway a couple of times. Not much opportunity to test it out there. Back on the bike ... and that's the best bit.

Took the bike in for a service today and rolled out with bad news. The water pump and the fork seals need replacing and they didn't have the part to complete that today. So I've ridden home, with one eye on the temperature, to put the VFR in the garage and walked away for a while. So for a couple of weeks I'm going to be driving to work. The part is in stock locally, but the shop is having some staff issues as well as I have a busy calendar making it hard to drop off. I'm thinking about what I might have noticed that could have indicated these to me. I haven't noticed anything on the floor of the garage to indicate leaks where I park the bike. I don't remember noticing anything whilst washing the bike either. Did it ride different? Not that I noticed, but with my benign riding style, I'm not really surprised, especially with the simple commute up the freeway. And the daily temperatures have been cold, helping the water temp stay in normal limits. And I'm positive that the temperature has never spiked or overheated, so no worries about further damage. I've previously ridden a bike without coolant and the speed at which a bike will heat up is extreme and very noticeable. I do think I have been hearing the pump, perhaps, but the sound I occasionally hear, I put down to the CCTs needing replacing soon and I've been waiting for the occasional little sound to get constant and louder as they deteriorate. My original CCT were replaced around the 55,000km mark and I've not had a problem since. However as the current ones have over 70,000km I've been expecting to replace them sometime. Maybe the sound was the pump, not the CCT, but my lack of experience, and lack of other indications meant I assumed it was the CCT. Still I think 130,000 out of those is nothing to be too worried about. If it was 13,000 I'd be worried, instead I'm just sad :(

Hmm, you could ride in a day, it's been done before (not just by me) Maybe you could work on work letting you take two days up and two days down :) That way you could stay off most of the slab!

Thanks :)

So Casey Stoner did win his final MotoGP appearance, awesome. But that wasn't the end. Our long struggling rider Anthony West came 2nd in the Moto2 and new guy Arthur Sissis came 3rd in the Moto3 (his first podium ever!), so a great day at the track for the Aussies :)

It seems the only time I get to do a proper ride these days is when work sends me to Canberra. That project is closing up soon, so that will go away as well. I'll have to sort something else out that makes me go to Canberra for work. I rode down the freeway, leaving home at about 0230 (0800 Meeting). It was a bit warmer than last time (when I was stupid!) and leaving home was about 7C, Canberra was 0C by the time I got there, but mostly it was around 4C, quite manageable. I only made a single fuel/rest stop and made great time arriving at my accommodation about 0530. I did ride through drizzle for about an hour, but it was light and the road never got wet, and neither did I. Lucky as I packed lighter and left all my rain gear at home. I also packed so that everything was in my top box, no backpack or tank bag. I found it a bit better on the return trip as I could ride normally. Learning from last time, I had a room booked so I picked up some keys, turned on the heaters and dived into bed, getting an hour or so nap, before having to start my day properly. Much more humane than last time spending a hour curled up on a radiator in the common room, shivering! ..... work interlude ....... elevator music playing .... The Next Morning.... The next morning I lazed in bed as I waited for the sun to get up a bit. Last time I rode off with the sun almost in my eyes for much of the ride. With sun up at about 0600 (we're already on summer time here now) about 0830 I was out loading the bike. My plan was to once again Head to Queenbeyan, Tarago, then up the road through Bungonia, popping briefly onto the freeway, before back to Highland Way. That's my third time this way. I then planned to skip Moss Vale etc and perhaps take the Hill Top exit and head up to Picton. No pressure from home this time so I could take it easy. On the road, and it was a pleasant 8C and bright and sunny, warming up well. Passed a couple of groups of bikes, all loaded up headed the other way. As I cruised along towards Tarago, more bikes came past. I felt as if everyone was asking me "Hey why are you headed that way, everyone is going the other way??" And I know where they are all headed and I would love to turn around and join them. This weekend is the MotoGP at Phillip Island. Casey Stoner's last Aussie race. It would be nice if he wins, but I'm not sure his current performance is up to it? We'll see. So much of the road looks like this. Yes i know they all look straight, but with no room on the side of the road to pull over I stop in places where the traffic is going to be able to see me and react, not come halfway around a blind corner to find some crazy rider taking photos! I rather not become someone's hood ornament :) Ah, that reminds me... no wombats this time, but I must have seen about 10 or more kangaroo/wallaby carcasses on the road on the way down in the night. I kept trying to decide if it would be better to ride behind a truck so he hits the roo, not me, but I think getting covered in offal would be rather gruesome. On the way home, as I rode from towards Bungendore I passed at least two abandoned cars with crumpled fronts. Skippy is all muscle too, like the wombat. I passed through Tarago and got some odd looks from a pack of riders when I headed down the road towards Bungonia. I think I know why, as that leg I saw about 2 bikes. Until then I had passed about 50 - 80 bikes. I think not many people know about the leg from Tarago through Bungonia, and all these other riders where taking the turn from Queenbeyan to Tarago. Riding from memory, I only got stuck for a moment at one turn trying to decide the right way. But I stopped and had a break, munching on sushi from my friends shop (Hero Sushi in Tuggernong, go there) while I pondered the two options. I turned left. And that was right. So I eventually hit the freeway, dashed about the kilometre to the start of the Highland Way. More bikes again, all pulling me to turn around, join them.... No I'll be in a wee bit of hot water if I came back on next Tuesday after the race... probably not be allowed in the door! Highland Way, duck out at Sutton Forest again. Along the freeway to the Yerimbol/Hill Top exit, and cruise along to Picton. These are called Ghost Gums, as their trunks and branches turn all white. At Picton I had three options, back to the freeway, northish towards Camden, or Menagle Rd to Campbelltown. Freeway, last choice. I decided to head to Menagle Rd as I hadn't been that way in a while and I've done the Camden way a couple of times in the last couple of years. It proved a solid choice and a quite swift ride I was in Campbelltown, hunting the freeway entrance, for the dash across the city to home. Rolling up to the door about 1445, that's how you turn a 3 hour trip into a 6 hour one, by adding FUN :)

The weather has been really mild this winter, but the Mrs has been putting in a lot of shifts over the weekends, so no opportunity to ride. However today was different and she took the kids to the gym, whilst I went off for a ride. I wasn't actually sure where I wanted to go. I didn't feel like an all day one, so the Putty/Wiseman's was out. I was torn between riding somewhere new, or picking somewhere close and staking out a photo spot to catch whoever might come past. I decided to head to somewhere new, and a loop from home down Mt Keira and then back up the (famous) Macquarie Pass, both of which were new to me, seemed like a good idea. Mrs headed to the gym about 8am and I was on the road shortly after. I headed south on the freeway to the Picton exit. Instead of turning north to Picton, I turned south to Wollongong. Not long before the descent out of the tablelands, I hit the turn off for Mt Keira and headed down. The road here was very much a third level road (and quickly turned into a paved one and half lane one). I immediately felt unsettled. I had been struggling all morning with turning the bike and the narrow technical road I was on only made it worse. Of course, I really hate down hill too! One thought is that having spent weeks hundreds of kilometres on a straight run along the freeway the front was probably very square, which would't help turn in. But at this stage I don't really know what was happening I was just feeling a strong lack of confidence in the bike so I took it real slow. I stopped at a lookout at the top, taking this series of photos (Of note, this shows the place where I joined up with the Charlie Boorman ride several years ago) (I also suspected the front for being slightly overinflated, so made a small adjustment here) I got back on the road and felt a bit better. I wandered slowly down the hill and reached Wollongong before long. At this point I was really not interested in continuing to Mac Pass, but still had to get home. I fuelled up, turned around and headed back up the hill. I explored a couple of other roads briefly as I headed back up the hill, before eventually picking one and heading to intercept the Princes Freeway rather than the Hume Highway for the leg home. I managed a stop before I got onto the major roads for a little photo session. Coming home on the freeway it was clear that I wasn't riding right. I struggled with confidence even on this flat top and was slower than much of the traffic on several parts of the freeway. I was feeling very unhappy. After a total of about 3 hours I arrived home safely. And to be honest after the way my ride went, that is probably the high point of the day.... making it home safe and sound. So what happened in the ride? Apart from the idea of the square front with a little overinflation (I'm talking a single psi or two) I think my own state was a major player. I realise that I'm actually really tired, I didn't feel it when I woke up, being fresh and awake with a good breakfast. Its also been several weeks since my last ride, so some skills perhaps a little stale. I'm glad I cut it short, but I probably shouldn't have left in the first place. Still haven't ridden Mac Pass!