Tragedy
A tragic accident has claimed the life of Maurizio's wife Gina during a weekend ride to Forster. I feel so sad for him, so numb and shocked that this happened to these good people I met a week ago. I remember how much they were all looking forward to this trip and it ended so tragically.
It brought back Don's memory and made me realise that two years later that pain still sits there in the pit of my stomach. I wonder if it ever goes away?! I remember Jan, I remember Mark next door, Ella, I remember Buggles,
I remember how it took months to adequately function again. I remember the suicidal thoughts, the deep depression, the tears, the stares into nowhere, the pain, the pain, the pain...
I emerged...slowly, fragile, some time later. Much later. The man stood by me. He knew of grief.
Riding motorcycles is inherently more dangerous than driving a car. Many people shake their heads at us and will not even attempt to contemplate to get near a bike.
Riding a bike is about LIFE. Experiencing an edge, a rush; in some ways it makes us all appreciate life much, much more deeply when being close to death. When I ride I feel truly alive. I count my blessings when at the end of a day I ride safely into my garage.
At the same time we are all very much into harm minimisation. We wear leather gear, boots, gloves and helmets and we use our experience, common sense, all our senses, logic and instinct, always on high alert to avoid dangerous situations. It still does happen, like planes fall out of the sky, ships sink, trains collide, motorcyclists can have accidents. We are not invincible and whilst many of us can relate to the spirit of a warrior, most of us are just human and that makes us all vulnerable.
When it is our time, then that's it! It is a scary thought and quite harsh to come to terms with. I'd rather go while I do what I love, than ever so slowly fading away in some nursing home.
This is no consolation to Maurizio, his daughter and their close family. It does nothing to assist those that witnessed the horror of the accident scene.
It was not meant to be.
It is just me, me, me, selfish me, helping myself through remnants of sadness and loss.
Members of Katana Australia:
My sincere condolences, deepest sympathy and warmest thoughts are with you at this time of unspeakable sadness.
BANKSTOWN - Via Nasho
The Man and I made our way up along the coast through the National Park. It was his first time, so we took it very, very easy. Just before the turn-off to Waterfall an oncoming bike rider motioned to slow down. Well, I thought to myself, if we go any slower, we'll be parking! So it could not have been a radar trap he was warning us about. Another bend or two and sure enough, we came to the turn-off where several emergency vehicles were at the scene of an accident, attending to the distressed occupants of a badly damaged car. Thank Goodness: No bike!
At the Loftus end we got caught at the lights and whilst we waited for the change, a brandnew, sparkling black and silver BMW stopped right next to us. The rider did not acknowledge us once. He was certainly in his ivory tower! His mate arrived a little while later, but they were just totally into each other. The bikes were amazing, but the guys were just rude. Come on! Where did they leave their spirit?? At the cash register?
Is
that what BMW riding does to people? Then I don't think I want any part of it!
By the time we hit Menai I started to worry about our petrol situation and we rode all the way to Illawong, only to find that this was the wrong way to be going. Miles later, we found a shopping centre, but no petrol station. We should have gone to Menai in the first place. Once we had a full tank again, I took off on my favourite road to Milperra and then straight into Bankstown. This is where we found Oscar's Sports Hotel's $5 introductory lunchtime special. Yeah! They make a great tasting Laksa there and the place's decor is most pleasing on the eye! I took a picture on our way out.
As we strolled along the mostly closed up Asian shop fronts, we followed the sound of drumming and cheering. When we peeked around the corner we saw dragons and musicians and chineese lanterns, shimmering gold and red everywhere, and happy faces.
It's Chineese New Year!!!!
.
.
.
Here are a couple more impressions:
We returned via Lukas Heights and the old Princess Highway, back along the coast to a nice icy-cold bottle of Bud. What else?
Where to next?
Labels: Ride Report
Camp Quality Ride - Stanwell Tops
When I first came to Australia, I planned to save up for a Katana and ride it around Australia. Yeah well...we all have dreams that did not make it into the reality realm. Life happened and I never actually made it around Australia and I never even rode a Katana other than as a pillion with a CRAZY guy, doing 220 in traffic on the backstreets of Surfers Paradise.
Yes, that was it. After that, I purchased a Yamaha XT 500 Enduro...which is almost on the other side of the bike world...isn't it?!
Today I was reminded and surrounded by about a half a dozen of these bikes. Coincidentally, really...as we just happened to park next to each other and started chatting. I had a quiet laugh to myself when a couple of sweet, middle aged blokes...no offence!!...were reminiscing about first laying eyes on these bikes. One said it was in 1981, at the tender age of 16 and the other was 17 years old. I decided to keep my mouth shut. There was no way I'd blurt out that I was some five years past that ... However, they were all very nice at first glance and I felt safe riding with these guys.
To kick it off, we all met at the Golf Range near Helensburgh at 1pm. It was hot and dusty at that time of the day and I had to even stand under a tree to catch a bit of shade. A quick briefing, reminding us that most of these kids have never been on a bike before and to ensure that they keep their feet on the pegs...someone yelled out: "Gaffa tape anyone???!!!!"... hahaha!!!!! ...and off we went to Stanwell Tops Conference Centre, where about 250 bikes of all sorts and sizes got ready for their precious cargo. Unfortunately I did not get anybody this time. Maybe next year!
The ride went along very nicely. (
See map!) As always, people behaved in a civilised manner and the marshals did a fabulous job keeping us all together. We rode along the old highway and then down Bulli Pass, turned left at Thirroul and along the coast to Stanwell Tops again.
Upon our return to the Centre, we got some free food and drink and had a chat about the things we love.
Darren, from Narellen, invited me to join the KatanaAustralia MSN webforum, where their future rides will be advertised. They are off to an o/nighter to Forster next weekend. "Can't do o/nighters!"... "Bring hubby along!" Good guys.
I also met a few Ulysses riders. One rider pulled up next to me on a 1300 Kawasaki. A lovely man at 72 years of age. I hope I'll still be able to ride at that time of my life.
My helmet hair has been very unsettling today, as I finally had my locks chopped off this morning and the style is very unusual for me. The regular five finger streak through my hair is no longer just a an automatic action. Whilst it is VERY short, it needs imagination to keep it standing on edge. The 10-Finger-Shuffle-and-Twist still needs a mirror to practise with. Now I need to use PRODUCT!
...and there I was wanting to save time on doing my hair...yeah, dream on!
The irony is that some of these kids today had no hair at all (the chemo!), so I guess in future I will be greatful for what I've got and stop complaining. Yeah, in the bigger scheme of things...
Next time I'll just take my hat.
Interested in Volunteering for Camp Quality?
Click here.Now!
Labels: Ride Report
The HOOVER Advertisement
There has been a lot of hooha (and in my opinion rightfully so!) about the fact that some councils are about to use their roads as billboards. Advertising space turns up in most unexpected places. Have a look at this one:
State of Affairs
Bathurst or Bust is on again!
We'll have to wait until September, though!
I'm counting down...
in the meantime The Man and I are planning a little ride out Cowra way. I think he is certainly getting a taste of it, as he was the one suggesting it and I fell for it hook, line and sinker!
The girl has made a little move towards agreeing to let me take her, but it has only been followed by a looooong silence. My guess is that she will get so much street cred from it, that it will be hard to avoid her first ride on a motorcycle for very much longer.
Yet, (as so often) I could be wrong, ...hhmmm...
Fear Factor!
The girl has not yet taken the plunge. She is a non-bikie. Every now and then I offer her a ride. She almost did it the other day, but then, when I opposed her choice of gear, dropped out at the last minute.
Yesterday, driving her home, I offered again.
"Ahhm...
I am a bit scared."
"Yes, a bike ride is scary... but that's part of it."
"Well mum, what if you have a heart attack...you ARE almost fifty, you know!"
RIGHT!!!!!!!!
A RIDE TO BERRY
It was his first longer ride as my pillion. We took off mid morning and made our way up the Bulli Pass, heading west to Appin to ride along
Broughton’s Pass, a windy road down towards and across the bridge and back up on the other side of the weir. To think that this was once the site of a gruesome massacre of indigenous souls! What a serene and beautiful, but sad place, desecrated by such a crime against humanity. To find out more, click on the green hyperlink in the text. (Ahhhh I am soooo proud of myself for having that worked out...finally!)
Once in the Highlands, we dropped into our favourite Garden place, The Pot Shop, just as the road takes you into Mittagong. We love their innovative garden features and we always leave it with new ideas and dreams. This visit was even more special than usual, because we met David, who happened to be a kindred soul. It was amazing to listen to him talk about the pleasures of track riding. He has been through the Wrist Twist several times and taken the Superbike Challenge all the way. He has been on the track with the Great Gardner and is about to do it again. On our way out he handed me his card and told me to keep it and hand it to the chap running my first Superbike course, which should not be too far off…
We stopped over at the Bowral Hotel for a most refreshing Lemon, Lime and Bitters. I think I decided then that I should make that my 2007 drink of choice. At least when I am out and about on the ZX.
Another stop at the ‘Friendly Inn Hotel’, Kangaroo Valley, another Lemon, Lime and Bitters and a fine lunch to match the kind of day we were having. We managed to get ourselves seated at a neat shady sidewalk table, munching on tempura fish on basamic rocket salad, watching the trickling traffic pass by.
Did you know, that the average age of the Australian motorcycle rider is around 43 years? Well, today I came across a fair few of us/those, who’d take that average up way past the 30 mark. Good effort, guys! On this trip there was at least one funny moment when a brand new Ducati rider we came upon, riding steadily along, was completely oblivious to the fact that we were riding right behind him. He must have noticed that there was a change of sound in the air, obviously due to my lovely Yoshimura pipes at medium revs, but he kept looking down to check if there was something wrong with his engine. At the lights he had a big stretch and almost dropped the bike in the process. My pillion giggled a little and poked me in the side... I managed to keep a straight face and pretended I had not seen it. After all, the wobbles could happen to all of us...
Our trip took the sweetest turn just after leaving Kangaroo Valley when we turned off Cambewarra Rd taking a left on Berry Mountain Road via Bellawongarah, then along Kangaroo Valley Rd to hit Queen St on the western side of Berry. Those tight serpentines and gorgeous views... trees forming shady cathedrals above the road... neat, stonewalled properties in rural settings... all this will become a regular future attraction for me. It is the way to go, a great way to experience the awesome beauty of this southern area, yet easily missed if you don't know where to turn off. I feel like I have for the first time just discovered a secret doorway... Can't wait til next time!
The cool and shaded verandah of the
Great Southern Hotel at Berry served as a fine refuge from the heat of the day. Even the loudest conversation between a longhaired owner of an old, old dog and a young, stocky, weird guy, sitting at a table right next to us, about the state of the nation, accompanied by an accolade of expletives, could not spoil that moment for us. We concluded that this one was the best Lemon, Lime and Bitters we’ve had all day.
Those Berry shops are always seductive, but in the end the heat got to us and we made our way right back home to lounge around the pool. That’s when it hit me:
Life just does not get much better!... and my handsome pillion agreed.
Labels: Ride Report
