SOPHIE D's RIDE
Ride4SophieClick on the above link and check out this Charity Ride coming up this Saturday... A good cause and plenty of opportunity to check out custom cars and bikes. $25 donation does get you in the draw to win a pair of Draggin Jeans and a few bits and pieces. Do it for the Children!
JAMBEROO via Pie Shop
SORRY:NO CAMERA- NO PICTURES
-----------------------------
Aaahhhh, what do you know?! The fams told me in no uncertain terms:
"GO FOR A RIDE !!!!"
That was after enduring me for an hour or so getting more and more grumpy with everybody whilst cleaning the house. Finding Joanne's phone number took a mere 15 seconds but finding the phone took about three minutes longer... handsets and mobiles seem to have a life of their own. What is it they get up to when we are not looking?!
I invited myself to her house. Just a Quick visit. Lake Heights is about a half an hour away. About an hour or so later we sat at the Robertson Pie Shop eating Lamingtons. Mmmmmhhhh!
The Goat Track down to Jamberoo Pub was quite an experience. Beautiful little homesteads dotted and tucked away into the ever changing landscape down the mountain from the table lands. The temperature was quite coolish up top, but as we were making our way down the 35s and 25s, it was quite obviously getting warmer towards the coast.
I love that 'whole body' kind of awareness. You largely miss out on that if you are driving in a car.
The sunshine had painted a golden landscape and the long shadows made everything look like fairy land. It was simply magical!
There were about eight of them at the pub. One of the lady riders... and of cause i did not catch her name... rode a VIOLET ZX... Great colour! I thought I had seen her bike at the Pink Ribbon ride once before and she did confirm that one for me.
Joel and Scott took off along the Turpentine bends and we caught up again at the start of the Freeway.
I got home to a smiling family.
.
Labels: Ride Report
IT's BEEN AGES!
The bike's been in the garage for ages and it seems to look disappointedly at me when I pass it up in favour for an overwhelming lot of school work. "Sorry! You'll just have to wait a little longer..."
Last Wednesday was 'Girls-Night-Out' and we had a disappointing choice of restaurant...Marco's at Wollongong. Won't see me there again! The ladies held it together very well though... and despite a lack of friendly service we had a nice night. Some did not turn up and we were forced to pay the extra. We paid $40 each for a meal that was not worth it. Fancy forcing us to do a $30 menu booking when more than 10 of us may arrive. In the end we only had nine and they did not change the price for 12.
They did not even check with us what our final number was...just kept rolling out the food. Some huge doggy bags had to be made up in the end.
NEW VIEW
Ooooh THAT was fun, playing around with these Kawasaki Images ... snap it up or go green with envy!
Photoshop is such a great tool!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Which one would YOU prefer? Pick your pic... (you vote, don't you?)
...or this one?
Unusual Photographs
Here are a few interesting photos I stumbled upon in a German Motorcycle Mag "MOTORRAD"
This rather 'Northerly' airbrush design is certainly unusual and a nice reminder of the sea...safe cruising!
If only I 'd get away with this do...my helmet hair days would finally be a thing of the past.
Aaarrrrrggghh! My favourite piston head impression. Bwahahahaaah!
Anyone got a hairbrush?
Whilst I have not seen this done, I can imagine his stunts have real entertainment potential.
ILLAWARRA RIDERS - Pies and Doughnuts
As you can see, this was a night ride to Sydney's Wooloomooloo.
'Harry's Cafe De Wheels', a favourite feed source for Sydney's night-lifers.
Our trip took us along the coast up to Stanwell, then on the old highway to join the F6 at Waterfall. I had not been that way for a while and it was as if this had suddenly become new territory for me. Vision restricted and the front riders quickly disappearing, I danced along the sweeping right handers. Yes, they are the ones I find most challenging!
Once in street light territory things became much more comfy. The new bridge with its sweeping views of the city gave us a taste of what was to come. Our busy Botany Bay was a buzz and I saw a guy with his lady by his side smiling and waving to us, as we were passing through. He turned out to be a club member on a dinner date with his wife. At least I hope that was her!
Not far from there is the Airport Krispy Kreme doughnut parlour, where we had our first stop after re-grouping at Stanwell Tops. It was quite dark up there and this was really my first chance to see the faces of my fellow riders.
The Fezz, Skipp and Rocky were the only ones I recognised from previous meetings and rides.
Were there 12 of us? I was not sure, but it certainly felt powerful and made an impression. Heads were turning and people smiled watching us ride by. The best moment by far was George Street all to ourselves. Victoria Rd and King Street also had its moments.
The night turned out quite balmy and certainly dry, which was a fine thing, as I had decided to leave the wet weather gear at home.
It was just about midnight when I made my last trip... to bed... buzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
Dam!
Girls Ride Out's monthly ride and the Illawarra Riders' outing clashed this time and this time the choice was in the local corner. A Family Picnic at the Dam. I can't remember a monthly GRO ride I did not attend because I chose not to...
Dear oh dear! How did I get THAT so wrong?!
My family had deserted me by nine am and they did not return until 12:30, which was an hour and a half LATE(!!!!!!!) before we even took off. The girl informed me that she would rather stay at home... in no uncertain terms... but! But! That meant that we could have been riding up there...and there I was, dressed to go by car, hair done, earrings carefully chosen to not upstage those jeans... bugger! No time to get changed or re-organise the esky to a tank bag. Off we went. Alone. Just the two of us and the dog. (He REALLY needed to get out!)
The picnic area was quite busy, but after the first drive-by I had to admit to the man that I did not recognise anyone amongst the groups of picnickers. At first I thought it was because they did not wear helmets and walked in close proximity of bikes. So I parked the car and asked everybody wether they were with Illawarra Riders.
Who???
When it was quite apparent that we were simply very late and people had quite obviously made a bee line for the Chineese GP, we made it a picnic for two ... and a half...the dog...who was well behaved and did only growl at the tiny black poodle in the neighbouring pack, who was most definately not a lamb...
After a delicious meal and the realisation that we did not bring the cork screw and unbeknownst to me the vino did not have the nowadays usual screwtop, we had to take ourselves off to the dam wall. The dog on its leash (for a change!) and closely observed by a ranger in his little white car, which must have passed us at least five times. (The man thinks he's checking on the dog remaining leashed.)
The dam is this amazing granite structure with a little almost gothic building in the centre. A walkway took us right across that huge wall to the other side of the dam. The ranger was there, waiting for people taking an unbelievably silly photo opprtunity... placing their children on the wall, then stepping back a few metres to get the right angle, whilst the toddler does what it does best...: it toddles.
Well, his interest had shifted from us to them, but we were wondering wether this was the water that reaches our homes and so we had a little chat about the place. What better source to get information than the expert?!
Yes, we are drinking the Cateract Dam's water and, what's most interesting is that it was pouring out of the bottom pipe like you would not believe!
He said that it is being transported back to the Prospect Dam that way...and returned to the river system. Ahhh! Apparently the same thing happened at the Cordeaux Dam, which was only a few kilometres down the road.
Now, where had I heard THAT name mentioned before?
That's when it dawned on me. It was the Cordeaux Dam the Illawarra Riders were going to meet at. "*@&%!!!!"
Too late!
When we returned to the homestead I checked the Forum and there it was. Multi coloured. There was even a map for the truly challenged. I was sure it said Appin Rd, but no. I was WRONG!
What can you do?
Enjoy the view...
and somehow find a way to live that one down...
.
Labels: Ride Report
An Original Day
Today the girl had her first date...cinema with J... and MOST importantly: I picked her up from Sutherland Station on the Kawasaki! It was quite a surprise when she agreed, but rather that than sitting alone at the station for 40 minutes. GOOD CHOICE, girl!
She did very well for her first ride. Right handers are a little clunky, but we'll get there. And guess what?! She did enjoy it! Well, how did I know THAT?!
THE WAKE
An all too quick trip to Nelson Bay/Shoal Bay for Jeremy's Wake pushed us back into the warm embrace of the past. Jeremy pulled up as we arrived at the church. We felt pretty special having that time to ourselves. It was'nt long before the crowd had gathered to farewell him. Earlier I snuck into the church in search of some tissues and saw that a fairly recent picture of Jeremy, dressed in a black and white chequered flanelette shirt, had been placed on his casket. At that distance it looked as if he was holding a beer and I wondered how that would go down in that Catholic church... Looking at the feeble attempt of a rainbow... at least a proper rainbow with the actual colour combination would have been pleasing and...appropriate..., I found very little I could identify with. The 'father' spoke well, but I doubt he'd ever met him alive. Whilst the technology took on its own pace and by the way...there would have been no glitch on a Mac!...we watched his remaining images in a DVD presentation and listened to his exit song by Bob Dylan. In our minds he will stay forever young.
The wake was held in the Fisherman's Club, where, amongst old friends, who looked like aging rock stars, we were taking our time dwelling in memories.
Only a few days earlier the family had made a booking for a meeting regarding some much needed intervention. He wondered if they would let him back into the joint after being asked to leave the last time he attended... Must have been SOME night, eh?!
