Flip’s Tit Bits - Bateman’s Bay, 5 August 2007

Damn, I hate alarm clocks. I particularly hate them when they go off before I’m ready to wake up, and that’s just what happened on the morning of this particular ride. The reason I didn’t want to wake up was because I was sleeping - it’s something I do particularly well. I am also a champion dreamer. When the alarm went off I was in the middle of attending a wedding (not mine or it would have been a nightmare) which wasn’t so bad in itself, but the difficulty lay in the fact that the wedding was taking place in neck high ocean waves and I was wearing a bikini. Anyone who knows me will know that I don’t DO bikinis. Anyway, enough of that, I got straight out of bed and began my preparations for the day’s ride to Bateman’s Bay on my lovely 750 Virago.

The day was just dawning and I was a little surprised to see that it had been raining, but was assured by the weather report that it was going to clear as the day progressed. So eager was I to get going that I was the first to arrive at the servo, so I checked the air in my tyres (as taught on the motorcycle maintenance course I’m doing– organised by Mal Garner) and filled up the tank. I also checked to see if my spare fuel tank was full as I’d had another ‘incident’ during the week (thanks for stopping Chris, not everyone would once they saw it was me). I also knew that Judy was coming, so the chance of somebody running out of fuel was about to double.  I was also relieved (nice pun) that the dunny had been fixed because, as you know, my motto is “full tank, empty bladder”  (I bet Jen wished she’d taken more notice of that last week).

Peter Arday came in his metal box thing with 4 wheels to give us some divine guidance before we headed off and handed the baton over to Alan Munday as Rider Leader for the Day. Dave Robinson then volunteered to be tail end Charlie and I’m sure it was only to keep as much distance between himself and Alan as possible.

All 23 riders and pillions headed out on 21 bikes, me on my lovely 750 Virago, so it was a pretty good turnout. 

Despite clear instructions, and that fact that John G was not there with his GPS, we ALL made it to Braidwood without incident, me on my lovely 750 Virago. I quickly refuelled, just to be sure, and did the other business as well, just in case. After a short (bum) break, we headed off down the Clyde, with clear instructions from Alan to take it at our own pace and to take it easy. The day had cleared and the sun had come out, making for fantastic riding and I don’t know about everyone else, but I really felt like the lovely 750 Virago and I had “become as one” for a while. Damn I love riding.

We met in the car park at the Bay as arranged and headed off in search of food and drink. A few of us went straight to the Boatshed – the lure of fresh prawns and fish and chips was just too strong to be fought off. Judy and I pushed our way to the front of the queue and we both tucked into ½ kilo of fabulously fresh prawns. We ate them sitting outside in the sunshine overlooking the water and watching the boats as they ferried past. The procurement of a new coffee machine by Boatshed made the meal outstanding. 

All too soon it was time to head off, me on my lovely 750 Virago, but we didn’t go too far we were going to reassemble at Mogo to allow (and this is not my expression, I swear) “the wives to go shopping”.  I ask you, count the number of “wives” in the list and then tell me WHO wanted to go shopping???? As a minority group I don’t think the ‘wives’ could have influenced a group of ‘real men’ to that extent. And where do Judy and I fit in the scheme of things?

It was HOT in Mogo. At least it was wearing whilst wearing a full set of thermals and three layers of clothing on top, THEN a pair of lined bike pants. I was going to indulge in an ice-cream, but I just couldn’t do it without Garry Mc as it felt kind of disrespectful. I have to admit to being slightly relieved when we headed off back up the Clyde, me on my lovely 750 Virago. There wasn’t too much traffic, just enough to stop me growing wings and fly up the mountain, but the lovely 750 Virago did me proud, as she always does, and took me up without a problem. Damn I love riding. 

I have to tell you something however. I was conducting an experiment today. Yesterday I shaved one of my legs. Yes, only one leg. I’ve been growing the hair on my legs since the beginning of winter – I’ve been told a lot of women do this. It’s a bit like hibernating is for bears, in fact, I was starting to feel a bit like a bear (note: no rude comments allowed). Anyway, today I tested my theory on why women feel the cold on a bike more than men do. Once at the top of the Clyde it got really, really cold, exacerbated by the fact I had sweat so much in Mogo, and hadn’t put the winter liner back in my jacket AND I was still wearing my summer gloves*. Anyway, back to the experiment. My left leg, which had been shaved, was FREEZING, while my right leg, unshaved, was as warm as fresh toast. There you go, it’s explained. Men don’t get as cold on bikes as they are kept warm by their body hair. I think I’ll trade in the jacket and pants for a gorilla suit.

Anyway, we met up again in Braidwood again briefly, long enough for - you guessed it - a full tank, empty bladder. From this point onward everyone seemed to disappear into the backstreets never to be seen again. Most people turned off at Bungendore towards Queanbeyan and I was free to continue testing my hair theory on the road home to Canberra all alone. 

*Sung to the tune “Summer Love” by Sherbet

Summer glove is like no other glove
Oooh yeah-eah-eah
Summer glove is like no other glove
You know what I mean
Summer glove is like no other glo-ove

Cloudy skys are blown by with a breeze
And when that su-un shi-ines
Life comes easy
Bye bye troubles goodby-ye
I'm walkin' with my head in the sky-y-y
See birds sailing in and out of blue
Oh when that su-un shines
I'll be there with you-ou
When you bring your lovin' to me-ee
Let your glove come easy and free-ee
Yeah, Listen
 

Riders on the day

Chas Towie – GTR 1000 (Nice to see you Chas)
Mark and Cathy Walker – Vulcan Nomad
Flip – The lovely 750 Virago
Manfred Halton – Kwaka ZZR600
Snoop – XVS1100 (Nice bike, Snoop!)
Norm Mac Lachlan BMW R1100GS
Terry and Jennie Fenton – Honda Blackbird
Robert Crick – F800ST
Gordon White – Hyosung GT6505
Derek and Margaret Titheradge – GL1800
Nick and Terese Hicks – M109R
Chris Stonehouse – Kwaka ER650
Neil Goldfinch – CBR1000F
Andrew No Name – F21
Alan Munday – GTR1000 Ride leader and general good bloke.
Butch – K1500LT
Leo Farrelly – R1200GS
Peter Stark and Cheryl BMW R115OR
Judy Perry – Virago 535
Andrew Campbell – Honda Goldwing
Luke Van Laar – FJR 1300A