Canberra Riders turned two in early August… so a birthday weekend was arranged for late August and off we went….
The usual crew of Stevo, Tess, Esther and I with the addition of Fox (hi Todd!) set off from Watson around 10amish and we just slabbed it up to Goulburn (well they slabbed it, I rocked out! LOL) where it was a splash and dash and off to Taralga for lunch.
We pulled up at the first pub and there were two bikes parked out the front… Thrashers Rally (it has more T’s but I can’t remember what they mean now) was on the same weekend so had a bit of a chat to those dudes… think they were from Narooma and had never missed one of Thrashers Rallies (about 23 of them so far!). Lunch was fantastic. Really nice burger and I was so full afterwards…
Before long we were underway again, heading for the Abercrombie River and Black Springs. We cruised along, Stevo in the lead with Tess in hot pursuit (for cruise mode) then Todd and me and Esther behind us… We regrouped at the river then onto Black Springs for a brief rest and another regroup. We rolled straight through Oberon and then while we were regrouping at the Great Western Highway just out of Lithgow we noticed Tess’s tyre… it’s farked! So we got fuel in Lithgow and Tess went off in search of a tyre (there are two bike shops in Lithgow). We couldn’t find her at the first one so went to the second one - then we got a call - she was heading for Bathurst as there were no tyres for her in Lithgow. Stevo and Todd set off to accompany her to Bathurst and Esther and I headed straight for Wallerawang and our accommodations.
We checked in and did a quick shuffle of the sleeping arrangements so we would end up in the same cabin… I left Esther remaking beds while I ducked up the road for supplies (lots of coke, orange juice, milk and coffeeeeeeeeeee and some munchies). We got back… and waited… and waited… and then Liane turned up… where are the others? Oh nooooooo! Riicho (not Ricko) and Mick Patten had come down :o(((((( Not what we wanted to hear! Eventually everyone else turned up and found their beds (after I ordered them to where they were to go! hehe) and then it was bourbon o’clock.
We all hung around chatting for a while then it was time for dinner, so we trundled off down the street for some chinese… not very impressive but you get that… they ran out of glasses and then they nearly ran out of bourbon!!!!!!!! but luckily they procured another bottle from somewhere so the riots were avoided…
Then it was time to go to the pub… and it was karaoke night! Started off with a game of pool (dreadful as usual) and then ChrisMac and I did a perfect rendition of Under the Bridge this time with accompanying music etc. Had a bit of a dance, bit of a chat, ummmm… I remember lots of people giving me drinks… ermmm then I sat at the bar and drank some water… then Mick C kindly escorted a rather weary me back to the cabins where I seem to recall talking to some people and Esther gave me a scare to get rid of my hiccups then I crawled into my top bunk and tried to sleep (not very successfully).
I awoke far too early on Saturday morning… and fark but my cabin mates were loud! LOL I eventually crawled out of bed and made my way back to ground level to go out and tell them that. A shower and I felt a bit better but then bed again seemed like a better option (the weather was absolute shitehouse as well). A few brave souls set off towards Bathurst and we eventually got sorted to go and meet them at Tarana for lunch.
We were told to meet at the servo so we all rolled up and waited and waited and them I was appointed TEC and we waited some more then we were on our way. The group quickly split up until it was Liane, Wendy and I riding at the back (we got delayed by traffic getting onto the Great Western Highway). We trundled along for a bit and then Liane’s indicator came on… but I couldn’t see the corner marker… well I figured they must have seen me and taken off (turns out later that the corner marker gave up on waiting for us and just left!!!!!!!!! Lucky Liane knew where she was going or we would have ended up in Bathurst). It was a lovely little road down to Tarana. We pulled in and for a very fearful minute thought we would have to wait over an hour for lunch (hangover had abated enough to be ready to eat by now though I still had a killer headache - most unusual) but before long they started bringing out our meals (hurrah!).
And the meals were strange. I have never had watermelon served with my hamburger before! (Tess got a strawberry with hers as well…) anyway it was okay, but nothing on the burgers at Taralga! Was just about finished when the rest of the crew turned up - including Disco on his shiny new Monster Energy ZX6R. (well it wasn’t so shiny but I went and gave it a little snuggle anyway). Hot as.
After lunch we were sitting round talking and Disco held the keys out to me… don’t need to ask me twice! I geared up and got on this bike that I was willing to sell my soul for (or a kidney or whatever else might be of value)… damn the brakes work good! Was a bit worried about turning around on a slopey gravelly part of the road but it was all good (I didn’t tell Disco that part) then set off… damn that thing is niiiiiiiice. Just went up the road we came down on for a bit, it was a bit wetter than when we had come in… and being on someone else shiny pride and joy I took it *very* easy but damn! I’m in love (sorry Niney) Took it back a little weak at the knees and gave the keys back (I do know how to give keys back!!).
Before long some of us started gearing up to head back to the cabins (it was still pretty miserable…) and we set off with I can’t remember who in the lead but I was behind Karl and Kimmie. Karl stopped to mark the turn back onto the GWH and Kimmie waved us all past… and people started going everywhere LOL I thought about following them but then thought stuff it I’m going back the way I came so I did, with (I think) Dids and Disco behind me).
Out of the bike gear, back into the ‘comfy’ gear and we settled down to pass a few wet hours… I went out for a smoke at some stage and was hailed by Riicho (not Ricko) so went up to their cabin… and damn they have the comfortable chairs up there! So I settled in for a bit of a chat and stayed until it was dark LOL.
Then Mamma Leen started rounding up the assistants for dinner and we got the show on the road… food was awesome and then there was speeches - happy birthday canberra riders! The bourbon once again started to flow (not that I had much) and Dids got a fire going and we all sat around talking shit (as you do…) Eventually I decided it was time for bed and I slept much better. Apparently I missed out on quite a bit of excitement… actually I’m glad to have slept through that! LOL
Sunday morning dawned sunny but very, very windy and it was a cold wind. I made coffee and everyone got up in dribs and drabs… packed up and lined the bikes up for a group photo and then the main group set off - I was just going back to Canberra the way I had come and Mick C wasn’t feeling very good so he came with me.
Waved goodbye to the main group and pretty much set off straight after them. Cruised through Lithgow then turned off towards Oberon and goddam it was windy! Battled the wind into Oberon where we stopped for fuel and then Mick C took the lead and we battled the wind some more through Taralga and onto Goulburn where we topped up and Mick wanted a coffee so we went to the bakery near the big sheep and they had a fire and good pies and good coffee so that was nice :) I got too hot standing in front of the fire so before long it was time to get back on the road and I managed to stay warm for the trip home (just slabbed it from here) and was home about 1:15pm.
I have some photos but they aren’t on photobucket yet so they are still to come…
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