A couple of weeks into life with a pillion passenger, and we're both loving it. I've found I'm not having the problems with my wife getting on board the bike that I anticipated. Bike's been off the road for a fortnight while I waited for a new mirror and windscreen, but they're fitted now and this weekend we went out both days. Lovely days, blue skies, low to mid twenties, and between the two days we did over 300 km.
Saturday we rode about 60 km up the Pioneer Valley up to the Cafe Devine at Pinnicles. Had a great lunch, if you're riding up the Bruce Highway passed Mackay, take the bypass out to Marion and keep going up the valley instead of turning right across the bridge. The Cafe Devine is about 100 metres passed the pub (which does a very nice pie as well), tables outside under the trees and views across the cane fields. Fantastic food too.
We came back down the valley to just short of Mirani and turned onto the Mt Osa road, 40 km of motorbike heaven. I took it fairly carefully as I hadn't ridden this road before, I had a relatively new pillion on board, and it's the start of the cane harvesting season with slow trucks and tractors likely to be on the road. You come back out on the Bruce Highway about 40 km north of Mackay and it was a qiuiet cruise back home with a side trip to the Eimeo Pub for a cuppa out on the deck and a view out over the ocean where the Humpback whales will be coming through in a week or two..
Yesterday we rode out north of Mackay to Cape Hillsborough, parked at the camping ground at the end of the road and walked up through the bush to the Twin Beach Lookout. Nice cool bush walk with a fantastic view out over the beaches and the off shore islands, and it was marvellous to see butterflies fluttering through the sunlight with their wings almost transparent. We rode back to the Bruce Highway and turned north to the Mackay bypass and rode across to Marion in the Pioneer Valey and home again.
I'm really enjoying having my wife pillioning, I love feeling the odd squeeze of her knees now and then or when she puts her hands on my waist. And she's comfortable, confident and really enjoying it as well. This is such a great way to enjoy my passion for bike riding and to share it with her as well.