During the Long Weekend I rode the FarRide 1200 Gold to Roma. This time it needed to be finessed because my wife was coming along on her first FarRide. She didn't think she was up to the 1000 kays so I planned it as a two-part exercise with ample time for breaks. Climbing on and off with a hip replacement has its own challenges, so we had plenty of time to avoid rushing anywhere.
With a 12:03 docket from Carseldine (my time-pieces all said 12:05) I rode up to Burrum Heads in quest of the FarTreasure.
You sure do see some interesting things travelling around this country!
My other corner for the first 700 kay stage was Ban Ban Springs which the ST1300 did with 134 kays still in the tank. I then needed another docket on the D'Aguillar Highway to prove I hadn't short-cutted back through Kilkiven. A light Chicken take-away in Blackbutt provided a docket, but the time was an hour out of whack (unrelated to DST) so I had the girl change it and initial it. You need to watch that with documented rides. I was home by 9:10, 20 minutes ahead of plan (savings made along the way) and only one roo spotted, a decent sized but well behaved buck north of Nanango.
In the cot by 10:30 after various last-minute things-to-do with the alarm set for 3:30.
We were both feeling pretty good despite the unearthly hour and were on the bike by the planned 4:00. It was 19 degrees in the garage and Leonie needed a bit of persuading to put on extra layers. By Ipswich it was 12 degrees and Toowoomba at dawn saw 8. I thought that would be the minimum but by Oakey it was 4
o. The pillion-in-a-million coped, but was wishing she'd worn more, and added waterproofs for wind-chill protection. Breakfast was planned for the Dalby Maccas and so I was able to introduce Leonie to the delights of my FarRide dawn Bacon and Egg McMuffins and Cappuccinos. Alas, we're so incompatible!! She had the pancakes and tea!
By Miles the tea was making its presence felt, so a pit stop was required (already!)
We made good time, so were able to check-in to out motel before the 11:30 FarRide check-in.
It wasn't really as old as the plumbing, but quite a good atmosphere. A quick application of powder to the nose (hers) and we tracked for the White Bull Tavern.
After the FarRide formalities, a leisurely lunch gave us a chance for catching up on matters important to riders everywhere.
We'd heard the Ace Drapery Store was worth a visit, and weren't disappointed. Being a Textiles teacher, my wife was in her element among aisles of fabric stacked to the roof, every imaginable button, ribbon and needle- you name it, they could find it. Then I took the fading pillion back to the motel for her nanna-nap. I went looking for more points of interest, and wasn't disappointed. This 9.5 metre girth Bottle Tree is Roma's largest.
New FarRiders Regan and Corali (ex ST1300 owners) were staying at the same motel, and after that little AFL affair we had wine and cheese on the lawn followed by a Thai dinner.
Sunday morning saw us sampling the Roma Maccas delights and we were on the road home by 8:30. Just east of Dalby we were sent off the Warrego onto a single bitumen lane detour for reasons we didn't know at the time. We thought we were struggling as on-coming B-Doubles grudgingly allowed us one metre of tar. After 2 kays we realised how well off we had been when the seal ran out and we were eating the billowing dust of loose gravel. I soon had grit in my eyes which made staying in a wheel track quite challenging. That lasted 7 km before we emerged at Bowenville. We rode on to Picnic Point in Toowoomba for lunch, and read on the 'net there that there had been a three vehicle crash on the Warrego and we'd been lucky a detour of any sort was available with the road closed for 4 hours.
Home by 4:00 and in need of hosing for the layer of dust.
I think I've nearly persuaded the Bride that she could get her FarRider number. If I promise max 200 kays between breaks she might cave in.
