Glendambo FarRide – Riding with the Shadow Riders
I left home at 3.30am for the Glendambo FarRide, and there's something very special about riding through the night and into the dawn.
As I rode the country roads in the cool and dark, I saw the evocative sight of farm houses with light shining from their kitchen windows as their days began. And then, there's the first glow in the east, heralding the beginning of the new day. The dome of light in the east slowly gets brighter and bigger, stars fade, and the landscape slowly reveals itself in the dim, grey light. My anticipation of seeing the sunrise and feeling warm again grows. The dome of light, creeps up to cover the whole sky, and ever so slowly my headlights loose their impact. But still the sun has not appeared from behind the Flinders Ranges as I ride north. And suddenly, shafts of light burst out from the gaps between the mountains to my right, and the new day has begun. I am keenly aware my own shadow, dancing along the roadside beside me, like the ghost of motorcycling friends and companions that I have lost. My thoughts turn to my wicked old pommy mate Jeff with whom I rode many miles, I think of Saaz and Hendo, and nameless others who have Ridden On. These are my shadow companions for a while, and I know I am not riding alone this morning.
We gather at Glendambo, and and after a time, riders drift away to continue their own journeys. JohnnyYTED rides towards home with me, and peels off at Crystal Brook to head for Barmera for the night. Again I am alone on the road, but no.... As the sun dips towards the western horizon and the shadows lengthen, my friends are back, riding with me again, flickering through the trees and bushes on the side of the road to my left. It's good to see them again. They slowly drift further and further away from me into the fields, and then, as the sun sets, they are gone. My world begins to shrink into the cone of the headlights, and it seems a little less friendly and colder due to absence of my shadow riders. I rejoice, because they'll be back some time, somewhere, and I plunge on into the growing cold and dark, knowing that at the end of the road is home and a warm fire.
I had a great day.....