Ha! Well, I told you all I wasn't great at prompt ride reports! I've been home nearly two weeks, and just now finding time to sit and write this up.
Part 1:
Ok, so, I've already covered the flights to Sydney (I won't go into the packing/luggage debarcle!) and then up to Armidale. I'm not the greatest flyer, and after stories I'd been told at work (from other non-flyers) about how 'fun' Rex flights are, I was just quietly dreading the jump up to Armidale. I have to say, I loved it, was very surprised! I've thought about it a bit since, and I think it's because: in a jet, it feels like you're just a bunch of people crammed into a giant sausage and put up in the sky, whereas in a smaller plane I was much more aware that I was flying, maybe it was feeling the movement of wind outside, maybe being a little closer to the ground to be able to see what was going on down below. Maybe it's the old fashioned hospitality of the hostess who comes down the aisle with a tray to serve tea and hand out snacks and lollies. Whatever it is, I would happily take a smaller plane anywhere over a big jet.
Anyway, out of the clouds and down to the road, Will (the previous owner) picked me up from my accomodation after he knocked off work and we headed up to his place. The bike was everything I had expected from the photos, very impressed. A couple little let-downs were some accessories which I had believed were on the bike, but had been removed (throttle lock, heated grips). I guess if I were feeling more assertive, and Will weren't such a nice guy I probably would have pushed for a price drop, but at the time I was slightly knackered, and keen to just get on.
Had a great run back down to Armidale where I grabbed some supplies for the next day, fill up the bike and get some Thai for dinner. The bike had felt a little funny in slow corners, ie, feeling like it wanted to turn sharply into roundabouts, a little disconcerting, but just thought it would be something I'd have to get used to, until I checked the tyres and the front was down to 20psi, that explains it!
In the morning, the garage door rolled up to reveal fog and drizzle... great way to get accustomed to a new bike... on a whim I stopped to double check the tyres while I was mailing a couple postcards, that's when I realised the front tyre was down to 12psi (!!!) and the valve was completely shagged. My first thought (as I'd posted up here at the time) was to find some silicone to see if I could get it to hold until I could find somewhere to get it fixed. I carefully tootled along to the bigger BP in town and found a group of riders looking like they were on a bit of a long haul, so I headed for the happiest looking one and asked if he knew any side-of-the-road tricks to repairing a valvew, or if he knew of any local bike shops. He direscted me to the sourest looking one of the group saying "The buy on the BM is a know-it-all, ask him"... great... Turns out the guys sourness was more just an aire of no nonsense-ness. He got straight on his phone, looked up the local shops, called one, got the guy out of bed and said he was sending someone over for urgent repair. Wow, guess I asked the right guy! He'd had a couple bad punctures himself on their trip, so he was a little sympathetic. Meanwhile, I found myself unusually calm, thinking "Well, these are the stories adventures are made of", rather than my usual "F#&@^#%*!!! I Wanted to be GONE by 7!!!".
Long story short, eventually found the bike shop at about 07:30 (even though Siri, Google Maps, AND their own business cards still have them at an address they left many years ago), made a cuppa and waited 'till their mechanic turned up at 09:00, he had me ready to go at 10:00... only three hours behind schedule... I actually found it REALLY hard to get going again. I was all systems go when I left the house, but then being forced to sit on my butt for three hours just took the wind out of me, I felt more like taking a nap than hitting the road! Also turns out the mechanic misunderstood my instructions and had inflated the front to 42psi, and the rear to 46psi... didn't realise until an hour or so later, fixing that improved the ride imensely. Asside from that, he did a great job and everyone there was very hospitable, I'd highly recommend them: Super Moto, Mann St Armidale. He checked my brake & clutch fluid for me too, lucky as well, I has thought the clutch was full past the sight glass (I was told it had been bled, refreshed and topped up a couple weeks before), but turns out it was almost empty, and pretty filthy looking... I'll add that to the immediate list of things to look at when I get home.
I'd planned to stop in Tamworth for a quick snack and a pic in front of the Golden Guitar, I'm not ashamed to say I was quite unimpressed and just ket riding... I had imagined it was out somewhere on its own, with a very impressive guitar statue, not squeezed between chemists and takeaway shops in a strip mall! It was around then, though, that I realised I hadn't eaten since I made a couple eggs at 06:00, so the next shady spot I stopped for a big drink and a few snacks.
After that the ride was pretty uneventful, just getting used to NSW drivers who obviously don't use their cruise control (not judging, but my partner -Sorcha- didn't realise her Suburu had cruise and wondered how I managed to always keep the speed so consistent when I drive...), and older folks who sit on 90, then jump to nearly 120 when there's an overtaking lane... But I didn't care, I was on holidays and loving a new bike. I was very impressed by the friendliness of other riders up here, I guess it's far enough away from any major centre that I was only seeing other people on a trip, or at least people who know the importance of a community when you're far from home.
I'd had a few contingency spots planned where I could camp if I ended up having too much fun sightseeing and wanted to break it into two shorter trips, but every one I got to I just felt like keeping on, at least I had finally found my road-legs, after such a slow and unmotivated start, I can't believe just how much I couldn't get my head into it in the morning!
I've never driven through Sydney before (only once for work, but that was just between my hotel and the job, only about 5K's), so I stopped at Warnervale for a coffee, still deciding whether to camp at Wyong, debating what would serve me better, mentally, a night in a tent, or the sense of achievement of getting to to Sorcha's place that night... even though we'd had a blue on the phone that afternoon... I hung around half an hour or so, so I would miss the Friday evening peak hour, then decided to push on. I asked Siri to get me to Woolongong, figuring that'll get me through the city and to a point where I can turn her off again. Good plan, was working well, until somewhere just North of Parramatta Sorcha called to see how I was travelling, and of course, Siri is too polite to interrupt with navigation instructions while you're on the phone, but she still sends a quaint little 'beep' to say "hey, there's something important coming up" ...and of course, I'm too polite to say "sorry, can you get off the phone, I'm trying to talk to Siri!" It turned out to be a bit of a fun adventure, she got on her computer and looked up my SpotWala page to see where I was at, and managed to navigate me through Sydney that way, which kind of worked... SW's 5 minute refreshes meant I may have overshot a turn or two...
But I got there in the end, got to The 'Gong, turned navigation on, filled up and headed South for the final leg. Luckily I got stuck behind someone coming through Kiama, they've been doing roadworks through the bends and there was clay all over the road, slick from the afternoons rain, it was comforting to be able to follow someone in the dark.
Got in to Sorchas place at Kings Point around 22:15... that's got to be a record for the slowest ride ever, <800K's in FIFTEEN HOURS!!! That's crap, even if three of those hours were spent waiting at the mechanics...
Anyway, it was worth it, for the next week there was a whole lot of this interspersed with lots of rain, and helping people move house...
Pics are:
My new favourite plane
Me about to hit the road from Guyra back to Armidale
Emergency repairs!
How the rest of the week was spent...
