Monday, 21 June 2010 08:31
It's been a pleasant week, that's for sure.
After the usual time at my desk early in the week I jumped in the van on Friday morning and headed up to meet Geoff Udy at his dealership in Gatton, Queensland. Geoff's a nice bloke with a raging passion for bike adventure and it was a really pleasant day. He has some interesting thoughts on setting up the Tenere - which was why I was there - and we didn't totally agree on everything, which made the trip even more worthwhile. Geoff's experience makes his opinions especially valuable, and it's good to have someone with his background forcing me to think hard about the opinions I'm offering in the mag.
We both agree on the unhelpfulness of the 6.75kg catalytic converter/muffler box up under the Tenere's seat, but. No arguments there. Geoff's pointing it out here, and because all the kiddies might be reading this, we won't quote him.
Friday night I bolted home and spent Saturday prepping for a dualsport ride set around Barraba, in the western New England area of NSW.
This one is interesting because Marty Hardcore had the idea. He has lots of ideas, and they're not always warmly received, but this one is a cracker. You can pick up the specifics in issue #35, but it meant we had to spend a day riding a sensational 200km dualsport loop around the Barraba area. I have to say, I was absolutely overjoyed with the ride. Marty discovered some of it returning from the Great Kanagroo Headbutting of last March, and tuned it up with Google Maps. The result was a lazy day of carefree riding on unsealed roads through farms and fabulous scenery, with easy coffee and lunch stops and zero stress. The weather was perfect, the bikes faultless, and Marty even had a close call with a Triceratops-sized kangaroo (which I think was just to make me feel better). It was fabulous. It's the most carefree fun I've had on a bike for a long time, and I was rapt to not fall, freeze or fracture anything.
The icing on the cake was Marty being smart enough to suggest we towed the bikes up and back, and it really put the finishing touch on a superb day. The heater in the HiAce was pumping out the thermals as we rolled through the predawn pointing out the thick, heavy, frost coating the paddocks and roadside, giggling to ourselves and enjoying the occasional coffee. The trip home was the same, except we didn't see any frost.
Here's a sneak preview of the day...
Lunch at Barraba was an ambush. Marty ordered what I thought was a complex arrangement of carefully seasoned chips and burger, so I just said, "I'll have that too." Have a look at the size of those burgers! And the chips were served in a front-end loader!
If you look in the background of this pic below, you can see where we're headed. There's a dirt road snaking its way around the hills. Fabulous!
We stopped for a look at the Crow Mine. It was interesting, but those guys have what looks like some fabulous riding and it's all fenced off. Dammit! And I bet all those "ASBESTOS!" signs are just scare tactics. We stayed out, but, just in case.
So this morning I'm a bit knackered but pretty happy with things.
I haven't really thought too much about what's on this week, and I don't feel like thinking about it now, so youse'll just have to wait and see it next week.
TF
PS: Mmm...Eva...
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