Went for a ride today. Wanna read all about it? Ride Report – Tried but failed … the FarRiders game of TAG With the prompting, daring and stirring of FarRider fellow forum dwellers, I pulled out a previously developed Melbourne to Perth and back ride plan, slightly revised it on the afternoon of Friday, July 18. In addition I quickly put together a packing check list of items I figured I would need. Then I started mulling over the insanity of doing a ride to Perth from Melbourne in the weather that is currently being experienced down south of the continent. I have a wish to incorporate Broken Hill into an SS1600 or SS2000 ride. So lately Ive been keeping a reasonably close eye on the weather in the south-east of the continent. With discretion taking a back seat to insane valour I made the decision on Saturday evening to have a go. Got my packing done and the bike ready – it basically has been ready for a ride for a while, just needed a quick chain tension last night. And all was ready to go by 9.30 pm. PM to JefferZZR, a check of Google Earth to find again the old Mount Helena pub. And I was ready for bed and thought I was ready to go. Pillow talk with the war office had me reminded and thinking about a few oddments. These then put together for cast-off at 3.30 am Sunday. Up, out the door, and off to the near-by 24 hour servo by 3.40 am to refuel and pick up dockets just in case the ride went well enough for me to get an SS1600 or SS2000 in by the WA/SA border. The ride felt really good near home, overcast sky – not too cold, quite pleasant with the riding gear I had on – one pair of Dragin skins jeans, one pair of Neo kevlar jeans and one pair of RJays wet weather pants to keep the wind (and water) at bay. Warm thermal singlet, ordinary singlet, shirt, polar fleece jacket and my Dri-Rider jacket (with well-ventilated netting body, suitable padding and inserts, blanket type liner as well as a (supposedly) wind and water-proof liner. Hmmm. Its been a great jacket, but wasnt up to the task today. Have to see what I can do about that. And yes, I could still move, but sometimes it seemed as only just move! Re-fuelling done I was up and off by 3:45 or thereabouts. But some of the roads near home were a bit damp. Ominous? Another issue to deal with surfaced soon after getting on the Maroondah Highway near home. Some of the taxi drivers were not observing the red lights on minor roads – check that and keep eyes peeled for red-light runners. On to the freeway – wheres the traffic? Emptiest Ive ever seen it. A few people returning from clubbing in the city; very few people heading toward the city. Real nice to have the freeway virtually to oneself. Over the Bolte Bridge and onto the Westgate Bridge. Great view of the city and suburb lights in the Melbourne basin this morning. Very picturesque. Off the bridge and on to the Gt Western Highway. Up the Pentland Hills and then, a bit before the Ballan service centres … Fog! thick and wet. Very see-able in the headlights, tiny, miniscule droplets of water drifting downwards with some impacting on me; and no moon, just dark darkness - not nice! Id almost bet that much of this fog was melted snow flakes reflecting the light from my LED lights and head lights. Visibility went down to three (or less) lane separation white lines! So much for investing in LED driving lights: totally useless in the fog! Head lights from on-coming and following traffic suddenly loom through the gloom. For the following traffic and more particularly for my safety, I used my hazard indicator lights intermittently to try and ensure my bike and I were noticed. And through the fog my rate of travel dropped from the 110 Kph speed limit to under 90, then under 80 and then under 70. Fog lines didnt help much at all. Usually theyre good for one to keep on keeping on, but not this morning. The fog: not good for any attempt on an SS2000. If it wasnt bad enough to have fog outside the visor, the painful stuff invaded the inside of my helmet. Constant wiping of the external visor surface moved some fog but then, the inside stuff … Hmm. Cat crap! Youre not doing your job! Neither did a slightly lifted visor, nor did the open helmet vents. And then there were those few sections where the rear of the bike suddenly felt like it was sliding off a ridge in the roadway. Black ice? Well thats what someone at the Horsham Maccas was telling me. Not a nice start to a two day ride. But worse than the wet fog, and then the rain was the really noticeable drop in temperature. Brrrrr … I was expecting a bit of rain but not that temperature drop out there. Neither was I dressed for it. And the cold just kept on keeping on. Eventually the fog lifted just after I fuelled up at Ararat; some 120 Km travelled at between 65 and 100 Kph – seemed like mostly at 65!. But the temperature stayed down and it was down for the day! Being the determined rider (as described by Biggles as a descriptor for FarRiders in general – I think) I continued on, now trying to factor in the effect of the cold on this rides prospects. Comfort stops suddenly took on a new meaning! Try and get a bit of warmth back into the body! A week or two ago I purchased a neck sock for cold rides. Tried it under my jacket but it was no go so I put it aside, disappointed with my purchase. Pulled it out again for this ride and wore it over the top of my jacket. Best investment, guys and girls! My neck, usually exposed and cold, was the warmest part of me all day! And it remained warm throughout the day. Feel sorry for the almost two year old grandie, though. On the return home after aborting the ride I walked into my sons house to say hello and the little bloke took real fright. His older brother did the same when I came in one day with my skid lid on! Poor little blokes. Theyre slowly being (h)educated. The ride plan was to refuel and refresh at Ararat, Bordertown, Gawler, Peterborough, Port Augusta and so on until Perth. The cold, though, necessitated a few comfort stops before Ararat, and eventually the aborting of this ride attempt. Before aborting, though, I managed to get to Nhill, some 400 or so kilometres from the start docket location. This once thriving little town seems very down and out at the moment, almost as if it is on its way to becoming another ghost town. Quite a few vacant shop fronts emphasised by the shut -down ( or should that be shut-up) Holden dealers workshop and show room. Very sad for the local people. From here I tried for an internet connection (G2 – sooo slow) to post to the FarRiders site. But that had to wait until Horsham where with G3 I managed to post that, unfortunately, I had aborted my ride! The return trip seemed just as cold as the out-going trip. I checked the temperatures at Ararat and found that (to me at least) unusually, Ballarat was warmer (ever so slightly) than Ararat. Ballarat is renowned for its colder temperatures. Returning home allowed a slightly more leisurely ride with more frequent comfort stops to warm up and indulge – hot chocolate at Horsham, hot chips and coffee at Ararat, photographic reconnoitre in Ballarat and around the Westgate Bridge. The pics just might come in handy for this game of tag. So what did I learn from this experience? • It just might pay to keep several ride plans prepared and handy for a last minute insane indulgence. • But then again, it just might not too! • Keeping a standard packing list on file can greatly assist when indulging a last minute insane indulgence. • Keep your bike ready for every opportunity. • But then again, if its not ready, the not ready bike may provide a safety net, and out. • For me specifically, if the temperature is below 10C dont attempt long distance rides with this DriRider jacket. It may be fine for day rides in similar, though not quite as cold weather, but, the cold seems to build on one much like an arithmetic progression. Easy enough to handle initially, but, though the temperature may not change much, the degree of cold one seems to experience increases in proportion (somehow) to the length of exposure to it. Not nice! • One must know when to abort one of these insane challenges that we each seem to desire so that we ensure we live by Rule #1 – get home alive. By the time I arrived at Nhill I was shivering, fortunately, not constantly, yawning though not tired (body must have been suffering from oxygen deprivation) and nodding. None of which is good for longevity! • In low visibility conditions such as thick fog, keep your eyes peeled for traffic in front of and behind you, and the fog line. When noticing vehicles behind, dont hesitate to use your hazard warning lights to draw attention to the fact that you are on the road and in front of the following vehicle/s. • When the bike slides around on an other-wise reasonable road surface when the ambient temperature is below 5C, chances are youre riding over black ice. Be aware, be alert and be careful. Tried but failed? Dont think so! True, I tried. True, I didnt achieve my desired objective. But there will be another day for doing that, Failed? Definitely Not! I learned too much to call this ride a fail. And in conclusion, you westies, aka sandgropers, one day! One day! That tag will come east again. Just loved the way you guys played the game. It gave great amusement to both the war office and myself, and undoubtedly to you guys. Im so glad I am a little bit familiar with the suburbs (mostly the older suburbs) of Perth! I would have loved to get to the old pub there in Mount Helena. Whenever we are in Perth we usually do a pilgrimage to the old haunts and houses around Glen Forrest and Mundaring. Thanks for being the good sports youve been. Threat! Just wait til the weather warms up a bit. I have an ambition to ride the road Norseman to Hyden. Ill be back (I hope). Ambient temperatures encountered. For those interested, the temperatures for the towns and places through which I passed at around the time I rode through them follow (official BOM figures for all but home): • Home at around 4.00 am = ~9C • Ballarat at around 6.00 am =5.3C • Ararat at around 6.00 am = 7.8C, at 9.00 am =7.5C • Horsham at around 8.30 am = 3.5C, at around 9.00 am = 4.4C • Nhill at around 9.00 am = 2.5C, at 9.30 am = 3.9C
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 12:22:32 +0000
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