Too Long

Well it's been way too long since I took the time to write on here and I've been on so many rides, I can hardly remember them all.

I remember coming back from the Ruptured Budgie Rally between Tenterfield and Texas back in mid-May and saying that I would have to write a blog on how much fun it was. Its one rally that is on my 'must do' list if only for the ride out there and back. Actually the rally is a fun night too. I met lots of very interesting people and listened to and told lots of stories around the bonfires at night.

It was pretty cold riding, but we all had the right gear on. There were more complaints about the rough road in one section than there was about the cold weather. But apart from that section it was certainly a great ride. There were 6 bikes, a nice little group of friends, and we went out through Boonah, Rathdowney, Woodenbong and Tenterfield. On the way back we went through Stanthorpe and Warwick till we got our heads straightened out from the night before, then cut through Allora to Ma Ma Creek before stopping in at the Glamorganvale for a few drinks on the last leg.

Of course we were blaming the sore heads on the need to drink lots of port because of the cold weather. The night before we got there it was -2 degrees and the washing up water was frozen in the bowl. Just as well we took that good bottle of port. I was as snug as a bug when I did finally crawl into bed and I know that I didn't surface the next morning until the frost had melted.

I just love those overnighters. I've done a few others lately too. June long weekend I went to the Rally Man Rally at Grevillia (before Kyogle). I was really keen to go for a ride by myself, but I had a little bit of trouble doing that as there were so many bikes on the road. I was forced to overtake 6 shiny red and yellow jap bikes just out of Dugandan (near Boonah) in an effort to ride alone, but alas they wanted to play, so I was forced to make sure they stayed in the chase position. I let them pass when we got to a T intersection after the windy bits and gave them a bit of space so I could resume my ride alone. As much as I like riding with other bikes, sometimes I just like to get out there by myself for a while.

Now that Rally Man Rally is a hoot. There were about 5 different bands playing from early afternoon when I got there till around 2:30 in the morning. Funnily enough some of the early bands were better than the last one, or maybe I was just a little befuzzled by then. But it's definitely a great time. Only thing bad about it was that it finished too soon. Sunday morning everyone packed up and left, when I had expected the music to start up again. I had planned to go for a nice ride, have lunch somewhere, pick up lots more alcohol and set myself up for another night of bopping in front of the band with a drink. But not to worry plan B was just as good.

I ended up back at one of the SMP rider's houses playing pool, drinking and being much much warmer than I would have been out in that paddock. And I blitz them at pool...gotta love that. Oh SMP, in case you were wondering is an acronym that they like to refer to as Suck More Piss. I believe it actually stands for some peninsula in South Australia where they formed their club, but their shirts have "a drinking club with a motorcycle problem" printed on the back and that says it all. Needless to say they were a great bunch to party with and it's just as well I played pool well that night because I certainly wasn't riding well that afternoon...I was feeling just a little ordinary, but that didn't last too long once we got started again.

So I hope you are not letting the weather hold you back...cold in Aus, damned hot where my friends are in Arizona. Keep it upright and have fun :)