A gorgeous Sunday, took a ride
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sweet green roads thru idyllic countryside; cars a refreshing rarity
I've learned to understand and agree with Tim's description of Tassie as the "road kill capital of Australia"; there was not a single kilometer of my ride -- especially on these sweet back roads -- where i was spared riding thru a cloud of rotting roadkill. Absolutely reminded me of the eggplants I cleaned out of the greenhouse last week. Will i ever be able to see one again without thinking of dead wallaby?
to Evandale, a small historic village where there were to be races of twopenny farthings, the old bikes with the scarily high front wheels......... that turned out to be yesterday, but it was a sweet place to ride to and lounge in.
had a fine laksa in the beer garden of the local while listening to some local musicians......
unique juxtapositions that could only be found in the colonies
John, a sweet old man who was intrigued by the BMW because he used to race bikes,
to an intriguing character I met at the Muse Cafe (owned and run by Gunther a German immigrant*), who had been working behind the lines with the CIA when he was with the Aussie Army in Vietnam; he called it "the worse mistake i ever made." some horror stories there...................and is now engaged to a university professor in China and preparing to move there to live:
and now for motorcycle info:
* while waiting for a fine cappucino at Cafe Muse, i spent some time speaking with the owner and barista.. when he told me he was German, i mentioned that i was riding a fine German motorrad parked right outside. He said, "a BMW?" and my (usual) reply was "are there any other motorcycles?"
when i jokingly added,
"ive heard of one called Ha....Ha... Har..... Har.........Harl........"
as if i couldn't quite remember the name, he said,
"hey -- we're not talking plumbing parts here!"
I'm going to work that in...
once again, I refer to Tim, my local guide to all things Tassie, who had told me how here -- as compared to everywhere else in the motorcycling world -- very few motorcyclists acknowledge each other as they pass on the road.......and he was right. Of the 12-15 motorcycles i encountered on the 200 + km ride, only two acknowledged my motorcyclists' wave.
Very strange; I'm completely used to most Harley riders ignoring my greeting on the road -- which i've always thought sad and childish -- so I wasn't too surprised when the local hardass wanna-be's in their grimy leather, black t's , vests and gloveless hands ignored me. On these narrow two lane roads, designed for another, smaller-car time, it's even stranger to be ignored by non Harley riders since we zoom past each other only about five to six feet apart.
However, i WAS surprised at the reactions of many non-Harley riders; some seemed surprised, others seemed even more surprised when i waved with my right hand (Throttlemeisters very expensive and not common here). and others just roared by and completely ignored me. Could it have been the RT? Are they seen as yuppie motorcycles here? more on that later.
and speaking of Harleys; helmet use is compulsory here, and i asked the fierce looking guy in black, behind John in the photo above, how he felt about that. His response:
"I hate 'em! But it sure was a good thing when i came off my bike.."
hmmmmm.
he's not a one trial learner, but he was wearing a beautiful pair of black leather racing pants, and a handsome well-made black vest (can i stop using the word black when referring to Harley riders' gear?) and a helmet. I'll let you guess the color.
If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time - Edith Wharton
