Distance Travelled Today 2km (to brekky and back)
Having a rest day in Albany. Alan had a commitment at NatCom (the supreme body of the Ulysses Club) at lunch time. It was pretty hot today up to 37 degrees C this afternoon, so lethargy was the order of the day.
After we came back from brekky in town - served by two nice sorts, Alan went to do some washing and Colin booked a couple of dealer demo rides later in the day. Colin was aiming to get a ride on a Triumph Rocket III roadster a humungous 2.3 litre 3 cylinder cruiser. He had a ride on one 3 years ago in Coffs Harbour and was impressed with its acceleration. Since then the power and torque have increased by 15% due to changes in the silencers. He also picked up a ride on a Harley XR1200X sportster, a new model.
The Harley was first and it was quite a good bike, light, handled well and had plenty of poke, but it vibrated and had a very loud intake roar when the throttle opened - living up to Harley's reputation of not having a throttle but a volume control. The Triumph was a bit of a disappointment, possibly because Colin already knew what to expect from the engine so he was more aware of what a big boat the bike was to ride. It would be handy blasting past Road Trains and would probably knock them sideways with its air bow wave!
Colin met a lady( about 60'ish) near our tent who's Harley had shed 4th gear and was being repaired in Albany. She had been round Australia several times and used to race a Honda VFR400R given to her by her daughter. She had also ridden around the USA: made our trip seem pedestrian.
Colin decided he needed to get a big "Old Man" patch for the back of his jerkin before it was banned, so he bought one from the merchandise tent and had it sewn on at the same time. While looking through the trade stalls he came across a travel company that offered motorcycle trips from London to Magadan in the tyre tracks of Ewan and Charlie. One of the owners of the company did the trip years before E&C and wrote a book about it called "The Worse Decision I ever Made"! I got a brochure for Alan - a mere $25,000 with your own bike - that's enough to buy a new BMW.
Alan assembled in a tin shed for a stifling Nat Comm meeting. They heard presentations on all sorts of ideas including the radical one of getting rid of our Old Man logo - not a popular idea. The meeting went on for hours and the participants were cooked and desperately looking for a drink by the time it was finished. Colin had found the only airconditioned building on site - the local footy club rooms and the bar was open. He had already downed two stubbies when Alan came in and drank two more.
This was too much for both of us and we went back to the tents to find a bit of shade an take a Nana Nap. We both slept for an hour. This will probably be a feature of the rest of our trip as we will get tired and need naps to recharge our batteries. It was good to see 37 degrees and a noisy campsite didn't stop us from ZZZing off. I think there were many others doing the same.
Colin decided that the dynamic duo have to get some dirt road riding experience so we are going up to the Stirling Ranges tomorrow for a 50 km ride on the dirt. One of Alan's friends tried the same road in a hire car and gave up after 2kms due to corrugations and slippery surface. So it sounds like a good test of man and machine. We also need some more action on this Blog!
We will be posting photos of us either on our arses or triumphant in tomorrows Blog.
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