I was there mate, will throw up a ride report when I get a chance

I am considering doing the Far Riders West ride later in the year.

I love a good challenge, whether it be getting a black belt, going vegetarian (after 4 years I figured I’d proved I could do it and ordered a steak), drinking a hundred pints of Guinness in a month, or riding halfway across the country and back.
The FarRiders "Ride to Eat" is a minimum 1000kms in 24hrs with the only other requirement being that you check in during a half an hour window, in this case, between 12 and 12:30 at Nambucca Heads, up at the top corner of NSW

So a Saddle Sore1600 was planned (for those who don't know, a Saddle Sore 1600 is an Iron Butt Association certifiable ride of 1600kms (1000 miles) in 24 hrs) . Ballarat to Nambucca was a bit over 1400kms, so I incorporated a trip to Geelong to make up the extra kms.

I left Ballarat at about 13:00 on Friday the 13th… an ominous time indeed. The ride to Geelong went smoothly, if a little smokily with the pall of black Saturday still hanging over the state. In G town I picked up a ride partner for the next part of the trip, my friend Zac had just taken ownership of a Honda Hornet 250 and was hanging to go for a ride with me. He did really well for his first time on the road, but I wouldn’t expect him on a Farride any time soon, after a hundred kms or so he’d had enough for the day and stayed the night with family He’ll get there.

The rest of Victoria seemed to fly by in a smokey haze. Those of you who have been up the Hume in the last couple of weeks will remember kilometer after kilometer of burnt out roadside and countryside. Bush land, pine plantations, and paddocks blackened and devastated. But for me there were two key moments, First was the remnants of a house, just a chimney and a mess of charred and twisted corrugated iron, a sobering sight. Second was as I passed out of the haze and looked into my mirror to see the sun glowing red through a wall of smoke like some sort of grim portent of Shakespearian proportions.

It was about 3am Saturday when I passed Goulburn feeling pretty comfortable with my plan to push through the night, when my high/lowbeam switch failed and I lost all forward lighting at 110kph. This was going to cause havoc with my timing window, but there was nothing for it but to kick out the swag and get a couple of hours kip until the sun came up.

Sunrise saw me back on the King, feet on the highway pegs and a (determined) grin on my face. That was of course until I came across my first spray of rain. Having simply woken up and jumped on the bike, I was still decked out in the Draggin Jeans and leathers from the hot dry Victorian conditions. By the time I stopped for petrol north of Sydney, there was not a dry patch to be found on my body, so I commandeered a servo bathroom to get thawed out and changed into my wets.
“Probably how you should have been dressed in the first place eh?” was the call from the incredibly observant checkout chick. A hearty chuckle (and a coffee) warmed my spirits and I was back on the road.

Somewhere between Gosford and Newcastle I hit my next major time guzzler. The ever present driving rain had found its way into a spark lead and I lost a cylinder. I putted my way to the next servo (luckily not too far away) and let the engine dry everything out before pushing on. About 60 kms later I was on one cylinder again and under an overpass trying to McGuyver a watertight seal with some plastic and a roll of my knee strapping tape. This got me another 100kms or so until I was putting my way to the next little town where I was able to get some electrical tape to (after a few failed attempts) hold everything dry and in place for the remainder of the trip.

All in all this probably ate up 2 hrs or more, so by this stage I was still a couple of hours away from Nambucca Heads, wet, distracted, grumpy and already too late to make checkin. I toyed with the idea of turning around, or finding a dry room and a place at a bar somewhere. But then I decided…

Some people get wet, Other people go for a ride in the rain.

The difference is that the former happens to you, the latter is a decision you make for yourself. Here was my challenge, it was no longer to get there in 24hrs, that wasn’t possible, so it wasn’t worth worrying about. The challenge was to get there.

I smiled, and kept on smiling.

I rolled up to the V-Wall Tavern at Nambucca Heads at about 4pm,3 and a half hours late, soaked through, weary and victorious.
“Sorry I’m late, Did I miss anything important?”

The rest of the evening was great fun, Davo and the Farriders were friendly and welcoming, and quickly found me a dry spot to kick out the swag and have a shower (Thanks Charlie). The steak was great, the Guinness was better.
If you were there you know, if not, you can imagine, the rest of the night was spent talking shi..*cough*... in serious conversation, making new friends and (for some) catching up with old ones.

The next morning I caught up with a new farrider, Norm, who was headed to Canberra (as I was) and with a Harley Joke for every situation
So you can imagine his amusement when, about a kilometer after leaving the Tavern, my throttle started sliding off the handlebar. A screw had come loose in the switch housing holding everything together. My handy electrical tape saved the day again.
We filled up in town and set out into the driving rain (STILL raining, seriously guys, send some down south!) through endless roadworks and some minor flooding on the Pacific Hwy.

At some point I felt something fall against my leg. Norm, riding ahead, didn’t notice me pull over straight away, and by the time he could turn around to come back for me I was back on the bike again. At the next stop I filled him in.

“You’re gunna laugh.” I told him. “Why’s that?”
“My horn fell off”

Yes Norm, It is a Harley after all.
But it still got me to Canberra before the sun went down (no lights, remember)… just. Hahaha

Canberra to Ballarat was dry, smokey and uneventful, except for the unfortunate starling who hit my size 12 in a puff of feathers at about Ballan.

3days, 3states 3000kays.

Ok, so it was 3.2 days, 2 states and a territory and 3219kms, but I reckon the first one sounds better

great Ride Bear. was that when you ahd your first steak in 4 years too ?

lol nah mate, that was couple of years back now

great post...enjoyed that ta.........

Yeah probably all of the above, but it will be repeated. just gotta get me a new rear tyre, and a new headlight switch.


and maybe one of those AirHawk seats.

thanks for the post Bear.... enjoyed

Anytime, especially if you pay for the petrol.

thats alot of kms in 24 hours would be a blast