Topic: 20 Rides 100miles or more, in 2020..

[jakec]

I got 2 this weekend on the 550.

[70CB750]

I posted my last ride in dead threat.  This was on March 5th, 122 miles.

[70CB750]

I got 2 this weekend on the 550.

Well, I envy you, sir. 

Ever since I was a kid I liked that area - because of books by Betty Macdonald    In 1999 T-Mobil flew me to Seattle for an interview and since I had a rental car I did go to the Vashon island (she lived there for a while) just to check it out.   Beautiful out there.

[754]

The last 3 rides look like great fun. Write them down with brief description, keep track of your rides.

[jakec]

Well, I envy you, sir. 

Ever since I was a kid I liked that area - because of books by Betty Macdonald    In 1999 T-Mobil flew me to Seattle for an interview and since I had a rental car I did go to the Vashon island (she lived there for a while) just to check it out.   Beautiful out there.

Thanks, I really like living here, the riding is great. This ride was pretty fun although I had trouble "living in the moment" because it was pretty cold. Wuld have been fine for a shorter ride but going 60-75 on some of these highways was just too cold.

Vashon has GREAT riding especially because it's totally emty of cars (even without the stay at home stuff).

[Terry in Australia]

Well I'm "working from home" and the weather is great, so might hav e to "self isolate" for 100 miles or so. Putting new wheels and tyres on the old K2 Bitsa today, going to do a quick inspection to see if I can work out why the gearbox locked up last time? Hopefully it won't be an engine out job, it was running really well last ride before it sh1t itself.

[Terry in Australia]

So I decided to paint my Henry Abe wheels while waiting for new brakes front and rear. My son Tim wanted to go for a ride, so I invited myself along, and we had a great ride. I took the Sportster again, and so here's the "before" speedo reading.

March Mad Max madness 14 Mar 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

And when we were finished, here it is again:

Saturday ride day 28 Mar 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So another 144 miles, and a great ride, not many cars on the road, but lots of bikes (no old bikes, sadly) and when we got to Yea (pronounced "Yay") everything was closed due to the Wu Flu, but the gas station was open, so we bought coffee and sandwiches and ate them in the park.

It was a great ride, and our longest ride together, so Tim really enjoyed it too. What was interesting was that as both bikes have relatively small tanks, we filled up here in Melbourne, then again in Yea, and we used almost the same amount of fuel, Tim's Royal Enfield 650 took 5.17 litres, and my 1200 Sporty took 5.19, which I thought was really interesting. In the olde English language, we were averaging 63 miles per (imperial) gallon. Great day!

Saturday ride day 28 Mar 2020 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   

[dave500]

good stuff Terry,were i live its real close to the NSW border,we do most of our riding there,although there is great riding this side aswell in our area without going north towards Brisbane,and you can spend a day this side on twisties but no one seems to be out and about?i went for a follow up skin check this arvo had a biopsy last weekend but all clear,i felt like the omega man driving around,no one at the doctors,no one on the roads all a bit eerie,couldnt get a deep fried bat anywhere either?

[Terry in Australia]

good stuff Terry,were i live its real close to the NSW border,we do most of our riding there,although there is great riding this side aswell in our area without going north towards Brisbane,and you can spend a day this side on twisties but no one seems to be out and about?i went for a follow up skin check this arvo had a biopsy last weekend but all clear,i felt like the omega man driving around,no one at the doctors,no one on the roads all a bit eerie,couldnt get a deep fried bat anywhere either?

Yeah mate, all my favourite bat restaurants are currently closed, I could really got a big tub of bat buffalo wings right now! Good thing here is I have to ride further than my poor old back will allow before I hit any state borders, so hundreds of miles of nice quiet roads. I had to be the good father yesterday and ride legally, which felt kind of weird, I don't like riding slow!

[dave500]

you gotta cut the wings off whilst there still flapping and dunk em real quick in boiling panda bear oil,give em 30 seconds then let em cool for a coupla minutes,they end up like corn chips then nice n crunchy,season to taste!

[Terry in Australia]

Funnily enough, a few years ago the Melbourne city council got sick of all the bats sh1tting all over the picnic-ers in the Fitzroy gardens, so caught them and dumped thousands of them down in East Gippsland near my mum's place. She was spewing because they all raided her nectarine tree, so rang the council, who sent someone around to remove every piece of fruit off her tree and take it away, worrying that if she ate any that some bat had pooped on, she might get Corona virus.

At dusk every night, the sky is full of the flying fcukers..........

[dave500]

rats with wings!

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, maybe they thought if she ate a nectarine she'd go bat #$%* crazy?

[Terry in Australia]

OK, so yesterday was a beautiful day, apart from the possibility of catching the plague, or the China Syndrome, or whatever it's fcuking called, at least it was nice and sunny. I had an appointment with my back surgeon to see how I'm going after having CT guided cortisone injections into the facet joints in my spine on Friday the 13th of March. Yeah, I did think about postponing it, but apart from the doctor with the needle hitting the same nerve twice and me almost jumping off the CT Scanner table each time, the result was that my back feels real good.

Rather than drive the car over to the other side of the city, I jumped on the Sporty and headed over there. Thanks to the "Stay at Home" messages from the government, the traffic was much quieter, and even though I cut my time and space pretty tight, I got there with 5 minutes to spare. The surgeon was happy that I was happy, and as long as the cortisone lasts longer than a few weeks, he won't need to operate, which would be nice, as I've had enough operations over the last couple of years, and the last thing I want at the moment is to go anywhere near a hospital, with all of the flu patients filling every available bed. A friend of mine who is sadly having chemo for cancer has been readmitted to hospital today after collapsing in the shower this morning, with "flu like" symptoms, the poor bugger.

Anyway, I got out of there around 3.20 pm, and decided to go home the long way. Instead of heading North I did a big loop via Eltham, St Andrews, Kinglake, Whittlesea, Beveridge, then home.

Tuesday break out ride 31 Mar 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Tuesday break out ride 31 Mar 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Disastrously, between Kinglake and Whittlesea, my speedo cable went to God. The needle was jumping around a little bit, so I stopped and tightened the cable onto the back of the gauge, then about a kilometer up the road, it just stopped working. Bugger.

Tuesday break out ride 31 Mar 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So it was stuck at 966 Kms for the last 30-odd kms. (20 miles)

Tuesday break out ride 31 Mar 2020 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Tuesday break out ride 31 Mar 2020 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Tuesday break out ride 31 Mar 2020 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So while I actually did 184 Km (115 miles) my speedo reading shows I've only done 154 Km (96.25 miles) which sucks balls. I can't really complain, the bike has never let me down, and even though it's only done 6000 miles now, it is 26 years old, and has minimum maintenance. I was only thinking on the ride home how it hasn't had an oil and filter change in 5 years, so I might give it a birthday, a new speedo cable, new oil and filter, and maybe even a wash, it hasn't had one of them this year, either.

[PeWe]

Your doctor might find out Franks frame kit for easier head removal?
Maybe he use zippers on you already? 

CB750 petcock if you get prostate issues?
A friend of mine got his removed.

I wish you all health !
//Per

[Terry in Australia]

Your doctor might find out Franks frame kit for easier head removal?
Maybe he use zippers on you already? 

CB750 petcock if you get prostate issues?
A friend of mine got his removed.

I wish you all health !
//Per

Thanks Per, I had laser prostate surgery in 2018, so not quite like your friend, mine's still there, but has had a big bore kit installed.

[bear]

Sorry to your mate's crook Uncle Tez.
I hope it works out for him.

[Terry in Australia]

Sorry to your mate's crook Uncle Ted.
I hope it works out for him.

Thanks Brian, sadly its the worst possible news, he's been diagnosed with CV, and in his own words, he's fcuked. Poor bugger only retired last year, was diagnosed with cancer late last year, and was undergoing chemo, so probably has bugger-all immunity to anything, he could well have caught it in hospital, during one of his chemo sessions. I hate to say it, but I reckon there's a funeral coming up. 

[bear]

That sucks.
It's never over till it's over though, so I've found out.
From what you've mentioned in the past, he's a prickly bugger.
I hope he's up for the fight. I suspect he will be.

[RAFster122s]

Maybe your friend will be fortunate and he will have a mild case and will not develop pneumonia.
 If he can avoid that, then he is likely to survive it.
Once you develop the pneumonia it is a rapid spiral from there from what I have read as things quickly cascade and compound.
Hope your friend pulls through Terry.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, sadly it's not my mate with prostate cancer, it's another ex-workmate with lung cancer. I'd never seen him smoke in the 18 years I've known him, so I'm not sure if he was a smoker, he was a "Pet Op" (Petroleum Operator) in the Army before he got out and worked as a prison guard for awhile, before drifting into the Public Service.

I usually hang sh1t on public servants, but Mick was always a good guy to work with, one of those guys who would rather help you, than get in your way. I hope he pulls through, but he's not got a lot going for him in his current state of health. I'm not big on praying, but I might ask God, or Allah, or the Great Pumpkin, to give him a helping hand, God knows he needs it right now.

[754]

Back to the rides.
 I never cared if anyone shows their speedo, I would rather see scenery shots, bike shots, pretty girl's , funky landmarks than speedos..
 Kinda ironic that he who wanted everyone to show their Speedo pics, is the first person this year to break a Speedo cable !
 Don't let that stop anyone....

[seanbarney41]

Yeah!...i wanna see pics of that broken Speedo cable...lol

[754]

Hah..hah that made me laugh..

[Terry in Australia]

No worries Frank, will do when the new one arrives. You know you only break stuff when you're using it, yeah? I know it's probably still snowing at your joint, but I'm looking forward to seeing pics of your rides, once the weather is warm enough for you?