Australian Wing Riders Association (Qld) Inc

A club for riders of Honda GoldWing and Valkyrie motorcycles

Supper Ride 23 May 2009

Well at the meeting on 4 May some comment was made that the supper ride departing from BP Blacksoil was in desperate need of a ride leader and a destination, so I thinks a supper ride how hard can that be ok I'll be the bunny and up goes the hand. That was the easy part the minute the hand went up the questions start. Where are we going? Where are we leaving from? What time? Well with 30 seconds to plan a ride what could I do? We'll leave from the same place at the same time but by hell its my ride now and we are going to finish somewhere near my place so supper will be fish and chips at the Pelicans nest on the Wynnum foreshore. Easy eh all organised. I'm buggered if I know whats so hard about this ride stuff. Ideal, autumn in Queensland a nice twilight ride from BP Blacksoil out through the catchment area for the 3 driest dams in SE Qld up over the beautiful Mt Glorious for coffee and down through the city to Wynnum easy. (Famous Last Bl--dy words).

Well on the Wednesday before the ride SE Qld got that much rain that in 12 hrs the total capacity the 3 previously mentioned dry dams went from 57% to 69% with the forecast that with runoff they would be well over 70% by the weekend. Great. Saturday morning dawns I look outside and what do we see clear skies and a typical Autumn day. Beautiful. Well midday comes and the phone starts. Are we still going? Of Course. But it raining up/down here? Well it not here. We might meet you at supper where is it? Honestly by the sixth phone call I pick up the phone and without even waiting to find out who it is Of course we are bloody going its a Golding Club not the flaming HOG Club only to find stunned silence on the end of the line. Its a Ulyssian mate of mine ringing up to ask advice about buying a wing. Oh well he may be a member by next ride.

So 2 pm off we go to BP Blacksoil to find out that the few hardy souls who had rung were the only ones to turn up (it must be the ones that didn't ring who are the budding Harley Riders) so at 3.30 pm with 4 wings (Geoff & Julie, Eric & Deb, Peter, Bill & Mary along with their son Robert on a honda 250)

Peters Beast  Big Red Before along side Erics 1800 The Hardy Souls

   

 

 

I give the ride briefing just as the threatening grey clouds open up and dump about a million gallons of water on us. Well nothing for it off we go and 10 mins up the road the sky's clear and apart from a light mist we have a lovely, even if slow ride out through Fernvale and up to Mt Glorious. It is amazing how much debris Wednesdays storm has left all over the roads. We arrive at the coffee shop at the top only to find as I had suspected because of the conditions they have shut the doors early and gone home. Oh well the compulsory U Turn and being such a deeply religious person I lead the hardy souls a klm back down the road to God's Little Acre and the attached coffee shop for a well deserved break.

    
The Bikes at the Top Ahh coffee hits the spot What is she thinking
   
     

  After about half an hour of taste testing honey Yummmm and discussing who's wet weather gear actually works it is back on the bikes for the run down the hill to supper. Well about 1 klm from the Gap, the call that I was dreading came through Robert is down. A quick U turn and back to find that after riding through some extremely trying conditions for over an hour and a half young Rob has been brought unstuck by a pile of loose gravel across a straight flat section of road. It really could have been any one of us. A quick clean up of the parts that are missing bark on Rob and a quick run up and down the road to make sure the bike is rideable and Rob declares he is fit and comfortable to continue on. Well done Rob and remember any one that you walk away from is a good one. Bikes can be fixed much easier than people.

Big Red After

An easy run down through the city to Wynnum to find Kay, Gecko and Vicky waiting for us.

The Not so hardy Souls

Hang on if it was an easy run then how come Eric and Peter ended up in front of the ride leader hmmmmm. A great feed of fish, chips and burgers follow as well as the usual shooting the breeze and BS that follows most rides. Draw the raffle with Gecko and Debbie taking the prizes and off home for a nice Scotch and to write this report. Thank you to all who braved the weather and came out to enjoy an evening with friends.

The Bikes at the Nest  Order Up  Tuckers Up 
   

 

Cheers Geoff and Julie.