I've decided I'm going to start updating the blog with rides I've been on. There's people here that do much more interesting rides and write about it much more eloquently than me, but it'll help for me to remember certain roads around Victoria. I've found that in the past couple of years I've lived here and been riding motorbikes I've mainly followed friends when heading out. This means I have a terrible knowledge of the roads around the state, although I've plodded through many of them, usually following Matt.
On Saturday I actually had to google how to get out of the Melbourne CBD.
On Sunday I headed out to Broadford to watch the Motocross. In a carefully considered plan to fit in I'd bought large skater shoes and bleached my hair. However, all this was in vain as the whole event wass called off due to the death of Andrew McFarlane. The former world #2 overcooked a jump in the practice round and landed head first, with 100 kilo's of Austrian alloy and plastic following him into the deck.
With that, and the
death of Judd Greedy last year, one has to think about how dangerous motorcycling racing still is. Even though we've come a long way from the crepe-paper racing suits and brass helmets it's still a dangerous past time.
Anyway, after taking a moment to soak up the depressing atmosphere at the track I headed out to Strath creek and went a longish way back.
As I was in a rush to get out there, I headed straight up the Hume Highway. Yes, I googled the best way to reach the Hume from Richmond.
As seems to happen after a long break in riding my tight cornering was terrible. I would approach a well surfaced corner that had good visibility and knock back too many gears, slow down too much and be cautious on the gas on the way out. Must find a stretch of these roads and spend a day just going up and down to get the skills and confidence back. After that it was open 100kmph sweepers for a while with virtually no traffic and Victoria's finest already busy booking people.
Anyway, onto the bike! The rear suspension is feeling quite good under different road surfaces. The front was shit as always, but it's only a few days 'till the Ohlins arrive and that can be fixed.
If you're looking for a proper blog with information about riding and the day tours around Victoria (sometimes on an SR!) it's worthwhile checking out my mate's blog
Contemplative Motorcycling. It's an excellent read.
New springs should be delivered by this weekend. I'll find a way to chock up the bike and put them in on the weekend, and I'll be able to take it out next monday. Wahoo!
