After drinking my Cappuccino I walked back to where my bike was parked outside side of Maccas putting on my Drizza Bone for the ride back down the coast to my home in Seven Hills. I jumped on my bike fired it up and of I went back out to the Hwy. I was good to be on the home ward leg and funny enough the ride was not dull and boring like you would think it would be as you only passed through here heading North no more than 40 minutes ago.
Before long I was riding in the dark once more and those little two legged canon balls were not to far from my mind. I remember reading the safety guidelines as I rode about staying well clear of trucks as I rode, well fat chance of that at night on the Pacific Hwy ! so I did the next best thing…I travelled behind the truck using their large retangular box shaped rear as my guide to which way the Hwy was winding ahead of me while keeping alert to my immediate surroundings and far enough behind to avoid any exploding tread off the truck, it was not to long before I was pulling off the Hwy at Taree, I had to cross over to the North side to fill my tank. Once I paid for my juice nature called so I took care of business…walking back to my bike a group of young drivers rolled in and didn’t like the fact I walked across their path to my bike and yelled some crap at me!
I watched them from the corner of my eye as I was to physically wasted to do any thing other than bluff them…it pays to be an ugly scary looking buggar at times…lol’s. I fired up my Harley and back out onto the Hwy once more…land marks the are abundantly clear in the day become hard to pick at night ? or was I starting to fatigue and the beginning of a eurthora setting in ? trucks, trucks and more trucks was all that was in front of me and behind me at times, oncoming trucks were so thick that I was riding with my thumb on my dimmer switch cause if you forgot to dim your lights as they approached you were simply blinded by their high beams. I could see the horizon lighting up with lightning off in the distance and knew it was only a matter of time before I was amongst it. Then I see this illuminated sign on the side of the Hwy saying “straying livestock in this area” I thought to my self great, not only do I have to watch out for two legged cannon balls hitting me now I have to also lookout for walking mooing brick walls.
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my bike after nearly 1800 miles...not to bad when you consider what I rode through.
This part of my trip didn’t take long before I was rolling over the wake up bumps on the approach to Heatherbrae, time to refuel, as I was refuelling keeping an eye on the tank so I do not over fill my bike I lent over to see how high my fuel was ? and then all of a sudden this circular fountain around 150 mms tore out of my tank ! I instinctively exhaled as I knew I could not move fast enough with my riding gear on and was covered in petrol…my face was stinging and I could taste the fresh juice in my mouth and the bike was drenched ! luckily I had water hocky strapped to my risers on my bike so I washed out my mouth and wet down my face, instant relief from the burning sensation on my face but the taste in my mouth I had to work on, gargle spit and spit again. Once I dealt with this situation I walked inside to pay…no how are you? totally ignored.
I smelt like a dirty old petrol bowser as I fired up my bike and headed back out onto the Hwy to get to the Freeway. Turning onto the freeway I had the disorientated feeling and it seemed like I was going the wrong way ! I rode along looking for tell tale signs that I was heading in the right direction. I was and needed to get home as fatigue was starting to rear its ugly head. Before long I watched my trip meter turn over 1600 k’s…woo hoo ! I did it ! now to ride the the last 100 k’s to my bed. Before long I found that lightning and rain and I thought to myself at least it will wash the smell of petrol off my coat and bike. I was using my finger as a wiper to clear the rain drops of my glasses so I could see and on the corners in the wet at times I was blinded by oncoming lights light from the cars and truck even though they were on low beam ! experience kept me on the road. I experienced three types of rain, small piercing rain that needled me between my glasses line and checks, heavy rain that just buckets down and the type of rain you can see coming straight at you…I felt like Forrest Gump riding through this rain..lol’s.
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By the time I pulled off the freeway near Hornsby I could feel that I was worse for wear as my riding was not quite up to standard. Im now sitting at the lights on Pennant Hills Rd to turn on to the M2, thinking come on…come on…as I was losing my ability to see properly cause my glasses were fogging up! Finally the light turned green, I had a massive truck beside me at the time. We both started to move as I knew the fog would clear not long after I started to roll…well it cleared alright giving me just enough time to avoid the verge on the corner I was heading straight for, the truckie seen this and backed of and gave my my space to avoided disaster not 10 ks from home. It became clear to me the next section was going to be the most dangerous part of my journey yet! I rode through the toll gates onto the M2 and it was lit up with day makers for the workers and cones that seemed to be every where but in a clear straight line! Once I worked out this maze I was riding up the sectioned off road following the cones markers and a wide load was coming towards me knocking over these 3’ to 4’ Cones into my lane ! just what needed, being low to the ground it was difficult to see properly and the day makers well that help the workers but blind the motorist some what. My turn off to Abbott Rd and my finish docket was only a couple of hundred meters from me but I caught the red light once more, and once more I fogged up ! Into the garage finally to refuel and get my fuel receipt and a witness to the finish of my 1600k (1765k goggle maps) journey. I explained to the attendant what I have just done and he agreed to be my witness and signed my witness form, he then says to me I hope you get your prize…and I said no…no…no prize, I have done it and it just needs to be certified by Iron Butt Association and again I explained that they might call him to verify he signed the form, so I pointed out my Harley and said its colour…black to try and imprint my visit to his store for fuel. I got back on my bike and rode a k or two to my home in Seven Hills where I got my Daughter to sign and witness my arrival home as I safe guard.
I do hope you all enjoyed following my journey to become a Iron Butt Rider as much as I did riding and having the experience on my Harley.
JayD
I.B.A #55000
In the wind forever…
