NIGE Motorcycle Club

It doesn’t take much to amuse grown men does it? The ride to Maccas at 7 in the morning was fun in itself let alone the anticipation of the adventures to follow. The weather was perfect and all four Niges: Nige, Sideways, Mohawk, and Lucky headed south without a care in the world. That is till we hit Wisemans Ferry Road. Fog so thick there were fish swimming in it. Mohawk nearly hit a submarine. Anyway we eventually found our way back to dry land and steered west along Bells Line and out to Bathurst. Lucky took point for a while and wasn’t aware that average speed cameras check average speeds (He doesn’t teach maths you see) so might have been a little over the limit.

Some manly roughhousing before the ride

Cut it out you two. Remember you’re out.

From here we turned south and wound our way along country roads with most of us enjoying this quiet time by listening to their favorite tunes. At this point Mohawk decided to set a pretty cracking pace out front whilst Sideways was a little unhappy that his new earmould speakers were only working in one ear. As our speeds increased to that point where we started going backwards in time his other speaker suddenly made no sound either. The good news is there was nothing wrong with that speaker and all that had happened was that his brand new wife-bought-birthday-present-Ipod had been sucked out of his pocket and must have shattered on impact with the road. Mind you when he discovered it missing he rode back some 25K in the hope it may have somehow landed gently in a tuft of dandelions or something. It didn’t. We had a choice here to go with him or eat lunch. I had a Chico Roll, Nige had wedges and Mohawk had a nice salad wrap. Someday we will all have a good laugh at Sideway’s misfortune but right now is just too soon. After that he lost his three legged stool off the back. So now he can’t listen to music or sit down. At least his phone was still working so he could call his wife and tell her the bad news. Later on his phone got drenched in the rain and it broke too..Oh mercy how we laughed. Stop it that isn’t funny. Yes it is.

I would have gone but this wrap is just delicious.

Anyway we stayed overnight at a pub in Collingullie and had some beers. Then we slept and got up again. Got to give it to Mohawk and Nige here because they really did find some great roads and set a good pace. Victorian roads were fun but they have cops and cameras everywhere so we stayed close to the limits most of the time.

Silverwater Resort was close to the island and the weather was so warm we rode in T shirts and shorts even after 9 at night. Race days were hot but not enough to stop Lucky and Nige touring the pits on our special pit passes. We were told we would see the crews at work; we were told the riders would be signing autographs; we were told it would be an unforgettable experience. What we got was the occasional bike with its seat off and a few apprentices staring as blankly at us as we were at them. Nige did make comment of this to some aged crew member of some no-name team who smiled and replied “si bueno si bueno” or something like that. Lucky got a nice blister on his heel as a memento of this exciting part of the adventure.

Look at heem. Ze seat she is off.

Speaking of those pit passes. They were part of a pair of freebies that included entrance tickets that Nige had finagled from Image. He clutched them to his bosom like a Superbiked Smeagol. “My lanyards, my precious lanyards”. As it turned out Sideways and Mohawk showed no interest at all and Lucky was mortified by the demands set by Nige to earn the precious….still..they were free and Catholics can always go to confession.

Do you think Nige will know we wore his lanyards without permission.

Sullied reputations aside the racing was okay for what it was and we watched it.

Sunday night the storms moved in. By Monday morning it was raining heavily as we made our way northwards. Water came in at all angles including upwards and we were soaked through. Trying to get ahead of the weather felt hopeless as mud and water washed across the roads in front of us and heavy rain turned torrential. It stayed with us till we crossed the border and remained overcast till we arrived at Temora for the night. Here we met one of the colourful locals, Pete. Imagine the skinniest man you have ever met; take another 10 kilos off him and put a beer in his aged arthritic claw and you have Pete. A friendly character all the same who steadily drank and laughed along with us and confiscated Mohawks XXXX stubby holder for his own collection. Might have attached it to a lanyard, who knows.

Tuesday morning and it was raining again. Just kept riding north towards Bathurst and then along some really nice backroads to Tarana where we had lunch. It had stopped raining. There were more pensioners here than at a Russell Morris concert which was okay as long as they didn’t slow down the making of our meals and departure with their pureed devon and broccoli in a bowl (or whatever it is the elderly eat). Fortunately for them they didn’t. From here it was pretty plain sailing.

The pensioners are napping out back

All in all it was good. Nobody fell off (sorry, knocking on wood here) or got cranky or wearied of our company.

Now that’s just rude.

A Few Extra Photos

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Some time ago noises were made by some Niges about riding down to the WSB on 24th ~ 26th February.
Anyone still interested?

UPDATE: Sideways, Lucky, Mohawk and Nige all signed up …. any more interested parties?

Leaving Thursday afternoon (23rd Feb) and returning on Tuesday (28th) and staying at the Silverwater Resort outside San Remo.

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The big trip to Tassie has made it to Lakes Entrance in the rain (what else).

Tomorrow heading to Melbourne and to get the GSA serviced before heading to the ferry.

VERY happy with the Beemer and it’s 600k + range from the 33litre tank.

Rolling through the hills like an ocean liner, it is a big unit.

Posting this on my new iPad so not able to post photos yet but we made it across on the ferry.

Thousand foot high waves did nothing to dampen the trip over ….. Much.

Wandered around Devonport for a while before heading across to Burnie and a ramble around that section of the west coast.

Off to Cradle Mountain and Queenstown tomorrow.

In Hobart where the sun is trying to shine, went to Salamanca Markets, up the hill to Mt Wellington and out for a gawk at Richmond.

A garage full of bikes

On the waterfront at Strahan waiting for a boat ride up the Gordon River.

The smudgy view through the window of the Hobart harbour from our motel window.

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With little fanfare Nige entered a new phase of his life today. A kinder, gentler man I’d like to suggest. Not that we haven’t loved and admired the former scallywag with the daring-do attitude and the mischievous twinkle in his eye but now it is a more mature, more centred and soulful man who will ride majestically astride Germany’s greatest technological masterpiece waving graciously to bystanders who can but dream of the pinnacle this man has climbed. If the Nazis had these in the big one the march through France would have been over before the Vichey government knew what hit them. But I digress.
A quiet celebration with many active members of the Nige club was held in Lucky’s garage…in between the lawnmower and Mrs Lucky’s car. It was unforgettable. We drank a beer. Then Nige went home. So did Dave. I stayed here because I live here. The end.

A particularly big turnout with smiles all round

A kinder, gentler man

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Catchy title that. Think I’m on to something there. Anyway since Lucky’s Busa is still in being repaired he took the Halfabusa up to Andy Pandy’s farm in Gloucester for a ride up through the ranges. By the way Andy Pandy is a genius at making things designed for one thing work perfectly well for another. His new underslung stainless steel toolbox was once a very nice toilet brush holder. Without permission from Mrs Pandy (He is a man amongst men) Andy snaffled it and, after applying some pretty fancy workshop skills, he produced a good sized kit that can hold many tools including one I’m pretty sure is designed to adjust the flux capacitor on a Delorian. Look!

Shiny!!!

After arriving at the farm Lucky and Andy Pandy enjoyed a number of beers and watched Mrs Pandy mowing the paddocks and edging the fences right down to the river. Again, he is a man amongst men. Guilt ridden, he did take over eventually but I remained mesmerised by the gentle murmur of the mighty Gloucester River as it meandered its way across the stones and had myself another drink. The rest of the family arrived later so no ride that day whilst we set up tents and had a few quieties around the fire.

Yes. This is a good spot to put a river.

So next morning we headed out. Now I am not real sure where we ended up but Gloucester Tops sounds vaguely familiar. We crossed many fords on the way and climbed some 1300 metres through palm forests and apparently some Antarctic Beech trees which are quite rare. As they were some 150 metres or so off the road along a walking track it seemed pointless to waste that much energy stopping and getting off. Plus then we would have had to walk back again and turn the key to start the bikes… clearly not worth the effort. We got pretty excited though when we got to Gloucester Falls but again a bit of a walk so we passed on that as well.

Gloucester Falls is somewhere around here. I hear they’re nice.

One of the many fords crossed on the way.

Pretty nice roads along the way.

There were 10 million trees you could have wee weed on Andy.

Somehow we ended up crossing the Barrington River and passed the Thunderbolts Highway on the return trip to Gloucester itself where Andy went searching for treated pine posts. Some kind of fencing job back at the farm that Mrs Pandy will have to take on. Back to the farm by about 3.30. A good ride that gives you time to look left and right as you go instead of fixating on the curvature of the bitumen like you have to on the big bikes.

The adventure didn’t end there though. Back at the farm Jesse had been getting better and bolder on the 250 trailies when the throttle stuck open and he came a guttser on the dirt. A busted elbow, deep burns, some nasty gashes, etc and still he was more worried about the bike. I couldn’t be prouder. A night in hospital and some bandages and cast and he was good to go. Didn’t even whinge a little bit.

If it wasn’t for the swishey pants things could have got nasty.

So the weekend ended with some drama but we will return for more adventures later. Lucky plugged his Iphone in and listened to some sweet tunes on the ride home. Maybe he listened to a little Celine but so what? She is lovely in a waifish kind of way and very soothing on a long trip.

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