Riding around Australia seems like a good idea - at this stage. My plan is to do it in 2 weeks, which if I work it out, means I have to average just over 1,000 km per day. Nice round numbers and no big deal. Until I think about the last time I traveled 1,000 km in a day on the bike. Which would be never.
Actually it is possible I did it once, when I rode from Santiago to the Iguazu Falls (4,500 km) and back in six days. I have a memory of one very long day on the way back which may have cracked the 1,000. But those were not overly punishing days, involved long and leisurely lunches and no great pressure. And it was only a week. And it still hurt (at times), despite the marvelous scenery. And it still didn't average close to 1,000 km per day. That trip did have the disadvantage of being stopped half a dozen times a day at road blocks for a chat and a check of my documents, which didn't help the average.
This will be different though, with Australia's famous wide open spaces and good quality roads, so I'm (currently) feeling confident. There will be lots of new and interesting scenery to behold, as I've never been along the east coast north of Bega! The only question will be whether I can maintain the pace.
Perhaps another obvious question is why it needs to be done in 2 weeks? It's mostly because I work FIFO at the moment and have two weeks of rostered time off after my field stint, during which I don't have a huge amount to do. I usually catch up with my kids for a bit, but they've got their own lives to lead and if I didn't insist, I'm not sure if they'd notice if I caught up with them or not! There would also be some friends I'd miss out on seeing, but again, if I skipped a break there's every chance they wouldn't notice. It is possible that at some stage my roster will revert to it's 'normal' 12 / 9 cycle, and nine days is certainly not going to be enough for the lap. I therefore need to make the most of my time.
If I'm honest, it will also be an interesting thing to do as a celebration of the coronavirus lockdowns coming to an end - a celebratory ride around Australia to enjoy some liberty after being metaphorically locked up for the last few months, although to continue this honesty theme, the whole thing hasn't affected me very much. Life has been pretty much normal, other than catching up with a few friends.
Perhaps the last question I should answer is what's so special, if anything, about setting a lap record of Australia on a Moto Guzzi? Well, there are a couple of reasons, but I'm afraid that all of them are really quite simple. Firstly, of the two motorbikes I'm fortunate enough to own, the Guzzi has the most comfortable seat. It's a bit like a tractor seat and while it certainly could be softer, it's still pretty comfortable. The alternative is my KTM and although I've done some long distance riding on it, and although it has a better luggage-carrying set-up, this trip is going to be a fairly frugal one and I don't expect to have many needs. It will be me, my swag, a few spare cloths, some emergency provisions and that's about it.
The second reason for taking the Guzzi is that, as far as I can see, nobody has ever written about doing the lap on one. Perhaps that should be a warning sign to me as, to be fair, Italian motorcycles have not traditionally been a byword for reliability. It may be that plenty of people have done it, but no-one has thought to publicize it in any way. Be that as it may, I'm going to claim the national record, and others can challenge me for it. Hopefully at the very least, I can prompt a fun conversation about the whole thing, and see where it goes. Even if nobody cares, I'll have had fun. And let's face it, if some WA wheatbelt farmer can declare his farm is an independent province and call himself a prince AND get away with it, inventing a new record category for a lap of Australia is rather harmless in comparison.
It should also be fun, highly memorable, and will be easier to do know than in 10 years time when my knees and back will hurt more...
Actually it is possible I did it once, when I rode from Santiago to the Iguazu Falls (4,500 km) and back in six days. I have a memory of one very long day on the way back which may have cracked the 1,000. But those were not overly punishing days, involved long and leisurely lunches and no great pressure. And it was only a week. And it still hurt (at times), despite the marvelous scenery. And it still didn't average close to 1,000 km per day. That trip did have the disadvantage of being stopped half a dozen times a day at road blocks for a chat and a check of my documents, which didn't help the average.
This will be different though, with Australia's famous wide open spaces and good quality roads, so I'm (currently) feeling confident. There will be lots of new and interesting scenery to behold, as I've never been along the east coast north of Bega! The only question will be whether I can maintain the pace.
Perhaps another obvious question is why it needs to be done in 2 weeks? It's mostly because I work FIFO at the moment and have two weeks of rostered time off after my field stint, during which I don't have a huge amount to do. I usually catch up with my kids for a bit, but they've got their own lives to lead and if I didn't insist, I'm not sure if they'd notice if I caught up with them or not! There would also be some friends I'd miss out on seeing, but again, if I skipped a break there's every chance they wouldn't notice. It is possible that at some stage my roster will revert to it's 'normal' 12 / 9 cycle, and nine days is certainly not going to be enough for the lap. I therefore need to make the most of my time.
If I'm honest, it will also be an interesting thing to do as a celebration of the coronavirus lockdowns coming to an end - a celebratory ride around Australia to enjoy some liberty after being metaphorically locked up for the last few months, although to continue this honesty theme, the whole thing hasn't affected me very much. Life has been pretty much normal, other than catching up with a few friends.
Perhaps the last question I should answer is what's so special, if anything, about setting a lap record of Australia on a Moto Guzzi? Well, there are a couple of reasons, but I'm afraid that all of them are really quite simple. Firstly, of the two motorbikes I'm fortunate enough to own, the Guzzi has the most comfortable seat. It's a bit like a tractor seat and while it certainly could be softer, it's still pretty comfortable. The alternative is my KTM and although I've done some long distance riding on it, and although it has a better luggage-carrying set-up, this trip is going to be a fairly frugal one and I don't expect to have many needs. It will be me, my swag, a few spare cloths, some emergency provisions and that's about it.
The second reason for taking the Guzzi is that, as far as I can see, nobody has ever written about doing the lap on one. Perhaps that should be a warning sign to me as, to be fair, Italian motorcycles have not traditionally been a byword for reliability. It may be that plenty of people have done it, but no-one has thought to publicize it in any way. Be that as it may, I'm going to claim the national record, and others can challenge me for it. Hopefully at the very least, I can prompt a fun conversation about the whole thing, and see where it goes. Even if nobody cares, I'll have had fun. And let's face it, if some WA wheatbelt farmer can declare his farm is an independent province and call himself a prince AND get away with it, inventing a new record category for a lap of Australia is rather harmless in comparison.
It should also be fun, highly memorable, and will be easier to do know than in 10 years time when my knees and back will hurt more...
No comments:
Post a Comment