TribalMoto Travels : Day 3 - Racing the rain and kangaroos

DAY THREE - RACING THE RAIN

Today we left fairly late from Rosebud, heading to Wilsons Promontory, then onto Sale. This was not our original plan!

From Rosebud, Andy headed to meet his brother (who also rides) early, so I had a chance to pack the bike myself before heading off to meet him at the cafe.

I ride by myself all the time, but packing my panniers and top bag, chucking on my rain gear and saying farewell to my Dad was a really proud moment - even at 50. I hope my Dad thought so too. 

It rained from the minute I left, but I went the beach road as I was keen to ride the roads I'd always only driven in my car. My kids and I visited my parents every year on the peninsula, so these roads and beaches hold many happy  memories for me. The whale tunnel never disappoints ;)

 

Making it to the Cafe in good time...off the rain gear went, a quick chat and bite to eat and we geared up again. Thinking the rain was behind us, we decided not to wear the rain gear. How long does it take to gear up?!?!! Ergh... not sure I got any faster over the 7 days either haha.

As we rode away, it was hitting midday. We still had to ride to Wilsons Promontory and back up to Bairnsdale and I only had a TINTED visor with me. I was starting to worry.

As we headed into Wilsons Prom I thought, how different everything looked...

 

 

The plains weren't the large baron areas I remember, but overgrown and hugging the edges of the road. The road signs for wildlife sprung out at me like a panicked kangaroo, and I started to get nervous. But the ride itself was lovely, with a few fairly tight turns dropping from 80kms to 30km/h.

GREY KANGAROOS CAN JUMP

The weather was getting cooler, and by the time we reached Tidal River my fingers were numb. Hot chips and a coffee helped no end..... But we realised it was almost 4pm and we still had nearly 3 hours or riding that day. Bairnsdale as an overnight destination was looking unlikely.

On the way back, we picked up the pace a bit, ever so wary of the wildlife hiding just on the other side of the bushes.

As we headed out of the prom, every 5 kms there were signs saying Kangaroos NEXT 20kms..... I have to say, my hands gripped a little tighter. We only saw a couple, but as you know... Its the ones you don't see that are the ones that play with your mind. This pic shows you how I saw it happening.... haha Roos left, right and centre... They jump really high in my head!

BUT DID YOU DIE?????

As I came around a 35km/h corner I forgot I was on a cruiser and went in like I was riding my Street Triple...the left peg scraped and took me by surprise, causing me to straighten up and I ended up on the other side of the road! oops! Should a car have been coming the other way, I would have been in trouble, but thankfully that wasn't the case. I gently and confidently brought Betty back over to the left (my OH was amazing.... he could obviously see and hear my panic and said "Honey just relax, you have time, just gently bring her back. You're ok". 

This was the first "I NEARLY DIED" moment...after I changed my pants and a great deal of verbal OMG's, we headed on our way again. Thanks my man, for having my back/front/sides x 

As the sun set majestically over the horizon, my OH and I oohed and ahhed at the sight, but knew we were in trouble as we were losing the light and the weather was getting worse and we still had a long way to go. In the end we got as far as Sale before we decided it was too dangerous to continue...the last 20 minutes were really difficult with the rain, darkness (my tinted visor) and the threat of animals jumping out in front of us...bad light, fog and rain is horrid on helmets for vision and the rainX had worn off ages ago, it really doesn't last long enough.

Cold, wet, dark, tinted visor = panic central!

I have never felt so happy to be off the bike with a glass of red in hand and some free Easter chockies from reception. The lovely lady must have seen the relief on my face and shoved a few extra in my hands. Bless her.

Tip for the day: take a spare visor!!!!!

Every sense was on overdrive on that last leg of our ride... Along with a couple of extra senses I didn't know existed haha

As lovely as Barinsdale may have been, the Matador Hotel in Sale was the SHIZZLE!

DAILY SCARE-O-METER:

Scare factor: 

• scrape a peg and went over the wrong side of the road 10+++ and extra washing of pants required
• rode for a while with tinted visor in the rain 9+
• saw 2 kangaroos on the side of the road.... but in my head there were 100s about to jump out at me 8

Butt factor: Tried out the AirHawk - it was great, but quite slippery in rain gear. Will test it out again tomorrow with no gear on.

Air Hawk: you blow it up and pop it on the seat. Around $150, so fairly $$$. The Speedmaster seat isn't the most comfy after a few hours, so this was worth it if compared to a new seat. I'd only wear it for longer rides and found it slippery in the rain gear.

Rain gear:

• Oxford jacket - worked well. Feel a bit like a michelin woman, but I was dry!
• Pants were - these worked well but started to get a little wet on the top of the thigh area after one wear. I used Scotchguard on them before I wore a second time.

KMS: 500kms today.... in between my panicked state, the scenery was amazing. Would be sooo good on a good day.

Thanks for watching and reading :) 

Annya

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