A bit of a ride: A break at Phillip Island

[Cormanus]

Days 10-12

The starting point for my ride south had been riding to the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island. If the truth be told, I was more interested in the ride than the races. So far, I’d not been disappointed.

That said, I enjoyed the weekend at the races much more than I expected and I’d do it again. The atmosphere in the campground was (mostly) pleasant—except for the unhappy drunk in the tent next to us whose maudlin disappointment with his treatment at the entertainment led him to practice burn outs on his Honda CB1300 at 2.30 am. Otherwise I marvelled at people who can afford to trash an entire rear tyre in a single session.

I enjoyed the intense competition of the Moto3 and the opportunity to watch the best riders in the world doing what they’re best at. I wanted Marquez to win and was excited by his prowess in the race: every lap he inched further ahead and looked unbeatable. Until he fell off. We saw it from where we were sitting—just above where it happened. At the same time, I was pleased for Rossi who seemed immediately to step into Marquez’ shoes and give the other riders a lesson in how to ride a motorcycle.

Other than that, I’m not going to say much about the races. Lots has been written, by better writers; many of you watched the races on the TV and probably got a better view than I did; and it’s a while ago now.

For the benefit of the foodies, I can report that the food at the track was, shall we say, not of a high standard, in spite of the best efforts of the folks in the food van to do something interesting. As noted, beer was expensive, but not sufficiently so to force a weekend of abstinence. The culinary high point came when a mate of Jalalski’s took us away from the circuit and into Cowes for a meal on the Friday night (Day 10). We ended up in a ‘modern Asian restaurant’ where I had something called Reconstructed Peking Duck which was really, really good. Pterodactyl got off to a bad start with his laksa as it was cold. He sent it back and, when it was replaced, with profuse apologies, I recall he said it was excellent.

My camera gave me its “Battery is exhausted” message before the big race. I hadn’t made adequate arrangements to recharge it, so there aren’t too many photos, but I’ll share some of them. In any event, it’s but a point and click number so not really up to the task of good race photos. I’ve included others courtesy of Jalalski.


When I crawled out of my tent on the first morning, this is what I saw


I could see this too. I find it odd to go to a live event and then watch it on a screen






Practice: I think that’s Marquez at the rear


Right to left: Aleix Espargo, Karel Abraham, Dani Pedrosa






The corner furthest away is where Marquez came off


A lovely place for a race track, although that’s about the direction the really, awful weather can come from





Note the absence of the brake lever. The bike had been adapted for a one-handed rider

The following shots are of bikes in the ‘Show and Shine’.













This Indian was to do a lap of honour before the races on the Sunday to mark 100 years of GP races in Australia












Back in the great outdoors







At a tent near us, a woman had invented a technique for catching seagulls. She’d filed the barb off a fish hook and trailed it with some bait on the ground. Seagulls, being terrible scavengers couldn’t resist. By keeping the weight on the line once they’d bitten, she was able to catch them and decorate them with soluble hair paint. The sight of fluorescent seagulls cruising the edges of the circuit must have caused many a substance abuser to wonder whether she’d had enough.


As an aside, this woman had ridden with a group from Cairns in far north Queensland, a 3,000 plus km ride that made my efforts pale into insignificance.


Another rear tyre turns to smoke






Sunset at Phillip Island


The Indian rides again


Marquez before he came off at the right hander in the bottom of the shot


This CB1300 was the one that did it’s best to demolish a rear tyre at 0217 or thereabouts. The rider went home leaving his tent for anyone who wanted it.
That’s the end of the Cormanus collection of Philip Island photos. The following shots are some of the many taken by Jalalski.






















Behind where we sat on race day was a motocross. Jalalski got some great shots of that.












Pterodactyl and Cormanus hatching a plan

[redbirds_imp]

Wonderful pics and write up. So many cool bikes there. Thanks!

[nhawk7504_imp]

Really nicely done. Today was raining and cold so I took a drive 25 miles North to the BMW dealer in NH and sat on an R Nine T. A very nice machine. Those Germans are some real engineers. But after sales tax a bike like that is 16,500 USD. Compare that to 9200 USD for a leftover '13 CB1100 STD, taxes incl. - Keep the pics and ride reports coming, Cormanus. A GoPro report would be welcome too!

[Cormanus]

Thanks, redbirds and nhawk. Kind of you. Nhawk, I'm afraid I don't have a GoPro; nor do I see one in my immediate future. Any camera money would likely go to replacing the trusty Lumix FZ100 that lost a fight with a bottle of barbecue cleaner in the top box of my bike. The last picture it took was this shot of the CB1100 with the Pacific Ocean in the background. I'd rather have a replacement for it than a GoPro.



Cheers

[Rocky_imp]

Great pictures! I really enjoyed them