The Cormanus Chronicles - The Three Strikes Ride

[the Ferret]

include it Cormanus and maybe us die hard land lubbers will come to appreciate what sailing means to others

[Cormanus]

OK. Thanks for the encouragement, Charlie Bravo and Ferret. I'll sort out the next chapter which will get me to Hobart and then we can all take a short break.

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

Looking forward to it!!

[Cormanus]

Chapter 7

Strike 2! In which Cormanus rides with more mates, reaches his destination.
[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qE9y4nn7sVhTLD-zkZfgY1MDvoZwxEMb&usp=sharing]Link to Map

The plan for the day was to meet my mate Graham and a friend of his at Deloraine where we would breakfast before riding to Hobart. We planned to meet about 0800 but I was off the ferry by 0600 and would have had a very long wait had I ridden straight to Deloraine. Graham and his mate were staying at Mole Creek, which, as luck would have it, is far more run to ride to than the main road to Deloraine. It even passes through Paradise. Why would I not decide to ride to their hotel to meet them?

It was cold after the heat of the mainland and I soon found myself stopping to put liners in my jacket and don heavier gloves.

I recall writing before about the search for Paradise and how, even though I saw the signs, I never found it. I had a similar experience this time. Like so many things in this life Paradise is entirely illusory. The signs are there, but you never seem to arrive and suddenly realise the signs point back the way you came. Still the road on which it allegedly lies is pretty enough for an early morning warm-up ride.
[url=https://postimg.cc/JtZXFwFr]

[url=https://postimg.cc/q6V37QNH]
Apparently Paradise is in there somewhere

[url=https://postimg.cc/JGQk1NmS]
Only moments later it’s behind me.

Graham and his mate Stewart gave me a cup of tea while they organised themselves. Their hotel carried a fine example of the Australian fascination with ‘Big Things’; in this case, a Big [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine]Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger.
[url=https://postimg.cc/56P8BBGL]

It is slightly more distinguished than this one at Waratah that Pterodactyl and I saw on an earlier ride.


When they were ready, we rode the 24 kms to Deloraine. We ordered food and made our way to a table. Nearby a bloke was indulging in the breakfast of champions: a large plate of eggs and bacon washed down with a couple of bottles of James Boag’s Premium lager. Even for me that’s a bit early in the day.

Leaving Deloraine we headed onto the Central Plateau, where sealing of the road alongside the Great Lake had finally been completed. It was a cool but pleasant day as we made our way up the northern end of the mountains along a well-made and thoroughly enjoyable road. It was obviously built in the days when road alignments included corners and gradual ascents.
[url=https://postimg.cc/SXn27H8p]

[url=https://postimg.cc/Mfmvpwk1]
Climbing to Tasmania’s central plateau

[url=https://postimg.cc/1n68b6JC]

[url=https://postimg.cc/WDxD9S6q]
On the central plateau

At the southern end of the Great Lake—artificially enlarged to store water for the generation of electricity—the road straightens and heads down a more gradual descent into Bothwell. It was a good deal warmer there and, when we stopped for a cup of coffee, we shed layers.

The Hollow Tree Road leads from Bothwell to just east of Hamilton and is a fun and popular motorcycle road. We took it and then endured a very hot wait for road works before then riding carefully through about a kilometre of fresh bitumen. Blech! It was then a clear run to a place called Plenty where salmon breeding ponds offer a tourist destination and a café which offered us a decent lunch.
[url=https://postimg.cc/RJBWmFYM]

[url=https://postimg.cc/569wQ7Pf]
On the Hollow Tree Road

Stewart left us in New Norfolk, just down the road, and Graham and I had a decent run to Hobart where I was to be based for a couple of nights before my sailing venture.

I stopped at my son’s business and we were chatting about the broken throttle. I decided to move the bike into the car park to pull the throttle controls off the bike to see if I could see what needed replacing. Turns out I’d broken the lug off the engine end of the push cable and so ordered a new one, which I hoped would arrive before I had to head back to Brisbane. I say ‘hoped’ because the man at the dealer told me it had to be ordered from Japan.

Let me describe the car park. It’s behind an old house that’s been converted into offices. The building is on the side of a hill and the car park is accessed via a gate from a side street. The access slopes both from right to left and from back to front; in other words, you’re traversing the side of a hill. After a short stretch of seal, you’re on gravel.

Almost as soon as I’d left the seal, I turned the bike to the right with its nose up the main hill and parked it.

Having figured the problem and put the bike back together, I had to roll backwards and turn the rear wheel to the right so I could point my nose down the hill to ride down and make a turn to exit the car park. The slope was too uneven to go the other way. As the rear wheel hit the seal, the bike decided another nap was in order. This time my large bag didn’t protect it and the clutch lever broke. Strike 2!

Another order from the dealer and another minor scratch on the engine. For a bit, I gave in to a nagging worry about whether two in two was two too many. Should I hang up my boots?

[Rocky_imp]

Another great installment in the saga
Too bag about strike 2
I was in such a situation on a road trip and almost lost it that way, but managed to avoid the nap - but only just!! More by good luck than good management.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Unfortunate about the napping, however, thanks for sharing another journey's chapter Cormanus.

[pdedse]

Chapter 7

Strike 2! In which Cormanus rides with more mates, reaches his destination.
[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qE9y4nn7sVhTLD-zkZfgY1MDvoZwxEMb&usp=sharing]Link to Map

The plan for the day was to meet my mate Graham and a friend of his at Deloraine where we would breakfast before riding to Hobart. We planned to meet about 0800 but I was off the ferry by 0600 and would have had a very long wait had I ridden straight to Deloraine. Graham and his mate were staying at Mole Creek, which, as luck would have it, is far more run to ride to than the main road to Deloraine. It even passes through Paradise. Why would I not decide to ride to their hotel to meet them?

It was cold after the heat of the mainland and I soon found myself stopping to put liners in my jacket and don heavier gloves.

I recall writing before about the search for Paradise and how, even though I saw the signs, I never found it. I had a similar experience this time. Like so many things in this life Paradise is entirely illusory. The signs are there, but you never seem to arrive and suddenly realise the signs point back the way you came. Still the road on which it allegedly lies is pretty enough for an early morning warm-up ride.
[url=https://postimg.cc/JtZXFwFr]

[url=https://postimg.cc/q6V37QNH]
Apparently Paradise is in there somewhere

[url=https://postimg.cc/JGQk1NmS]
Only moments later it’s behind me.

Graham and his mate Stewart gave me a cup of tea while they organised themselves. Their hotel carried a fine example of the Australian fascination with ‘Big Things’; in this case, a Big [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine]Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger.
[url=https://postimg.cc/56P8BBGL]

It is slightly more distinguished than this one at Waratah that Pterodactyl and I saw on an earlier ride.


When they were ready, we rode the 24 kms to Deloraine. We ordered food and made our way to a table. Nearby a bloke was indulging in the breakfast of champions: a large plate of eggs and bacon washed down with a couple of bottles of James Boag’s Premium lager. Even for me that’s a bit early in the day.

Leaving Deloraine we headed onto the Central Plateau, where sealing of the road alongside the Great Lake had finally been completed. It was a cool but pleasant day as we made our way up the northern end of the mountains along a well-made and thoroughly enjoyable road. It was obviously built in the days when road alignments included corners and gradual ascents.
[url=https://postimg.cc/SXn27H8p]

[url=https://postimg.cc/Mfmvpwk1]
Climbing to Tasmania’s central plateau

[url=https://postimg.cc/1n68b6JC]

[url=https://postimg.cc/WDxD9S6q]
On the central plateau

At the southern end of the Great Lake—artificially enlarged to store water for the generation of electricity—the road straightens and heads down a more gradual descent into Bothwell. It was a good deal warmer there and, when we stopped for a cup of coffee, we shed layers.

The Hollow Tree Road leads from Bothwell to just east of Hamilton and is a fun and popular motorcycle road. We took it and then endured a very hot wait for road works before then riding carefully through about a kilometre of fresh bitumen. Blech! It was then a clear run to a place called Plenty where salmon breeding ponds offer a tourist destination and a café which offered us a decent lunch.
[url=https://postimg.cc/RJBWmFYM]

[url=https://postimg.cc/569wQ7Pf]
On the Hollow Tree Road

Stewart left us in New Norfolk, just down the road, and Graham and I had a decent run to Hobart where I was to be based for a couple of nights before my sailing venture.

I stopped at my son’s business and we were chatting about the broken throttle. I decided to move the bike into the car park to pull the throttle controls off the bike to see if I could see what needed replacing. Turns out I’d broken the lug off the engine end of the push cable and so ordered a new one, which I hoped would arrive before I had to head back to Brisbane. I say ‘hoped’ because the man at the dealer told me it had to be ordered from Japan.

Let me describe the car park. It’s behind an old house that’s been converted into offices. The building is on the side of a hill and the car park is accessed via a gate from a side street. The access slopes both from right to left and from back to front; in other words, you’re traversing the side of a hill. After a short stretch of seal, you’re on gravel.

Almost as soon as I’d left the seal, I turned the bike to the right with its nose up the main hill and parked it.

Having figured the problem and put the bike back together, I had to roll backwards and turn the rear wheel to the right so I could point my nose down the hill to ride down and make a turn to exit the car park. The slope was too uneven to go the other way. As the rear wheel hit the seal, the bike decided another nap was in order. This time my large bag didn’t protect it and the clutch lever broke. Strike 2!

Another order from the dealer and another minor scratch on the engine. For a bit, I gave in to a nagging worry about whether two in two was two too many. Should I hang up my boots?

Sometimes we just don't realize how good we have it until it's no longer there.

[the Ferret]

another interesting installment.

Tasmanian Tiger was a cool critter. Could open it's mouth gaping very wide. Favorite meal was Kangaroo. Supposedly extinct since 1933, but there have been recent sightings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine

Shame about the drop. Off camber for motorcycles is not cool. Pulling a Y turn (basically what you described) on sloped gravel is what caused me to drop my FJR and break my arm, scratch the fairing, the mirror, the bar end and the exhaust pipe (I'm guessing $2500 damage to the bike) when the bike was only 6 weeks old. I'd have gladly settled for just a clutch lever breaking lol.

[suhawk305]

I know how you feel Cormanus. After two drops in front of our forum members, I was very embarrassed. I had given the thought that maybe it was time to sell by beloved CB1100 and to go back to my body punishing CB77 for short rides. I have absolutely no desire for any other current motorcycles that are now available.
What I did is look at the factors which contributed to the nappings and learn from them. I realize your napping situations were hard to avoid. I had a few close call like yours. IE: taking off from an upgrade stop on a newly “tar and chip” road with a cage right behind me, and getting my boot lace tangled-up with the feeler peg under the foot peg.(I immediately ordered laceless boots after).
I would dare say that we are not the only ones that had a napping experience around!
And I am enjoying your excellent journal! Get a picture of a Tasmanian devil.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Many Honda Africa Twin off-road riders nap multiple times a day. Of course, the AT is somewhat designed with naps in mind, especially when farkled up.