The Cormanus Chronicles: The Site Inspection

[Cormanus]

My mate, GrahamT, occasional contributor to this forum, works in the construction industry. That interferes with the enjoyment he gets from riding his CB1100 to such an extent that sometimes he finds it necessary to take a ‘mental health day’ during which I am forced to make a huge sacrifice and go riding with him so he can restore his karmic balance. I know, I know, it’s tough but someone has to do it.

Last week GrahamT told me that, while his mental health was shaky, he had a pressing need to visit to one of his company’s projects in Gympie—a town a couple of hours north of Brisbane. Taking his large ute was not an option and he would need to ride his bike. That, in turn, necessitated avoiding the highway. GrahamT pretended he was concerned about getting lost if I didn’t go with him. On the basis that it’s always me who plans the ride route, I figured he was pretending. But, hey, it was a ride, and that’s seldom a hardship. So, plan I did.

On Thursday, the day before the planned ride, Brisbane was pummelled by one of those summer thunderstorms that made you glad humans invented solid dwellings. On Friday the sky was clear as we pointed our 18 inch front wheels to the north.


[url=https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nFUyx_xsGKoYbnrh3MafwCY1t0LwekeF&usp=sharing]Click here to view the map online

We went clockwise around the above loop and had a glorious ride to Gympie, stopping only for fuel for the bikes and ourselves at Maleny.

GrahamT makes his escape through the suburbs


Soon we were in the country


GrahamT was still chasing me


We were climbed Mt Mee






CB’s at Maleny

Soon after Maleny, there’s a steep and winding descent


It’s a pretty and entertaining ride around the valley to Kenilworth.




And then from Kenilworth to Gympie.


I had a rest while GrahamT inspected the construction site, I took him to [url=http://www.emilias.com.au/]Emilia’s Café, in my opinion one of the very few good things about Gympie. Some time ago now, I took Pterodactyl there and we enjoyed a coffee and a chat with the owner and barista, Giovanni. An Italian, Giovanni was, unsurprisingly, the proud owner of a Ducati and a Moto Guzzi which can seen be towards the end of [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5796&pid=88675#pid88675]this post.

It is some time since I’ve been there as I’ve moved away from the area. A poster advertising a ride for Gio attracted my attention and I looked and was devastated to discover that Giovanni had suffered a massive heart attack at the tender age of 58 and is no longer with us. Vale Giovanni. You were a good bloke.
From Gympie, I led Graham along some of my favourite roads in the area.






We arrived in Nambour and I realised I was running out of time to get home. My plans for more scenic roads on the way home were in tatters, so, sadly, it was on to the highway for the last leg.



GrahamT home on the highway

It was a pity there weren’t more country roads, but, hey, it was a great day anyway.

Thanks for taking me Graham.