The Cormanus Chronicles: Remembering Jake and Elwood

[pdedse]

pdedse,
[li]Some parts of Australia are having their indigenous names restored. As you say the juxtaposition is great. On a pedantic note, Oberon, is a European word — see A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream.[/li] [li]60 kph is the posted speed limit for many built up areas. Increasingly, it’s being reduced to 50 kph in urban and suburban streets. Freeway speed limits are 100 or 110 kph.[/li] [li]The bionic knees are just terrific. The only inconvenience is in one hip muscle that seems to have been badly weakened by years of compensating for the bad knee. I’m in much better shape now at the end of the day.
[/li]

Ferret



Penguins are way too scary.

Oh, that's right...Oberon, king of the fairies. My English major is failing me in recent posts. And I even performed part of that play in my Shakespeare class so many years ago.

pdedse,
[li]Some parts of Australia are having their indigenous names restored. As you say the juxtaposition is great. On a pedantic note, Oberon, is a European word — see A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream.[/li] [li]60 kph is the posted speed limit for many built up areas. Increasingly, it’s being reduced to 50 kph in urban and suburban streets. Freeway speed limits are 100 or 110 kph.[/li] [li]The bionic knees are just terrific. The only inconvenience is in one hip muscle that seems to have been badly weakened by years of compensating for the bad knee. I’m in much better shape now at the end of the day.
[/li]

Ferret



Penguins are way too scary.

Very glad to hear.

[Lord Popgun]

On a mission from God.

When you are out on that road, watch out for—— wait for it— Rollers

[Cormanus]

Day 3 — Oberon to Moruya

[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1ABt-HMtcUT7QB20xDoDdA61uMte9GP0&usp=sharing]Master map #1

Thermal layers again as I set off over Shooters Hill along an oft-ridden road to Taralga. I like Taralga; Pterodactyl doesn’t. I don’t know why. Since I was last there, the General Store has sprouted an extension called Grand Ettie where I got breakfast, an excellent cup of coffee and a pastry that I shouldn’t have eaten. Not that there was anything wrong with it; I simply don’t need all that sugar.

Early morning mist as I left Oberon

There being no petrol to be had in Taralga on Saturday; me being earlier than expected; and the road to Goulburn not being all that interesting, led to my deciding to ride to Crookwell along a pretty country road of many sweeping corners. I planned to ride via a small town called Roslyn for no reason other than that it showed up on the map, but every road I saw was dirt. While I’m not averse to riding the CB on a well-made dirt road, I’m increasingly reluctant to do it on my own and, anyway, the bike was uncharacteristically clean.

Near Crookwell

After getting fuel in Crookwell, I headed for Goulburn — another pretty enough route — and then to Tarago where, at the Loaded Dog Hotel, Inhouse Bob had his first encounter with Vegemite. (the story is [url=http://www.cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=10537]here but all the pictures have disappeared thanks to the hosting service, so here’s Bob and the Vegemite.



At Braidwood I stopped at a French-themed café (who knew the country towns were so trendy, but then I suppose Braidwood is close to Canberra) before making my way down the beautiful Clyde Mountain Road to Batemans Bay* and thence to Moruya.

Another 380 kms or so under the tyres. Knees holding up well. Notwithstanding, I was looking forward to a few days out of the saddle and time with my wife and old friends.
[url=https://postimages.org/]
Back near the sea

* The last time I recall riding down the Clyde Mountain was horrendous. Pterodactyl described it well [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?pid=187995#pid187995]here under the heading The Very Abbreviated Seat Time Bit.

[Cormanus]

Chapter Two

The Band
Day 4 — Moruya to Cooma
[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1ABt-HMtcUT7QB20xDoDdA61uMte9GP0&usp=sharing]Master map #1

My wife and I had a great time with our friends and a bit of a look around the lovely part of Australia in which they’ve chosen to live — on the coast with good swimming and surfing as well as fertile land and mountains to the west. Adjacent to some great motorcycle country!

Somewhere on the way south the visor of my helmet had broken. The right-hand side lugs holding it to the helmet had snapped off. It kinda worked until I turned my head to the right and it would pop out. I could see it popping out so exuberantly that it would snap the other side. I’d had the helmet since 2016 when its predecessor blew off a guidepost on top of a mountain in Tasmania and was damaged. It was a good 7 years old and everyone I talked to told me it was due for replacement. I didn’t want to do it, but I couldn’t source a replacement visor anywhere. Nowra, a couple of hours to the north up the main coast road offered an opportunity. It’s also an easy ride to Braidwood where Pterodactyl and I planned to meet at the end of the day.

The helmet was duly replaced with a flash new Shark Carbon Spartan and I went across the road for a cup of coffee. There I met a bloke who had just bought a Honda CBX and was fuming at the difficulty of transferring the registration. I think he’d made a mistake on the hand-written form which meant he had to do the thing all over again. It’s the sort of rank stupidity that rightly gives bureaucracy a bad name.
[url=https://postimg.cc/Ty2202CN]
there’s nothing wrong with riding up this bit of the coast road

[url=https://postimages.org/]
New lid

[url=https://postimages.org/]
This guy (obscured) was really friendly. He wasn’t riding the CBX. His was the Suzuki next to it. As I didn’t ask whether I could take or publish his picture,I’ve wiped him out so to speak.

[url=https://postimages.org/]
Gotta love a CBX

To stay on sealed road, I had to make another detour past Tarago and the Loaded Dog. Somewhere around there, it became clear Pterodactyl had left Sydney a day early and was heading for Cooma. I called him and we agreed I’d head for Cooma and he’d ride out to meet me.

[url=https://postimg.cc/7CBHWvRH]
Nothing wrong with the road to Tarago and Braidwood either

I remembered them as not being too long and in good condition There’s a pretty and direct road to Cooma from Braidwood. It has gravel sections, but when I rode them with Pterodactyl and NoRoomtoMove. I remember we stopped in a very pretty bush camping area for a cup of tea.

WRONG!! The gravel section was longer I recalled and the weather had played havoc with the surface in the intervening years. The sealed bits at either end were fast and lots of fun; the gravel was slow and rattled the fillings in my teeth. Google Maps told Pterodactyl a section of the road at his end was closed (it wasn’t) and led him a merry dance. We finally met up in Cooma and checked into the Alpine Hotel.

[url=https://postimg.cc/s1GjwN4z]
The sealed bits of the Braidwood Cooma Road were just fantastic; an antidote to boredom …

[url=https://postimg.cc/CBXFwGY9]
… but much of this gravelly stuff was not much fun at all. To be fair it was prettier than the alternative route.

Participants in the Rally Down Under stayed here in 2017. In those heady days, Pterodactyl and I used to enjoy a beer or two followed by a glass or two of fine red wine followed by increasingly animated discussions. I’m not sure they were always fun for spectators. These days, we’re both considerably more subdued.

Two members of the band were together.

[Tev62]

587 km days on a CB1100, fair play to you Cormanus, my bones won't take that!

[Whoops]

What a great experience and write-up. Wonderful pictures too! Posts like this makes me wish there were such things like the transporters from Star Trek. Would be nice to be able to just pop over with the bike for a ride and a brew and be back in my own bed that evening.

[pdedse]

Chapter Two

The Band
Day 4 — Moruya to Cooma
[url=https://postimages.org/]
[url=https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1ABt-HMtcUT7QB20xDoDdA61uMte9GP0&usp=sharing]Master map #1

My wife and I had a great time with our friends and a bit of a look around the lovely part of Australia in which they’ve chosen to live — on the coast with good swimming and surfing as well as fertile land and mountains to the west. Adjacent to some great motorcycle country!

Somewhere on the way south the visor of my helmet had broken. The right-hand side lugs holding it to the helmet had snapped off. It kinda worked until I turned my head to the right and it would pop out. I could see it popping out so exuberantly that it would snap the other side. I’d had the helmet since 2016 when its predecessor blew off a guidepost on top of a mountain in Tasmania and was damaged. It was a good 7 years old and everyone I talked to told me it was due for replacement. I didn’t want to do it, but I couldn’t source a replacement visor anywhere. Nowra, a couple of hours to the north up the main coast road offered an opportunity. It’s also an easy ride to Braidwood where Pterodactyl and I planned to meet at the end of the day.

The helmet was duly replaced with a flash new Shark Carbon Spartan and I went across the road for a cup of coffee. There I met a bloke who had just bought a Honda CBX and was fuming at the difficulty of transferring the registration. I think he’d made a mistake on the hand-written form which meant he had to do the thing all over again. It’s the sort of rank stupidity that rightly gives bureaucracy a bad name.
[url=https://postimg.cc/Ty2202CN]
there’s nothing wrong with riding up this bit of the coast road

[url=https://postimages.org/]
New lid

[url=https://postimages.org/]
This guy (obscured) was really friendly. He wasn’t riding the CBX. His was the Suzuki next to it. As I didn’t ask whether I could take or publish his picture,I’ve wiped him out so to speak.

[url=https://postimages.org/]
Gotta love a CBX

To stay on sealed road, I had to make another detour past Tarago and the Loaded Dog. Somewhere around there, it became clear Pterodactyl had left Sydney a day early and was heading for Cooma. I called him and we agreed I’d head for Cooma and he’d ride out to meet me.

[url=https://postimg.cc/7CBHWvRH]
Nothing wrong with the road to Tarago and Braidwood either

I remembered them as not being too long and in good condition There’s a pretty and direct road to Cooma from Braidwood. It has gravel sections, but when I rode them with Pterodactyl and NoRoomtoMove. I remember we stopped in a very pretty bush camping area for a cup of tea.

WRONG!! The gravel section was longer I recalled and the weather had played havoc with the surface in the intervening years. The sealed bits at either end were fast and lots of fun; the gravel was slow and rattled the fillings in my teeth. Google Maps told Pterodactyl a section of the road at his end was closed (it wasn’t) and led him a merry dance. We finally met up in Cooma and checked into the Alpine Hotel.

[url=https://postimg.cc/s1GjwN4z]
The sealed bits of the Braidwood Cooma Road were just fantastic; an antidote to boredom …

[url=https://postimg.cc/CBXFwGY9]
… but much of this gravelly stuff was not much fun at all. To be fair it was prettier than the alternative route.

Participants in the Rally Down Under stayed here in 2017. In those heady days, Pterodactyl and I used to enjoy a beer or two followed by a glass or two of fine red wine followed by increasingly animated discussions. I’m not sure they were always fun for spectators. These days, we’re both considerably more subdued.

Two members of the band were together.

Ah! Saw your new helmet purchase in another thread...so it was an "emergency" purchase, so to speak. Looks great to me. How is it?

[GoldOxide_imp]

What a great experience and write-up. Wonderful pictures too! Posts like this makes me wish there were such things like the transporters from Star Trek. Would be nice to be able to just pop over with the bike for a ride and a brew and be back in my own bed that evening.

(+1) on that.

[the Ferret]

+2

[Cormanus]

Thank you for the kind words, folks. Tev, an AirHawk makes long days possible.

Lord Popgun, I kept an eye out for Rollers. I also fixed the cigarette lighter.

pdedse, the new lid is great. It’s comfortable, light and suits my head well. I’m very happy with it.