2023 Glacial Lakes MC Grand Tour

Ride #5 - 4th of May click on image to enlarge In a galaxy far, far away, all the stars aligned just so and I was able to get away for a 3-day Grand Tour ride, departing last Thursday, May 4th. This date will have significance for those of us who record our religion as " Jedi " on all Government forms. The B.o.M forecast was for a strong wind front to pass through the state on Wednesday night, with fine, dry and warm weather for Thursday, Friday & Saturday.   Day-time temperatures were expected to be around 23*C (75*F), perfect riding weather. Now, that may be all well and good, but the early morning temps were expected to be only around 4*C (40*F) on our escape route over the Blue Mountains, so an extra layer of thermal underwear, silk glove liners and heated handlebar grips were not considered inappropriate. The Bells Line of Road had very little traffic (for a change) and we made good time to the Wallerawang Bakery for a hot coffee and a delicious custard tart. After t...

A change in my family's social commitments meant that a 5-day window of opportunity opened unexpectedly, and to make things even better, the BOM weather forecast was for fine and dry weather for 3 of the 5 days. Here in Oz, the month of May is the final month of our Autumn which means that our Winter is just a few weeks away. So when the BOM says "fine & dry", what they really mean is "fine, dry and cold", but I am a hairy chested "tough as nails" biker and I can handle "cold".    Besides, heated grips and thermal underwear also help. I suppose I should define what I mean by "cold".   On the Northern Beaches area of Sydney where I live, cold means 15*C / 65*F, while over the other side of the Blue Mountains on the Western Plains, cold means 5*C / 40*F.  These are the typical Winter mid-day temperatures.   Overnight the temps on the Western Plains will get down to -5*C / 25*F, with a light frost or an occasional dusting of snow. ...

intermission  ( noun )   a pause or a break a period during which action temporarily ceases an interval between the parts of an entertainment event (such as the acts of a play) If you have been following my Blog you will know that I have not posted an update since mid-May.   This lack of an update was due to a lack of riding, brought on by a need to stay close to my home due to a family situation. This first Intermission has not been a major impact on my GLMC Grand Tour as the June / July / August period is Winter here in Oz, and is a time to sit at home, staying warm and watching the mighty Sea Eagles play football on cable TV.    However, a second "Intermission" has developed and this was completely unexpected and may have a significant impact on my Grand Tour. In mid-June, I visited my usual doctor, known here in Oz as a General Practitioner (GP), for my annual medical check-up and routine blood tests.  My GP, who has managed my healt...

Following the recent meeting with my cardiologist who said I should take 2 tablets each day and try not to fall off my motorcycle, I decided that meant that I had a medical clearance to resume riding. So, with that in mind, I planned a quick 2 day ride out West to the rural towns of Parkes, Forbes and Eugowra.  All up, an easy 750 km round trip. click on image to enlarge And as luck would have it, 3 of my riding mates had no doctor appointments, social events, or grandchild-minding duties and were all able to tag along for the ride. As we are all "senior citizens" and no longer work full-time, the ride was scheduled for a Tuesday and Wednesday so as to avoid the weekend traffic, which nowadays is like one continuous peak hour. At the appointed hour, 07:00, we all met up at a local 7-Eleven servo and headed off, with our route taking us along Mona Vale Rd onto the M2/M7 and then along Richmond Rd. Richmond Rd used to be a quiet 2-lane rural back-road with very little traffic a...

 And just like that, at the stroke of midnight on September 30, the 2023 Grand Tour was over. John Frick achieved 1st Place with an incredible 1,254 individual murals, closely followed by Charles Snyder in 2nd Place with 1,012 murals and Kevin Morris in 3rd Place with 819 murals. The Top 10 results were as follows :-- John Frick         1,254 Charles Snyder 1,012 Kevin Morris            819 Rick Miller            643 Eric Schneeweis    606 Simon Bell            538 Lee Blauvelt            433 Bill Collins            426 Chris Carter            373 Steve Porter            245 All up, 9,257 mural photos were accepted by the Rally Master, and out of the 67 riders who signed up for the Grand...