This year, the Black Dog riders will be off to the Red Centre once again, this time, with the destination being Uluru, better known as the world’s famous stone, Ayres Rock. We take part in this ride, not just for the ride itself but, to get the conversation flowing about depression and suicide. Leading up to, and including the time we are on the road, we do our best to raise funds for life line and Mental Health First Aid. More information can be found at http://www.blackdogride.com.au/ .
This year’s itinerary for myself will be
This will see the Black Dog Ride finishing at the Uluru Resort on the 22nd of August and the riders, from there, will make their own way from then on.
With me now riding my Honda Integra 700 cc Scooter, I will be towing my camper trailer which will certainly reduce my accommodation costs but will add to fuel consumption. While, the ride to Uluru is set in concrete, I will be taking my time getting around from that time on and will not be riding when the wind isn't favourable.
In Western Australia, the road laws do not allow any vehicle towing to exceed 100 kph which is quite frustrating but, I won't be alone with this problem as I have two good mates who will also be towing and hopefully, we can do this together. It is always better to be riding with others and this will mean I am more likely to keep within the speed limits. Thankfully, once over the WA / SA border, we are free to ride at the posted speed for all vehicles.
Having worked out the above itinerary, it very well may change. Two weeks out before the ride begins, I am considering a very big difference and this will depend on how I am feeling once the Black Dog Ride is done and dusted. The alternative I am considering is going north, after my visit to Kings Canyon, head for Mataranka. Staying there overnight, may be two, to enjoy soaking in the crystal clear and warm natural springs. This will depend on the bat situation at the time. Last time I was there it was absolutely beautiful but, there have been times when the bat population gets so large, one is unable to get into the water due to their droppings polluting the swimming hole.
From Mataranks, through Katherine and on to the Northern Territory / Western Australia border before making my way to Broome. From there, I would ride down the coast to Perth. The distance from Uluru to home is 5,945 kilometres which will mean doing an extra 2073 kilometres if my arithmetic is up to scratch. I am looking at this now and not before as it was planned for a Black Dog Ride, to be held in 2016 was to have it's destination being Darwin, but this has since been cancelled.
This rerouting would see me riding with Simmo and Diane as far as Kununurra then, possibly meeting up with Greg and Carol somewhere along the highway.
Day 1 16 August 2015
Tossed and turned last night and never got to sleep unitil the midnight then awake again at 4 a,m, not the best sleep I needed. Out of bed on the chilly Sunday morning as one would expect give we are in winter. Finished the last small items which needed to be packed, a quick breakfast, wash the dishes then I was about set when the phone rang. It was my mate Jim, who had driven over to see if I was ready. Nice of the bloke to get out of his bed to make sure he was able to see me off at the start point.
With camper trailer in tow, I set off for the short ride to where the Black Dog riders were to have breakfast, a coffee and say goodbye to family and friends before hitting the road.
i had earlier let it be known I was going to leave before the main group as I didn't want to be the last into Kalgoolie, those 500 plus kilometres down the road. For some it makes sense to have any vehicle towing a trailer at speed limit, ten kilometres less than the rest of the traffic but, to me, it makes no sense at all.
The day turned out to be perfect with it being very mild with no wind to speak of. I rode with Peter and his lovely wife, Cheryl for much of the day. They are always great company.
It didn't take long to set up the camper then off to have a shower before going to tonight's function which was held at the local Motel. A great day with my now exhausted. A good night's sleep should see me up and at em in the morning for a 700 odd ride to Madura Pass tomorrow.
Day 2 17 August 2015 Kalgoolie to Madura Pass 716 Kilometres
Our longest day in the saddle started off before first light with Peter shaking the camper trailer to wake me up. Out of my sleeping bag, I fumbled in the camper to get dressed before sticking my head out to feel the first drops of rain on my head. Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be the only rain we were to have on today’s ride. It was surprisingly, a very mild morning with me not having to turn the heater on all night.
We wasted no time in packing up camp with our two campers hooked on to our rides and off we went to find our first coffee for the day. As soon as we saw it was light enough to have seen most of the local wildlife which wander the roads of outback Australia, we hit the road for the long day ahead of us.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, once you have crossed the Nullabor Plain (known locally as the Paddock, there is no joy in doing it again and again. This is my 23rd crossing and it has become a huge bore as there is very little change in scenery for the next 1,300 kilometres give or take a hundred or two kilometres. The main growth, where there is any, is made of mallie scrub with no grass to speak of at all, with very few trees scattered there a bouts. Today, the most boaring part of our ride covers the longest straight, without a slight bend, of the highway for over 90 Miles making it extremely tiring.
Morning tea was at Norseman where the Local Lions club had put on a good feed and it was there, my attention was brought to notice by a couple of fellow riders, I had a puncture in one of the camper’s tyres. It isn’t often where a male has a flat tyre where a number of blokes get stuck in to changing it but, all I had to do was pull out the spare tyre and the job was done. Lunch was set for the Balladonia Roadhouse but who needs to eat when you are spending so much time in the saddle? Not me, that is for sure. Road houses are useful for two main things being, refuel and grab a cup of coffee then it is off to the next one.
We pulled into the Madura Pass shortly after 4p.m. with my first priority being to set up the camper for the night then, to fix the punctured tyre which was a very simple matter of repairing it using my repair kit.
Having done this, it was time to throw down a few beers, grabbing something light to eat before retiring to bed for a goodnight’s sleep.
Day 3 18th August 2015 Madura Pass to Ceduna 669 Kilometres
I awoke with Cheryl’s voice ordering me up out of bed. Throughout the night I heard the rain hitting the camper roof and wasn’t surprised to find us having to pack up camp with the wet stuff all around us. We have, till today, had the great fortune to have no wind to speak of but it would, at times, have us riders leaning into the riders nemesis as we crossed the featureless Nullabor Plain while we were pestered by intermittent showers. As a rule, I don’t mind riding in the wet if I need to get to point B from Point A but, when you have wet roads and road trains picking up all the water and grime from off the road and spraying it all over you as they pass, it does cause you to lose sight of the road ahead for a short time.
Very early in the day, I was riding behind Peter when we came upon five bikes sitting on the side of the road with one of our Black Dog riders laid flat. Peter and I pulled up but it didn’t take me long before I realised something very serious had occurred and for my own sake, I felt it better for me to hope and pray it was not as bad as it could be and for me to move on. No doubt, I would hear about what happened later and there was nothing I could possibly do to assist and my emotions would cause me a great deal of stress if there had been a death.
At our lunch stop at the Nullabor Road House, I learned, both the rider and his pillion passenger would be okay but were unable to finish the ride with us. Later, at dinner we heard of what actually occurred. A kangaroo had hit the motorcycle side on. This collision caused the pillion passenger to have two breaks in her left leg and the rider had his knee cap all out of shape. It must have taken a great deal of skill for that rider to be able to bring his bike to a stop safely since the impact must have been incredible to cause such injuries to those on the bike.
Tonight’s evening meal was held at the nearby hotel however I wasn’t up to having anything in my stomach so I settled for a couple of beers then it was off to bed for me.
Day 4 19 August 2015 Ceduna to Port Augusta 468 Kilometres.
With the wet weather behind us, I awoke with my shoulder giving me a substantial amount of pain but I had no alternative than to pack up and get back on the road. As the morning went on, I needed to stop twice to take pain killers and anti-inflammatory medication in an attempt help relieve the pain however, it just became too great for me to continue to ride. Having ridden for 210 Kilometres, I pulled into our Morning Tea stop in Wudinna and approached our back up support crew advising them of the problem I was having. I guess it is important for me to mention, I had been booked in to having my right shoulder operated on just three weeks before the ride but deferred this until after I got home and now, I was paying for this. On this ride, we had to support vehicles, one towing a trailer and the other, not and it was very quickly decided, we could not fit, both the scooter and the camper on this trailer and we set about thinking what could be done to enable me to go the rest of the day in one of the support vehicles. Then, all of a sudden, we had a Eureka moment. It was Graeme, one of our support crew, who came up with a brilliant idea. This idea was to place the scooter on the trailer and have the other support vehicle tow the camper. How imaginative was this? What a brainwave! Who would have guessed a vehicle could tow a camper? With little effort, all was in hand and we were off, on our way to Port Augusta.
The Lions Club of Port Augusta have always been a great support to the Black Dog Ride and tonight was no exception. They put on for us, a magnificent roast meal, which we all enjoyed. After a game of Trivia and a few beers, I hit the sack.
Day 5 20 August 2017 Port Augusta to Coober Pedy 555 Kilometres
Yesterday, The support vehicle I was in, pulled in to refuel and while there, I purchased another ten litre fuel container and filled this up meaning, I would have 25 litres of reserve fuel I could rely on today for the ride north to Coober Pedy. The weather forecast was not looking good as we were to face 40 kilometre winds coming in at us from the North East and I may have needed every one of those litres if I was going to have the camper on behind but this was not to be the case. Instead, the other support crew were quite happy to have the camper on behind their vehicle and I was more than happy for this to happen. The scooter had performed beautifully, as I expected but, towing the camper into such winds, it would have made for a very much more difficult day in the saddle.
After a good night’s sleep and being woken by Cheryl yet again, I packed up the camper and left it for the support crew to fix it to their vehicle, I made my way to get a coffee before hitting the road. So, here I was, the scooter unharnessed from the camper, my shoulder feeling much the better and nothing was going to hold me back today from enjoying the ride.
Pushing into the wind, there were a few occasions when the scooter was pushed to the left of the road with gusts which were unexpected but all was good as I was sitting on x k.p.h. Made it into Coober Pedy before any other riders, checked in at the apartment I had booked for myself, Pete and Cheryl Crossan, Pete and Dian Simmons and Sam and Felicity. Then it was back to the Roadhouse to ensure all arrived in town safely.
While the others had spent the night down at the local, I decided I would have some time alone which would give me the chance to get my blog up to date but things didn’t go to plan as the power cord to the laptop was in the camper and what little battery power I had available, made no difference as there was very little WIFI Internet coverage in an apartment buried underground.
An early night in a comfortable bed assured me of a good night’s sleep, the best I have had since leaving home made me ready for the long day in the saddle tomorrow.