| #1009 | |||||||||
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A geisha, a sumo and an Italian go bush
Darin:
TigeR contacted me on Thursday about calling a ride for Saturday, I said "Mate have you seen the weather for Friday" and so it came to be, A late call. Sorry about that. A newbie joined us "Dirt Diggler" (related and of the same ilk as Dirk) He made a few hundred dollars of improvements to his brand new DRZ during the course of the day. What a great day to be out riding, the temp was spot on and between TigeR and myself we are stringing together some tracks that are going to be spectacular in the wet season. TigeR, I think we need one more trial run to fine tune and get rid of that small dirt road section on the return run. It was a good day, with a lot of laughs. ---------------------------------------------------------------- TigeR: It’s dark in here. Under cover. Locked up. Friday 6th of Jan. In the shed. In hibernation until March, maybe even April. My given name is WR250F, but I prefer to call myself Geisha as I’m from the land of the rising sun – and here I am locked away waiting for my master to bring me back to my natural habitat once this godforsaken summer is done. Master of course is a bit of an overstatement as he’s more Toby from Neighbours than Toby Price – but you take what you can get. Oh here he is, shush, into the shed, no doubt to get the pruning shears for the rhododendrons. What’s this? Off with the covers, wheeled out. Could it be? Air in the tyres, spokes check, air filter check, chain tensioned. Could it really be? Hey, it’s cool today. Maybe? Fired up. Warm up. Oil check. Trailer on the car, and I’m wheeled up, tied down. Woo hoo! (or the Japanese equivalent). The wind in my hair as we leave the suburbs and tin lids behind, and soon out in the familiar gum tree lined roads – and before long we’re parked up at Metro Rd. Who’s going to be here today? A new rider turns up, with a shiny new DRZ 400 on the back. I introduce myself, “Oh I’m Geisha too!" she exclaims. “Really?” I reply in mock shock, whilst thinking “You don’t fool me with your bold new graphics! Sumo more like.” Sumo tells me this is only her second outing as Dirt D is following the familiar story of returning to riding after a twenty-year layoff before sanity returned to his life. We both turn to look as Darin’s familiar ute turns into Metro Rd. Oh, there she is the Italian beauty on the back. All flair and nose in the air. Some call her Beta 480RR – we all know her as Cecilia. She ignores us of course. We are of course honoured to be ignored. The prep and pre-ride chat is done. Dirt D is heard asking “What are whoops?”. He’ll soon find out I think. Cecilia prances off at the front, as we are once again honoured to be ignored and eating her dust. Sumo takes the middle place, with me Geisha at the rear. Again. Toby? Really? Oh, it’s good for the soul to be out bush again. 100m in – we hit the whoops. I distinctly hear Sumo go “WTF?”. “Welcome to WA” I say “Would you like some pea gravel with your whoops, with a side serve of extra slippy today?”. Over the next four hours, Cecilia led us on a magical tour to Bannister and back – in an ultra-cool 24C. It didn’t seem possible but I would swear it was slipperier than our last outing in mid-December. Sumo was getting a baptism of fire in the challenging conditions; but Dirt D’s skills were returning quickly. Second ride, she would look decidedly second-hand by the end of the day – after kissing the pea-gravel more than once. Sumos must like peas. The most spectacular was within 100m of the cars when she sent Dirt D for a trip over the bars in the whoops. He won’t be asking “What are whoops?” again. SOTD for you Sumo. As for me the following conversation has me wondering if my days in the shed are numbered? Darin: Care to take the Beta for a ride? TigeR: No, I’ll either stack it or want to buy it. Darin. Go for it. TigeR: Ok then, just for a couple of kays. 10 mins later the said TigeR was gibbering like a Belieber after a close encounter with Justin Bieber. I don’t think he’ll forsake my Japanese reliability and loyalty for a fickle Italian with expensive tastes? Would he? Either way he’s still Toby from Neighbours trying to beat his record of one whoop in a row. Ciao. Sayonara. Will we get out again before April?      |
