Y'know, its a weird feeling. Watching some guy picking up a steel rack with a fork lift, and then driving into a cavernous shipping container. Particularly when your pride and joy is attached to the rack. I'm not talking about my anatomy, I'm talking about my bike. Then the doors slam shut, a seal is placed on the lock, and that's it, its out of your hands, nothing more you can do. You may never see your bike again. It could finish up on the bottom of the ocean, like Malaysian Flight 370. A more optimistic view would have you rendezvous with it in another time and another place. A galaxy far, far away perhaps. Nothing so far fetched. In this particular case, a rendezvous is planned for Seattle, Washington, USofA on Monday, 27 June 2016. If all goes according to plan, that's when I will see my bike again. Aint no turning back now!!
At least it will be the first one out of the box, unless they open the other end of the container, just to annoy me. I rode the bike over to Sydney last weekend. I'm a bit rusty, having deliberately not ridden too much recently, for fear of anything going wrong and thwarting my carefully laid cunning plan. So two big 650km days straight off the bat had me fairly knackered. But I managed to dodge the rain, and the hordes of Western Sydney Wanderers fans heading in the opposite direction to watch the National Wogball Grand Final in Adelaide. A long painful drive home ultimately awaited them, courtesy of Adelaide United, but who cares? I headed for the home of my good mate, the very well travelled Errol Goodenough and his lovely wife Suzanne. They reside in picturesque Leura in the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney. It was great to catch up over a couple of reds and some fine single malt scotch, do a little sight seeing, and to recuperate. Errol himself heads to the USA about 3 weeks before I do, and plans to ride from Oregon to Newfoundland with some American friends. Unfortunately it does not look like our paths will cross, but who knows? He'll be on a KLR650, so maybe I'll catch him!
Anyhoo, a quick ride into Sydney had me at the freight depot in Banksmeadow. A little preparation was expected, on the basis of past experience and the advice from Get Routed. We were advised to have only 2 litres of fuel in the bike, and to disconnect the batteries and tape up the leads, pretty standard stuff. However, nobody gave a rat's, which I found very surprising. My bike had at least 6 litres onboard, despite my best efforts to use it up before I got to the depot by getting lost, even with a GPS, no mean feat, and nobody was fussed about the battery either. I disconnected mine anyway to stop it going flat (I hope). Due to a late cancellation by 3 Harley riders who apparently reckoned there was too much paperwork involved (what kind of fantasy world do these guys live in? And talk about taking coals to Newcastle, but I digress) there was plenty of room in the container. So nobody had to remove panniers either. Too bad, because I brought all the stuff to do all of the above, including a big roll of bubble wrap (see last photo). It weighed bugger all, but it took up a lot of room, which I could have put to better use. Most of my riding gear went in the panniers, and some of my heavier stuff which I can live without for a while, so that should lighten the load I have to take with me on the plane. My bike was loaded last, because the luggage plate I have at the rear added a critical 35mm to the overall length, and it was decided to put the bike in on a slight angle. Oops! Luckily I didn't have to take it off though. Once the container was secured, I got a lift to the airport and flew home, but not before I had to wait for 5 hours in Sydney Airport though. D'oh! I had arranged a late flight because I assumed I would be there most of the day, and probably would have been if the container was full, and the preparation as rigorous as I had expected.
Right then, 6 weeks to iron out any wrinkles in the plan, then I fly to Dubai on 20 June, insh'allah.
At least it will be the first one out of the box, unless they open the other end of the container, just to annoy me. I rode the bike over to Sydney last weekend. I'm a bit rusty, having deliberately not ridden too much recently, for fear of anything going wrong and thwarting my carefully laid cunning plan. So two big 650km days straight off the bat had me fairly knackered. But I managed to dodge the rain, and the hordes of Western Sydney Wanderers fans heading in the opposite direction to watch the National Wogball Grand Final in Adelaide. A long painful drive home ultimately awaited them, courtesy of Adelaide United, but who cares? I headed for the home of my good mate, the very well travelled Errol Goodenough and his lovely wife Suzanne. They reside in picturesque Leura in the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney. It was great to catch up over a couple of reds and some fine single malt scotch, do a little sight seeing, and to recuperate. Errol himself heads to the USA about 3 weeks before I do, and plans to ride from Oregon to Newfoundland with some American friends. Unfortunately it does not look like our paths will cross, but who knows? He'll be on a KLR650, so maybe I'll catch him!
Anyhoo, a quick ride into Sydney had me at the freight depot in Banksmeadow. A little preparation was expected, on the basis of past experience and the advice from Get Routed. We were advised to have only 2 litres of fuel in the bike, and to disconnect the batteries and tape up the leads, pretty standard stuff. However, nobody gave a rat's, which I found very surprising. My bike had at least 6 litres onboard, despite my best efforts to use it up before I got to the depot by getting lost, even with a GPS, no mean feat, and nobody was fussed about the battery either. I disconnected mine anyway to stop it going flat (I hope). Due to a late cancellation by 3 Harley riders who apparently reckoned there was too much paperwork involved (what kind of fantasy world do these guys live in? And talk about taking coals to Newcastle, but I digress) there was plenty of room in the container. So nobody had to remove panniers either. Too bad, because I brought all the stuff to do all of the above, including a big roll of bubble wrap (see last photo). It weighed bugger all, but it took up a lot of room, which I could have put to better use. Most of my riding gear went in the panniers, and some of my heavier stuff which I can live without for a while, so that should lighten the load I have to take with me on the plane. My bike was loaded last, because the luggage plate I have at the rear added a critical 35mm to the overall length, and it was decided to put the bike in on a slight angle. Oops! Luckily I didn't have to take it off though. Once the container was secured, I got a lift to the airport and flew home, but not before I had to wait for 5 hours in Sydney Airport though. D'oh! I had arranged a late flight because I assumed I would be there most of the day, and probably would have been if the container was full, and the preparation as rigorous as I had expected.
Right then, 6 weeks to iron out any wrinkles in the plan, then I fly to Dubai on 20 June, insh'allah.
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