My motorbike (Yamaha 1100 XVS Star Classic for the enthusiasts) weighs 284.9 kg – keep that in mind. It will be important shortly.
This week we moved to a new housesit in St Albans. That’s 20 km past Wisemans Ferry and so is the furthest from the city we’ve been yet. It has a wonderful veggie garden, fruit trees, chickens (fresh eggs every day), horses and dogs.
When we moved in, the house owners were still here. There’s a separate cottage which we used for a few days before they left, giving us a good opportunity to get to know each other and do a proper handover.
This summer has been a very wet one for Sydney – another very important fact.
When I arrived, Claire, the owner, was in the garden. She suggested I put my bike (see details above) under the house where it would be protected from the weather. I thought this was an excellent idea and so rode down to where she was.
In order to get under the house there was a small incline going up. Now remember, this is a heavy bike and it’s been raining A LOT – not a good combination. As I rode up the grassy slope it turned into mud. The back wheel spun out sideways and the bike went down. So, I picked it up and tried again, this time using a different section which seemed more solid. “Seemed” is the operative word as it wasn’t any better – slush, back wheel sliding out and down we go again. I decided this was a bit of a mug’s game and, having a cover for the bike, went back to Plan A which was to have it in the top car park covered with its weatherproof sheet. Easier said than done!
The road to get under the house was downhill from the carpark. Coming down hadn’t been an issue when I went through the slush as the combination of the weight of the bike and gravity had worked nicely to get me where I was going. Heading back up was a different story. Once again hit the mud, back wheel spun out and the bike was back on its side. I lifted it up AGAIN and tried once more with the same result. Isn’t there something about the definition of insanity being “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”?
There was one slight difference – the back wheel had buried itself in the mud and so I couldn’t get it to go backwards to try a different route – oh for a bike with reverse gear!
Claire had been offering to help push which I’d been resisting. By now I was very happy to accept her offer.
So, pick up the bike (still stuck in the mud) with me trying to drive it forward and Clair pushing. Nothing happening – just digging deeper. Slipping the clutch and giving it more revs and slowly, ever so slowly I could feel it starting to grip.
Eventually, with a slight side-slip we got traction and were able to get moving. When I got to the carpark I found the back wheel was covered in mud right to the rim, mud icicles were hanging off the back and Claire had a stripe of mud down her entire front. Last time she tries to offer helpful advice!
The significant amount of weightlifting I had done now meant I was in intense pain and couldn’t walk or sit comfortably for a couple of days.
It’s now Sunday, I can walk again (albeit slowly and at a slightly weird angle). It’s sunny (momentarily) and today’s first job was to wash the bike.