Distance travelled: 397kms
Cumulative distance : 397kms
Donations to date: $8,261
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| Erica and me posing at Berowra - photo by Danny |
Danny met Erica and I at the Berowra Seven Eleven at 8.30am. He was going to ride with us to the PITS where he was going to have his breakfast but it doesn't open until 9am so he led us to Jerry's where we waved him good bye. All three of us were riding with brand new rear tyres and there was a lot of mist around so we stuck to the speed limit. Danny had been accosted by the boys in blue for not slowing down to 60kph when he arrived at Berowra so was not taking any chances on the way to Jerry's.
Erica and I rode on to Wollombi where Erica donned her wet weather gear. The fact that I had been wearing it since the start didn't seem to assuage the rain gods. The road from Wollombi to Broke was in shocking condition with potholes everywhere. I gave my front suspension a real hammering on one and luckily did no damage (BMW tough as!!). We stopped at Singleton for something to eat and to top up the tanks.
As we headed north on the New England Highway it started to rain and it didn't stop until about 30kms before Tamworth. Right miserable weather. Luckily my wet weather gear worked Ok and I didn't end up with a wet crutch!! Checked into the Rydges Powerhouse Hotel about 2.30pm. It's a pretty flash place. I reorganised my luggage as it was all in the wrong bags/panniers. All the riders met in the dining room at 5.30pm before dinner for a briefing. We were given a logbook with all the routes including accommodation. A pretty diverse bunch mostly men and some who have done the ride before.
The routine is breakfast at 7am??? and everyone on the road before 8.30am when the sweeper van with bike trailer leaves to follow the riders and pick up the broken down/tired riders.
