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Wet and embarrassed

Date:
By Wom Battle
Category: Rides

For my Harley Davidsion Road King and I, leaving Maryborough QLD was an imperative.  I didn't take the time to have breakfast, that was going to happen at the first fuel stop.  The roads were wet, the sky threatening but at that point despite the bleak forecast for the last couple of days, no rain.  Maybe I was going to be lucky the wet weather gear was on, justified by the coolness of the morning.

I stopped for fuel and breakfast at a quaint roadhouse/caravan park near Gympie.  The food was good but while enjoying it the rain started.  This moment was unfortunately the dryest I would be for the rest of the day. Not far out of Gympie the single lane highway gave way to dual lane and the traffic increased.  In the steady rain there wasn't much to do but focus on staying seen and getting to Brendale near Brisbane where I had arranged to meet a client (the trip wasn't all play) at his business.

By the time I got there it was apparent the seams in my cheap wet weather gear still leaked.  I was grateful for the offer of coffee and after about an hour headed back out into the pelting rain.  It's the first time I'd had a meeting in wet weather pants, and there seemed no point taking them off.

Directing the Road King back out into the rain heading to Lismore where I had organised to catch up with friends for coffee.  the plan was to then head back to Byron Bay for the night and stay somewhere nice. 

Dual lanes were the standard until past Tweed Heads to not far before the turnoff to Lismore.  It was still pelting down so the winding, not so great road inland was tricky rather than funb.  By the time I arrived in Lismore and I was tired and reviewing my decision to back track to Byron.

My wife called me just as I was heading into the main street so I pulled over and chatted with her via the bluetooth handsfree attached to my helmet.  The rain started to really fall hard so I decided, still on the phone to get off my Harley and head to the footpath.  Sadly I realised too late when I tried to put the fully loaded Road King on the sidestand that I hadn't actually put it down and that there was nothing that I could do to stop the Harley from ending up on its side. 

I put it down as gently as I could, told my wife I'd have to chat with her later because my Harley had just fallen over and momentarily lamented the effort I was going to need to put into trying to get it back up on its wheels.  I'd seen demonstration; "Turn your back to the bike to lift it." I wasn't comfortable doing that, the roadway was sloping towards the gutter and was quite slippery in my riding boots. 

I grabbed the handlebar and whatever else I could hold, squeezed my arse tight and tried to lift it.  On the first go not much happened but as the embarrassment and adrelanline kicked in with a little more focus on arse squeezing I managed to get the bike up, balance on one leg, get the side stand down and lean the bike down properly.  Just as a kind gentleman turned up to offer assistance.

At that point, among a good volley of silent expletives I decided I wasn't going any further today. I hopped on the iPhone to look for accommodation, very keen not to make the same mistake I made last night.  I found a Motel in town with good reviews on Google.  Punched it into the GPS and a short time later was swapping wet clothes for dry getting ready to head out for coffee with my friends.

I hadn't seen this couple for years and there was lots of catching up to do, coffee turned into coffee and drinks that turned into coffee, drinks and dinner that turned into coffee, drinks, dinner and drinks.... That done I returned to the motel exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep. 

Tomorrow I will be home. I went to bed hoping the rain would stop with all my wet gear still hanging off chairs stacked on a table under the air conditioner that was turned on as hard as I could make it... trying to get it dry.  I hoped not to put wet boots on in the morning if I could avoid it.


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March 2024
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