Winter Solstice Motorcycle Ride

For several years Mick and I used to organise some mates to go on a Winter Solstice Motorcycle Ride to be held on the weekend closest to the winter solstice, regardless of the weather.  Mick would arrange a “Mick’s Mystery Ride” to somewhere with a pub serving a roast of the day and have a roaring fire.  We would get up to ten bikes.  Our rides were about 200km long.  One time we even got snowed on.  They seem to have petered out over the years.

Last year, one of those mates contacted us about going for a ride on that weekend.  We ended up over at Hill End for a pie.  It was a nice day out.

This year, we once again we had a phone call from that mate and we decided that a pie at Hill End would be a nice ride this year as well.  Keep it nice and simple.  We were blessed with a nice day to be out and about, weather wise.

This year we took “Sophia” the Moto Guzzi.  This is the bike we have just recently transferred to historic registration, as she is now thirty years old.  We have done a lot of travelling on her, but when I look back at my blog posts, it seems I have not been on the back of her since February 2020! That’s pretty sad.

There are not as many photos this time, as one advantage of a sidecar is that it is the best thing to take photos as we travel along.  Not really possible when riding pillion.

When we arrived at the cafe we were greeted by a happy looking alpaca.  Just look at that sweet face.

I didn’t even take a photo of our lunch.  Just take my word that the pies are delicious.

We called in at a little park area.  Remember I took a photo of this tree earlier in June when we travelled the Bridle Track?  It has now lost most of its leaves.  The other tree I photographed is now bare.

Behind this building, which is the old hospital, there are quite a lot of old machines and carriages.

Naturally, as usual, on the way home we had to stop at the little lookout area.

Sophia sporting her new number plate.

As we neared home, Mick thought he felt something hit his leg and assumed it was something off the road.  When he went to put on the front brakes, nothing happened. 

Oops!  That doesn’t look good!  I think the brake callipers are supposed to be attached to the brake disc, not hanging in the breeze.  Just as well we were nearly home.  A quick improvisation meant we could get home safely and they are now all fixed.  When I looked at our photos, they were in place at the look out, so must have worked loose on the way back home.

It was great that our mate gave us that call, as we would not have otherwise gone for a ride and it did feel good.