next part
not to many vehicles on the road at all along the way , did they know something I didn't ?
no matter, made it fun to wind down the big hill into the coastal areas and traverse the many gully and creek crossings along the path to Gloucester where I filled up with fuel and necessities , grog , food stuffs etc and then back on the road into the rain again .
running a bit late from the off , I wasn't waiting around for other drivers along the road , achieved Dungog before 5:00 pm , not too bad at all
a quick look around the township showed no signs of bikes anywhere .
hmmm
off into the rain again , and to the "low road " access to the state forests , stopping along the way at a roadside household rubbish pickup , where I scored a busted scateboard , the intention being to use it for centre stand support - platform in the mud at the campsite , the k beasts sink well in mud, experience has taught me well ....giggles
the campsite wasn't far off now , I thought to myself as I thrashed along the dirt road , fortunately mostly gravel , which these avon trailmaster tyres love , but not so well the modellers clay sections of slippery uncontrollable gunk.
yep, found a gully in the road surface along the same line as the wheel tracks , breaking through the crown of the road to the other side , front wheel followed the crack and the back wheel decided to try and blast through the gooee crap low side .resulting in a soft layover event , crushing the city case panier on the right hand side ,,,,shoot !!!!
dignity regathered , contents of the panier lashed to the back and the city case discarded on the side of the road , actually the lid did well and was not damaged too much , but without any further room left to spare , it now lives as a marker and warning to those that come after me now planted into the roadside cutting .
approaching the campsite , a little further on (maybe 5 kilometers ) down a fairly slippery section of mud, I hit the wooden surfaced bridge on the approach to the campsite , losing traction on the rear again , perhaps a little too much rear brake on that decent ?
bugga me !!! lost the rear again , this time in a big way with a very heavy landing indeed . engine roar , then cuttoff as I found the kill switch .
I had hit the ground hard, right knee first to hit whilst still tucked into the fairing upper and almost in riding stance , leg was tucked under the bike foot kinda wrapped up in the space between shock absorber , rear wheel and frame ,. I remember seeing this and thinking this is not a good look ,whilst laying under the weight of the bike on the wet and muddy road surface , the angle of the ankle was ...erm ...interesting to say the least .
help arrived rather quickly as the campsite was but mere meters from the road and bridge at that end of the site .
a couple of blokes helped me get untangled and right the old girl , , big scoring damage to the upper part of the fairing on the right hand side , mirror had poped off , and lots of scars along the right hand side of the crankcase , and everything else ,(the panieer would have taken some of that load , unfortunately already missing ) .
with thanks to the guys, hobbled back onto Gerty which started with ease (god bless her ) and rode in to the entry point where I caught up with some familiar faces . slowly making a pained walk to make the entry fee , with concern from many on my health status .
one of the bmwtc members helped me get a site location stewart I think his name was , but Al Pennykid found me and helped setup Gerty on some timber under the centre stand in the soft ground (the skateboard had been discarded some ways back as I needed the hockystrap to hold other things together ...blast !!)
had I said it was wet yet ?
I had carried an additional plastic Tarp with me so tied it to a tree and to Gerty to get some form of covering , deployed the tent underneath , with some difficulty, bloomin hobbling around all over the place with some pain , but only when I stood with weight on my right keg ...figures I guess ...lol
campsite setup complete and dark approaching fast now , I retired to my little place of peace , and a six pack of beer to contemplate my predicament , fortunately no bottles were broken but a loss of some contents in one bottle left the topbox swamped in beer residue and my spare jumper soaking wet .
until the first "off" I had been well clad and pretty dry from all the weather , but during the fight to right the bike, I had stripped off the jacket , helmet gloves etc and was now quite damp , fortunately left side panieer carried my alternate clothing so re dressed to keep warm . it rained and rained all night , im sure it got heavier as soon as I arrived , with only 1 or 2 stops in rain over night , just for a minute or two each time , im told rain fall was 8 inches for the area overnight , but im sure where we were, it was more , with the constant splash of the tarp dumping its load every few minutes .
some banter overnight with others before retiring was welcome
a nurse , along with the ralliers threatened me with some medication - pain killers should the need arise ,and suggested that I call for an ambulance to get out of this predicament with medical intervention recommended pretty quick .
but I knew that i had little or no pain in the affected leg , until I stood with weight upon it , I could feel my toes , I could also wiggle them and could feel no warm blood in my boot so knew there no skin piercing damage down there .
decided that if I took the boot off that I would not likely get it back on with the swelling that was likely to happen , so left it on as a splint of sorts , keeping it all compressed and together like .
an ambulance would not be attending way out in the sticks anyhow , as far as I was concerned .
she (the nurse ) agreed and left me alone till next morning - thankfully , when I did get a couple of panamax tablets from her before leaving site .
was pretty much agreed by all that, although I had missed the presentations assembly for the rally, that I should get the hard luck award ...lol
on leaving next day I was lucky enough to get an escort by 4wd vehicle , "just in case " along the path "out" along the bush tracks , I had to slow several times to let him catch up , with a wave and good bye as we hit the tar again .
my plan with this condition was to head to Toms Place in Newcastle and attend the john hunter hospital as I was sure if anything that needed to be done could be done as a one stop shop kinda thinking . I hooked up with some of the local "Hunter" (nearby major city Newcastle - regionally know as the "hunter" region from its proximity of the hunter valley and river ) members . who I travelled with southbound out of dungog . we stopped for brunch where we discussed meeting up with Tom , and if anybody had seen him recently , a member contributed that he thought he was off in New Zealand exploring , Burt Munro Challenge perhaps and with Gaz ?
hmm... well that shot a hole in my considerations , we parted the brunch spot with good tidings and a refresh meeting next year .
it was only raining softly at this point so turned my heading north again , as I wasn't in any real pain whilst riding , I couldn't see any big risk to travelling homewards .
with some help from the lady at the shell servo at glouchester filled up again but was advised that the road up the highway was blocked with police turnng around motorists but likely a motorcycle could get through . I proceeded regardless ....lol. what else could go wrong ?
repairs to old Gerty - once more - karuah river trip oopsies and recovery Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:06 am
