 I thought I had all the bases covered for a top weekend enjoying the hospitality of two different MC’s, and with the bike loaded to the hilt with camping and wet weather gear (to cover all the just in case situations) the idea was to head off Saturday to Binnaway for the Comanchero MC. North West Chapter 1st Anniversary party, then leave early Sunday morning for a pleasant ride to Gunnedah, figuring to arrive about an hour early to take a shit load of photos before the 11.00 am start for the Gladiators MC. Namoi Valley Chapter Poker Run, all up, a fairly simple plan. OK, Fast forward to Gunnedah, my bikes running well, I’ve arrived with plenty of time to spare, it’s a great day and not too hot, I can hear the sound of bikes converging from all directions to the start location, and I’m really laid back with a couple of very nice young ladies chatting to me and tending to my every need.
There’s only one small problem at this juncture though, because, typically, there’s always got to be a fly in the ointment, or to be more entomologically correct in this case, a bee, and the bludger in question had managed to sting me about five klicks out of Gunnedah. So here I am, laid back as I said and listening to bikes, however, its flat on my back in the hospital, pumped full of steroids and antihistamines, and the bikes are going past outside whilst I am watching the clock slowly heading towards eleven, and, not forgetting the very nice young ladies I mentioned before, who were of course a couple of nurses.
Finally, a bit after eleven, the doctor arrived to check me out, and with the medication having kicked in I was feeling somewhat better, so with strict warnings about not driving and operating machinery, he gave me the nod to leave about fifteen minutes later. As you can imagine, I was pretty pissed off as I swung the leg over the bike, resigning myself to head off home as I had no idea where the run was going that day, so, needless to say, I was somewhat surprised to see Duds pull into the hospital and ask if I was feeling alright, having told him I was not too bad, his next question was. “I know where they are going; do you think you can do the run”? figuring all the medication in me was only going to make me feel better as the day went on, I told him I’d give it a try, so with Duds in front setting the pace and me behind on autopilot we eventually caught up with the tail-enders, then, due to some very long traffic free straights, about fifty klicks into the first leg we finally roped in the main group.
A big thanks goes to Duds for his help on that first bit, because, to be honest, even if I had known where to go, I don’t think the brain was working quite fast enough at that stage for me to do it safely on my own. |
