29th BMW ICICLE RIDE 2009 Report

[KAT]

Phew - what a ride!

I get a serious lack of personality after about 11pm, so to actually start a ride after midnight was a big decision - and then to do it in winter???

Sudu & another GF left my place around 10pm with Luke following us in the official support vehicle (yes - we just can't stand to be apart & my main man takes very good care of me ) We stopped just before Little River to pick up a friend of Sudu's & hit Little River. We fueled up & quickly found our B&S friends. To my delight while checking in, I see Oldwolf signing up - YEAH HAR, finally get to go for the ride with the man, even if its a f**cking crazy one.

I have a need for order & lists , so a ride where you dont know where you are going until you start that leg, and dont know where you are going to end up - and then to not even know where the heck you are most of the night was a biggie for me. I had to relinquish control & just go with the flow.

I found that around 2-3am was the hardest - we were stuck behind slower riders & I found my concentration flagging... so needed to bring myself up to a speed that kicks the adrenalin back in without being stupid (I had no 'oh shit' or 'oh f**k' moments I'm happy to report). I realised I was actually a danger to other riders riding slower, just watching the brake light ahead and letting my mind wander - rather than honing my focus. It was an interesting reflection today.

In the last leg where I apparently was trying to break the sound barrier (according to Sudu), the rider in front of me was weaving over the road & losing the riders in front - and I wasn't about to get lost in the middle of god-only-knows-where at 4 in the morning. The cold was finding every little nook that I had missed with layer upon layer, my eye-balls hurt and I was feeling sick from the energy drinks & lack of nourishment - but you find deep down the reserves you can call on and keep going. So by the time we got home around 8am this morning, I had absolutely nothing left - satisfied that we had had a great adventure.

And Stefan - you are my hero for doing that crazy ass ride on a 125, with a few hiccups & always a smile.

[KAT]

Oh and a couple of interesting points Luke reminded me of - just so you understand how difficult the navigation was - the support vehicles got lost and in the last leg one of the ride leaders got lost - so what hope did we have

Matt - done it once, that will do me

[[NOC]]

Originally Posted by KAT

Phew - what a ride!

I get a serious lack of personality after about 11pm, so to actually start a ride after midnight was a big decision - and then to do it in winter???

Sudu & another GF left my place around 10pm with Luke following us in the official support vehicle (yes - we just can't stand to be apart & my main man takes very good care of me ) We stopped just before Little River to pick up a friend of Sudu's & hit Little River. We fueled up & quickly found our B&S friends. To my delight while checking in, I see Oldwolf signing up - YEAH HAR, finally get to go for the ride with the man, even if its a f**cking crazy one.

I have a need for order & lists , so a ride where you dont know where you are going until you start that leg, and dont know where you are going to end up - and then to not even know where the heck you are most of the night was a biggie for me. I had to relinquish control & just go with the flow.

I found that around 2-3am was the hardest - we were stuck behind slower riders & I found my concentration flagging... so needed to bring myself up to a speed that kicks the adrenalin back in without being stupid (I had no 'oh shit' or 'oh f**k' moments I'm happy to report). I realised I was actually a danger to other riders riding slower, just watching the brake light ahead and letting my mind wander - rather than honing my focus. It was an interesting reflection today.

In the last leg where I apparently was trying to break the sound barrier (according to Sudu), the rider in front of me was weaving over the road & losing the riders in front - and I wasn't about to get lost in the middle of god-only-knows-where at 4 in the morning. The cold was finding every little nook that I had missed with layer upon layer, my eye-balls hurt and I was feeling sick from the energy drinks & lack of nourishment - but you find deep down the reserves you can call on and keep going. So by the time we got home around 8am this morning, I had absolutely nothing left - satisfied that we had had a great adventure.

And Stefan - you are my hero for doing that crazy ass ride on a 125, with a few hiccups & always a smile.

Hehe does that mean your there next year KAT?

Its true, it doesnt take much loose track of concentration on the road especially in those hours of the morning.. esspecially with that many riders in close proximity...

There was less riders last year but it was alot more demanding.. speeds were faster, and raining.. which made it hard too see the road surface more... to Shane and I this was a delightful change... either that it gets easier every year your do this ride..

The main thing is everybody completed the ride with no off's and made it home safely

[[NOC]]

Originally Posted by KAT

Oh and a couple of interesting points Luke reminded me of - just so you understand how difficult the navigation was - the support vehicles got lost and in the last leg one of the ride leaders got lost - so what hope did we have

Matt - done it once, that will do me

LOL thats what I said last year KAT .... lol all good see how things go...

LOL didnt realised one of the support vehicles got lost... thts funny... yeah Shane was with the that group with the ride leaders... lol here i pulled over too take abit of fresh air erm leak.. lol

[KAT]

Originally Posted by NOC

LOL thats what I said last year KAT .... lol all good see how things go...

Yeah - my concern is that next year I'll go - ah, it wasn't that bad and a good adventure... must remember the pain, must remember the pain...

[User#6]

Well I've slept for most of the day and feeling more refreshed now!

Lastnight was epic to say the least!!! I always knew it was going to be a long and difficult ride, especially on a 125 through areas I'd never been to. There was every type of road and environment included, ranging from tight technical sections to fast flowing or open areas. Smooth roads, bumpy roads, wet/greasy roads, dry roads, up n down hill, + and - cambers, freeways to scrawny backroads, etc. You name it, it was there!

It was fantastic catching up with so many of you to share in the adventure, and thanks for your support and encouragement. I'm sure we all enjoyed ourselves and were thankful to get to the finish line after such a long and challenging night riding together. I had a blast riding with you all and look forward to doing more rides with you in the future.

There were so many memorable moments that I hardly know where to begin...

Riding through a forest area coming over a sweeping left-hander crest, only to discover a greasy, short n sharp downhill right-handed off-camber corner, lined with armco gave me an early surprise (thankyou Mr Brembo!). During the first leg I had some visibility issues with my visor, but had the chance to fix things at the first stop. After that I went to get fuel, pulled up at the servo and realised my pillion seat had vanished, oh crap! Amazingly one of the organisers found it for me!

I think Kat had a good view of this, but a bloody cockatoo dive-bombed me while I was doing about 100...realising it was going to hit me in the chest, I had a split-second to duck down and it smacked HARD into my helmet. AGV-1, bird-nil! That gave me a fright, but was laughing to myself for ages about it. Further along the guys in front of me came to an intersection and everybody peeled off in different directions, which confused everyone behind and u-turns were aplenty. After a while I got separated, found myself very alone, and wondering if I was going the right way. There was roadkill lining the sides of the roads, so paranoia kicked in and cruised along. I ended up picking up a straggler and we teamed up, found our way to Torquay where we picked up a few other lost souls...it was purely my knowledge of Geelong which got us to the servo for the main break!

I had 2 mins to fill up with juice before heading off or get left behind (yep no break for me!), and we went on our merry way once again. About 50klm's later a warning light came on my dash so I had to pull over and fill up the 2-stroke reservoir...I cracked the shits royally, and was asking myself "what next?", as I watched the entire convoy roll past while I was struggling to get the lid off the 2-stroke bottle! Big thanks to Luke for holding the torch and letting me have a couple of minutes break! Having spent nearly the whole night on the bike with scarcely a break, I was feeling a bit mentally and physically fatigued, and was happy to ride the remainder of the journey with the support vehicles and just coast it to the end. In the last 20klm's, I reckon Luke saw some of my worst riding as I was fighting to stay awake/focussed, ignore cramps, see the road on occasions, pick the right lines, and push through that.

Shortly after all the B&S people left, they did the award presentations and much to my embarrassment I won the 'Hard Luck Award'. So many people came up to congratulate me in astonishment that I took the Mito on the trip in the first place, overcame a few setbacks, and got it across the finish line. I have to admit it wasn't the most ideal bike for the trip, but a few people mentioned their surprise at its speed and ability. There were many sections where the bike just chewed through corners and loved every minute of it. Sitting in that aggressive riding position for so many hours has left me with aches and pains all over, but have no regrets and am wrapped that I did the ride! Everyone needs to do this ride at least once in their life!

[[NOC]]

Originally Posted by KAT

Yeah - my concern is that next year I'll go - ah, it wasn't that bad and a good adventure... must remember the pain, must remember the pain...

LOL true, I did pussy out and left my 1000RR at home and brought the comfy bike this time.. my OLD GSXR is really comfy ride for some of the backroads and longdistance

[Pink Angel]

So very true Stefan. The ride is so different to anything you will encounter on any other ride. That is for sure

After the first year I rode, I said the same thing Kat. But by next year you will have forgotten about the pain and will want to get involved in the excitement again. It is a one of a kind ride.

I always remember the first break, everyone is grinning from ear to ear, secretly saying "What the hell are we doing this crazy sh*t for?"
By the second break, you can see the faithue in everyone's faces.
By breaky, there is sheer relief that you actually beat the fatigue, cold and trecherous night conditions and won!!

[Bandit12]

It was definately easier this year....but as Matt mentioned, my ride leader took a wrong turn on the last leg. I found myself in a group of about 20 bikes, mostly Beemers with a couple of Stroms and two scooters....

Anyway, through one section of twisties, the scooters in the middle started lagging, and held us up. By the time we got through, the first riders including leader I think had vanished. This we worked out when we stopped half an hour later, waited for 10 minutes and nobody came!

So we took a number of roads, mostly random it seemed at the time. The ride captain mentioned at the start of the night that if we ended up on dirt roads, we were lost. Well, we ended up on dirt The group size went from 20 to 12, to 5, to 4, back to 10, back to 4, passing a group of equally lost looking sidecars....

Eventually we followed a heap of signs to Baccus Marsh (not sure why) and then hooked back towards Melbourne to arrive half an hour later than everyone else. That was half an hour sitting on crazy speeds....we were a long way from where we were meant to be!

Looking forward to next year

[[NOC]]

Originally Posted by Bandit12

It was definately easier this year....but as Matt mentioned, my ride leader took a wrong turn on the last leg. I found myself in a group of about 20 bikes, mostly Beemers with a couple of Stroms and two scooters....

Anyway, through one section of twisties, the scooters in the middle started lagging, and held us up. By the time we got through, the first riders including leader I think had vanished. This we worked out when we stopped half an hour later, waited for 10 minutes and nobody came!

So we took a number of roads, mostly random it seemed at the time. The ride captain mentioned at the start of the night that if we ended up on dirt roads, we were lost. Well, we ended up on dirt The group size went from 20 to 12, to 5, to 4, back to 10, back to 4, passing a group of equally lost looking sidecars....

Eventually we followed a heap of signs to Baccus Marsh (not sure why) and then hooked back towards Melbourne to arrive half an hour later than everyone else. That was half an hour sitting on crazy speeds....we were a long way from where we were meant to be!

Looking forward to next year

Hell yeah!... you know Shane on the ride home.. I was thinking might have too get that postie bike earlier and attempt fate on this ride lol...