CIMMA Run.

piranha-bro2 said:

It's always such a piss off when they spring you, Tom. If only they knew what we get up to when they AREN'T around!

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Ha ha. Yes, if they knew, I reckon some of us would see the inside of a jail cell!

Reminds me of I ride I went on a few years ago. Returning from a bike show in the village of Ross (midlands Tasmania). From Ross, we went via Poatina and the Western Tiers, up onto the central plateau and then back to Hobart via Ouse, Hamilton, Gretna and New Norfolk. It's a nice ride, avoiding the busy midland highway in favour of a much more interesting and scenic route. I think there were about 4 or 5 of us riding together on that day.

On Poatina Road that zig-zagged up the Western Tiers, I was at the tail end of the group when I felt the need to stop for a piss. By the time I got going again, the other guys were quite a way ahead. The road was pretty slow and twisty so not much scope to close the distance to the lead group, but once on top of the plateau it straightened out into a series of straights and fast sweeping bends, so for the next 25km I let the Jota do its thing. I figured the risk was minimal. There was bugger-all traffic, the weather was perfect, the road was well made with good smooth surface, visibility was excellent a long way ahead, it was the middle of the day when there are no animals about (Tassie wildlife is predominantly nocturnal) and you rarely see police on that road. I won't quote any numbers, but we all know what kind of speed a Jota in good fettle is capable of when revved to the redline in top gear.

It was a sublime and thrilling ride going flat-out through a series of gentle curves, rises and drops and short straights, on my own with not another vehicle in sight for the whole 25km. I eventually backed off as I approached the "T" intersection with the Highland Lakes Road where my mates were waiting for me. Just at that moment a Toyota Landcruiser with blue lights on top and POLICE written all over it turned from the Highland Lakes road into Poatina Road that I was approaching from. By the time we saw each other I was back down to legal speed and I gave him a friendly wave as he went past. If he'd been 30 seconds earlier, he would have clocked me at a speed that I probably wouldn't have been issued a ticket for. I'd have more likely been arrested on the spot, handcuffed and chucked in the back of the Landcruiser. Phew, close calls don't come much closer than that!

Below, from Google Maps: A typical stretch of Poatina Road on top of Tasmania's central plateau. Perfect for a bit of high speed frolicking. It's like that for 25km and you rarely see another vehicle.

We also have a remote road where silliness is abused. Some get very silly, some less so. These days, silliness is a rare thing. That silly road has a sudden T-intersection close to a blind approach that regularly gets overshot; it would be really silly to attempt to make a late entry, way less silly to blow through and do a U-turn. I guess that proves we are less silly than I thought.

Although we now have a thread high-jack, we still have plenty of silliness over here. This weekend it is the turn of the Manx 'Festival of Motoring' which brings classic car owners and twats in 'supercars' to the island. Most are well behaved but some of them obviously can't resist the 'no speed limits' and will go mad. As an aside I was speaking to my legal beagle the other day about my PI claim and he again mentioned there maybe a legal issue with our continuance of the 'no limits' speed framework, so it's far from certain that it will remain in place for much longer. I'll just need to fill my boots in the meantime - in a responsible manner of course.

Should have kept my mouth shut, opened up the local news website this morning and the first item is about some campaigner wanting the road safety strategy progressed along with an introduction of a national speed limit.