The Black Spur

Book in hand (or satchel) I rode the Bullet up the Black Spur yesterday. In the height of summer, when everything else is bleached, the Spur is still a lush green, forested with pines and giant ferns. I sat for a while and contemplated:

The Bullet now has 2000km and is going beautifully. I love the gentle riding that it invites.

Thank you to Olivier for sharing these magazine covers and posters with me last week:

Royal Enfield in the Golden Triangle

Finally. For years I have wanted to ride a Royal Enfield Bullet through these roads. Yesterday I did so, north of Yea through Highlands, Caveat, Ruffy.  All these empty roads, winding through eucalypt and native pines. Surrounded by a dry summer's day. Overlooking ancient granite boulders, and paddocks of cattle and sheep.

At Ruffy the general store was open. I sat drinking in the shade, beside their new sculptures.

The Bullet is splendid on these twisting country lanes. I plod along at a happy pace, objectively slow, but with a joyful motion. On my new 1950s motorcycle, the green shadows of the road burst into sun light, and the engine purrs.

Here and there I made a friend.

Back at Yea I stopped at the Red Plate Cafe, run by Andy, a member of the SR500 Club of which I was a member. Andy took a photo for his Facebook page, and it sums up how happy this bike made me on this day.