I woke up really really excited today…we are going to take the bikes out for at test ride after the reinstalls, and run in my new tires. It has been 25 days since we have ridden, and I know that I have missed Fe Fe, Phe Phe or as they spell it in Kiwi…Whie Whie…a lot!…ha ha ha
It is bloody freezing this morning, but you can just feel that this frosty morn will grow into a great riding day. We warmed the bikes up, checked all fluid levels, and hit the rode. My bike feels pretty darn good, my cheeks feel smiley, puffy and tight in my helmet…my clothing is also a tad tighter, darn…ha ha ha!! We rode into the suburbs of Melbourne, ran a couple of errands and decided to return. All was going along fine when I felt something give way on the front end of my bike. I worked the handlebars a little and figured that it was just my over sensitive stimuli, and that I should probably learn to be less tuned?…Well, maybe I should pull over, I was thinking…just check it out…ahh, but there is a petrol station coming up in the next 10k's so now I'll wait. Heading off the exit toward the petrol station I down shifted…all was good…then I hit the brakes, only problem was I had no breaks!!! Holly Sh*t, what is going on, after a couple of attempts, I applied more pressure to the rear breaks, and they were working…thank God…radioed Kev, and stopped front of the petrol pump! Of course I have just described everything that just happened in ultra slow motion…If i sped it up to real time you would not be able to read it!!!!….ha ha ha…yeah I'm laughing now! We took a look, and could not believe it! The complete brake caliper was off and the disk and hanging by the cable clanking against the rim! I felt very very lucky that caliper was still intact and from what I could tell, somewhat undamaged! I also feel very very lucky to be sharing this with you! Kev zip stripped the caliper onto the fork and we proceeded to ride onto the farm. My brother Paul found me some tractor bolts in the morning to reattach the caliper for the ride north. Thanks, Paul!