Wangi Wangi Ride 12th January 2023

 Fear and Loathing in Watkins Avenue.

This was the epic ride of the year, so far. It set the pace and created precedents. It was the one everybody wanted to be on. 

 

The ride was a charity do, raising funds for UCARF, the Ulysses charity dedicated to research and treatment of arthritis. Many Ulyssians suffer some form of arthritis, some to a debilitating degree. Occasionally the pain is compounded, when you find yourself in a group dedicated to discussion of “Arthur” and to the exclusion of anything more interesting, like intestinal worms, haemorrhoids or the Ukraine. In any case, we managed to raise some $550.

 

A Ride Report must contain details of which way everyone went. Unusually for a Thursday Ride, everyone went the same way. 23 people and 22 bikes, counted, at Berowra. Off we went at 10.02am via the old Pacific Highway. We went via Somersby for the extra bends. The route was based on maximising bends. If we couldn’t find bends, we would find holes in the road so deep that they had to turn the lights on so you could find your way out.

 

Motorcycling is good for your mental health as it drives brain development. We have, in our brains, most of us, about one trillion synapses, little neural pathways that spark away like buggery when you are on the edge. This is good for you. The brain accounts for about 2% of a body’s mass but uses about 20% of its metabolic energy. It’s important too that you eat the right vegies. Falling off your bike, though, is bad for your mental health, so don’t do it. Just saying – stay upright and use your synapses!

 

We stopped for morning tea at Jerry’s, Kulnara. It wasn’t open. We knew that was likely because of some intelligence (and this is not a contradiction in terms) from Andy, after last weeks ride. We went there because we could. Then off we whizzed, down Bumble Hill, through the beautiful Yarramalong Valley, past Jillaby up to Dooralong skirting the Watagans and through to Cooranbong, or was it Mandalong?

 

As leader, I was in charge of corner marking. I love this responsibility. At every opportunity, I’d wave may arm around and the rider behind me would stop and corner mark. They’d corner mark corners, or roundabouts, or interesting old buildings with a nice crop of agapanthus at the front, or old tractors just off the road. The epic was when I corner marked a wedge tail eagle, circling overhead. The confusion was a joy to behold. I had this beautiful peaceful ride, at appropriate pace I might say, with no one sticking too close. Get close – I’d wave my arm. The rider behind would stop and eventually join the end of the queue.

 

Things went a bit awry on the road to Dora Creek. Because it was getting a bit complicated and the crowd was not close behind me, all soaring with eagles or looking at agapanthus, I stopped and attempted a regroup. Glen Deihm and his Hills mates shot past me. I quickly called Bruce, a mate, whose Council road crew has been engaged in ever-so-slowly filling in the 17,286 certified pot-holes along the road to Dora Creek. A great contract this, with double time, super and holidays and more rain due next week. The errant Hills group were no match for Bruce’s Stop sign (nor were the 36 local car drivers, contingent casualties of the whole fiasco). Local knowledge always helps. We were reunited.

 

We made it, with some fiddling, to Wangi Wangi and to the stately residence where the fund-raising barbecue was to be held. Dismounting from our ‘bikes, we did a fourteen second tour of the stately garden, where seven varieties of camelia and one agapanthus had been planted, last week. We did a quick welcome to the country of the Awabakal people. We saw the curtains of Mrs D’Aguilar’s house across the road draw open a little, and a fearful glance at the bikes and the noise and the melee. Mrs D’Aguilar has been in the street for 53 years and nothing like this has so much shattered the peace before. We have received enquiries from the Council, requesting a statement as to the circumstances and suggesting there might not be a reoccurrence?

 

In his book “The Lake”, Scott Bevan advises “In one translation of the Awabakal name, Wangi Wangi is the place of many night owls. But it looks like another meaning of its name : the place of much water”. 

 

A small discussion on the origins of the name Wangi Wangi was, of course, sufficient provocation for a furious debate over the matter of The Voice. Letters and opinions from Wayne Rees, The Australian and The Herald were shouted, one above the other. The name of the High Court was invoked and the implications for the Australian Constitution. There was ill-tempered pushing and shoving. The matter was beautifully resolved, however, when Jim Cormack, long regarded as a sailor with a dubious reputation, burst out in his classic baritone “I am the Pirate King” from Gilbert & Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance”. The whole room joined in the chorus, and Jim won The Voice.

 

In the meantime, treasurer for the day, John Randall, worked the room. It was a gun in his pocket, and everybody was glad to see him as he extorted money in the name of Arthur and UCARF.

 

We were able to make a prompt start on the barbecue because Ted & Ken, Ulyssians from Newcastle, had arrived earlier and kicked things into gear. They hadn’t been victims of errant corner marking. The barbecue was warmed up and on its way. The bread rolls from Wangi Bakery and the snags from Rathmines and one other place went over a treat. The extra onions and excellent salad worked a treat. People went down to the bakery to get extra bread to take home, explaining to their families real bread was still being baked in Australia.

 

The whole thing was quite pleasant. People ambled out from the stately residence on to the foreshores of the lake, or sat under the trees. The sun shined. People’s noses were satisfactorily sunburnt. Fish jumped and birdsong filled the air, once the sound of the Ducati stopped. The impromptu opera prompted the formation of a Ulysses Gilbert & Sullivan riding group. Corner marking has been turned into an art form, with a true appreciation for nature and the laws of physics.

 

Particular thanks to my wife, Jen, who procured the food, helped cook it, fussed and co-hosted amongst what seemed a group of unduly tall people, and swept up and put things in the dishwasher when it was all over. Thanks to Ken, who took the lead as primary barbecuer. Thanks to John, who knows how to extract money. Thanks to Bruce, and the Dora Creek Traffic Controllers. Thanks to the Awabakal people, a few of whom are still around the area and one of whom drives the courtesy bus home from the Wangi RSL when I need it.

 

Thanks too to Peter, our TEC who faced a particularly challenging day with the modernist reinterpretation of corner marking. You may not know this, but Peter is an Economist. He told me he is happy to take on the TEC role as he has calculated that what he saves in petrol, tyres, wear and tear, risk management costs and stress produces considerable economic benefit. Ask to look at his graph. Just as well he was looking out for wedge tailed eagles on this day.

 

Catch up soon,

Stephen Davies.

Member#4771.Y