The Sunday Drive

Aight, so about ten till 7 this morning the most annoying buzzing sounds intrudes on my slumber. UGH! But draggin' my butt out of bed that early was well worth it.
Now i don't have a bike license, so i was riding as the Pillion (again all Aussie words spelled phonetically) with my Cousin Russel, while Crystal was going for a ride on her new bike.
It was a beautiful day for a ride. Our route would take us out of the city, across the highway and onto the scenic route into Tumblegum for lunch at the tavern.
The name of Russels' biker gang is the ULYSSES CLUB, one of the largest clubs in Australia.








Well there were about two dozen bikes that met up at Maccer's (McD's) and after a quick bite we headed out. I learned a lot about traveling in a group, how they use markers (single bikers) to mark the turns and exits, proper etiquete (also spelled phonetically) and the variances in some of the bikes. Now i should stop here and say that, i hadn't been on a bike since i was 6 or 7 when i rode on the back of a family friends bike and got burned on the exhaust.
leavign my cousins house, on the back of the bike, i didn't find any handles so i was holding no with my fingernails pretty much. And our first road was pretty windy and i thought we were zoooming (not really though) and my heart was pounding. I figured i was a dead man. After that scary episode we get to Russels house were as we stop he leans back and informs me "Oh ya Jordan, if you want, there are some hand rails next to your seat you can hang on to". ARGH! were was that 15 minutes ago when i was sure i was going to die?!?!?!?! lol
But by the end of the day i was comfortable on the bike and didn't have any fear of falling off or the bike exploding on me. Now what the other crazy ute's and car drivers would do....
But the trip was superb. Got to see a lot of the bush country. The mountains the fields and just got a taste of what it was like to be a biker in a gang. (the good kinda gang) Even got to stop for Tea! which i kinda liked, not the tea mind you, but stopping to stretch the legs and grab a bite to eat before lunch. Also a chance to talk to the other riders in the group. Seems it's a national sport here to pick on us Yanks, but i hold my own. No worries there.


At the tavern they sat us outside way in the back. Guess they didn't want us to scare of the regulars. It was still a lot of fun.
After lunch we went cruising, just Crystal Russel and I, down to the Gold Coast, or maybe it was up? I'm not sure. To check out the waves and just puts around. It was too nice a day to let the ride end so soon. So we checked out surfers paradise, walked around the shops some to stretch our legs, and just enjoy being off the bikes and in the fresh air. Traffic was horrible though, it's hard to go from the open road, cruisin along, to bumper to bumper traffic. But after a coffee and a few pictures, we were back on the bikes trying to beat the sunset home. As long as the sun was up, we were all right, but once it starts to go down, it get's downright cold.
This pic is of me and crystal under the Surfers Paradise sign. Sometime in the future James and I are going to be coming back to do some actual surfing. It'll be the first time on a board since my trip to California.
The ride, the people, the views-it was a defenite good time. And I was smart. I went, and got back before I ever told my mom I was going. You know how mothers are, they worry. So mom, I'm going biking! I went! It was a blast! And I got home safe and sound! No worries! :-)