The French Connection
The French Connection
It has been some time since I last updated my Blog, so for those of you who may have been eagerly waiting, here it is.
They say that life is a journey, where we get to choose some of the destinations along the way, while factors outside our control decide the other destinations.
In 1916, two French neurologists, Georges Guillain and Jean Barré, together with French physician André Strohl, described a condition where a person's immune system attacks and destroys parts of their peripheral nervous system.
These peripheral nerves control muscle movement, as well as transmitting pain, temperature and touch sensations. This nerve damage results in muscle weakness including paralysis, loss of sensation (numbness) in the legs and/or arms, and problems swallowing or breathing.
None of these are desirable attributes while riding a motorcycle.
Today, this condition is known as Guillain - Barré Syndrome (GBS) and it was my "destination" in early February.
GBS is a rare condition, affecting only 1 in 100,000 people per year, and while it is more common in adults and males, people of all ages can be affected.
The exact immune system trigger is unknown as several different triggers have been identified, with food poisoning often experienced some weeks before the onset of the symptoms.
For the record, I like my beef steaks cooked medium rare, but from now on, my chicken meal will always be very well done.
This week, after spending time in hospital, followed by an on-going physio-therapy program, I put that "destination" behind me when I completed a Grand Tour / Recovery day-ride of around 450 km, up to the Hunter Valley.
This "GT/R" ride started with a 06:30 departure so as to get in front of the worst of the morning peak-hour traffic, and once on the dreaded M1 Motorway, I headed north, making good progress up to the Oak Roadhouse Cafe at Freemans Waterhole.
The roadhouse was popular with inter-state truckers before the M1 Motorway was built sixty years ago, but nowadays, the trucks stay on the M1 and the roadhouse is popular with the motorcycle crowd.
So, with a cup of strong coffee and a chicko roll in hand for breakfast, I spent an enjoyable 30 minutes strolling around the car park admiring the various bikes parked there.
From Freemans, it was a short ride to my first bonus location, the Weston Workers Club.
The first farmer settled in the area in 1894, but the Weston township became a reality in 1903 with the discovery of large coal deposits nearby. Over the years, the coal mines closed and the township became a quiet residential area, with the 2021 Census recording 4,088 residents in the township.
From Weston, it was a short ride back onto the Newcastle Highway and up to North Rothbury, a village of approximately 2,502 people for another bonus photo.
North Rothbury is the site of the infamous "Rothbury Riot", where in 1929 NSW Police fired their revolvers towards a crowd of union miners, who were on strike against unfair working conditions. One miner, Norman Brown, was killed and forty-five miners were injured.
From North Rothbury, it was only a few minute's ride to East Branxton for another bonus photo, before an enjoyable 45 km ride to the Post Office at East Gresford.
The area between East Branxton & East Gresford is in the Upper Hunter region and is made up of gently rolling countryside, dotted with small farms. As there was very little traffic, and with the sun shining and a gentle breeze, I made good time along the winding back-country roads joining these 2 towns.
From East Gresford, I headed to Maccas (Mickey-Ds in the US) at Raymond Terrace for lunch. This was again about 50 km to the south-east, along some more winding back-country roads.
Why is it that winding country roads, even if they are somewhat bumpy, are so much more enjoyable than super-slab motorways?
The good news is that McDonald’s Australia has announced a major change to its menu with the fast food chain bringing back the Big Mac Family for a limited time.
Macca's fans have always been able to pick up the Classic Big Mac, which features two all-beef patties, iceberg lettuce, cheese, onions and pickles between the world-famous sesame seed bun, finished with Macca’s Special Sauce, but now we can also choose it's smaller sibling the Mac Jnr, or it's bigger sibling the Grand Big Mac, which includes bigger patties and bigger buns.
So much choice . . . .
Having survived lunch, I headed east towards the railway station in East Maitland, but along the way I stumbled across this sign at the East Maitland Cemetery which I had not seen when I scouted for bonuses in Google Streetview.
By now, Mickey Mouse's little hand on my $5 watch was pointing somewhere between 1 & 2 o'clock, so it was time to turn south and head for home.
Betty, my GPS lady, wanted me to get onto the Newcastle Highway and then down the dreaded M1 Motorway. After all, this is the quickest route, but I had other ideas.
From East Maitland, I headed south along some more winding back-country roads towards Mount Vincent and then onto Mulbring and Freemans Waterhole, where I re-fuelled the bike before joining the dreaded M1 Motorway.
As is now typical, the afternoon traffic on the M1 was a nightmare, with the inevitable congo-line of large trucks all heading back to Sydney.
The only thing to disrupt the boredom of the M1 was that there had been a 2-car crash on the Hawkesbury Bridge, which resulted in 3 lanes of traffic being backed-up for around 5 km.
Oh, the joys of travelling on the M1.
I found out later that a car, travelling at 110 kph, had changed lanes unexpectedly, and crashed into a second car, with both cars ending up against the concrete divider. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.
Lane filtering, where a motorcycle rider moves past stopped or slow-moving vehicles, is legal here in NSW, so I folded my mirrors in and I carefully made my way through the traffic and past the crash site.
As I mentioned at the start of this report, one of the symptoms of GBS is muscle weakness. I should have added that muscle fatigue is also a by-product, and by the time I reached home, I was absolutely buggered. So much so, that I just had to have a long nanna-nap before dinner.
I plan to now double my daily 2 km walk, part of my rehab plan, out to 4 km, which hopefully will result in improved muscle endurance.
The GT/R is now in the bag, and my collection of Grand Tour Compass bonus photos has begun.
Time to start planning my next GT ride before the Winter chills start to roll in.
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