Participants: Ben Warden ZXR750 (leader) Paul Tallents YZF600

Geoff Barton R1100RS Patrick Davey ZX6R

Day 1: Met up with Ben, Paul and Geoff at the corner of the shell servo on Ballarat Road at 10.20am. Ben asked if I knew any good roads on the way. I replied that " all my riding is done on the other side of Ballarat" so we headed for the Glenelg Highway. As the others had already done close to 160km we stopped at Smythesdale so they could fuel up and have something to eat. While Ben was checking out the map, Paul was telling me about the ride up, which also involved a creek crossing!

We continued on to Dunkeld where we had lunch and rested our backsides. Having said that, Geoff was feeling quite good, even though he had done 100 km more than Ben and Paul, having started at Loch. Then off into the twisty stuff: we took the Victoria Valley Road, which then joined the Grampians Road that continued onto Halls Gap. On this particular piece of road I had a close shave. While following Ben I went to overtake a car but I did not know there was a dip in the road and thought all was clear. I pulled out to take overtake and a car appeared in front of me. "I shit my pants," but at least I know I have good brakes.

We arrived at Halls Gap. Ben went off to grab a coffee as he said, "I’m falling asleep." Ben told us that the road was about to get pretty good. Soon we were off but not for too long. Five kilometers onto the Zumstein’s Road Ben decides to try out his new jacket. While getting onto the gas on a particularly gentle corner, his front wheel tucked under and Ben went down quite heavily.

Paul and I had been following quite closely and had no idea why Ben had crashed. We both stopped to help, as Geoff arrived. Ben was quite winded, with suspect cracked ribs. (Two broken ribs — I think the "brick" mobile phone I had as a loaner while my small one was being repaired did the damage. …Ben.) He also had a badly cut big toe, the nail gouged off after his boot was jammed between the bike and the road, boots wrecked. We then went and had a look at the road. The culprit was very fine loose gravel, as a result of recent patching on the other side of the road. (Apparently (I don’t remember) I was following a car and may have been unsighted. I like to think I was dragging the front brake to at least rationalise why it locked up/washed out. As luck would have it, it was the only corner on the whole Zumstein’s Road with gravel on it!)

The foot peg / rear brake mounting bracket was broken but after wiring and cable tying it back into place and we were on our way. At least he had somewhere to rest his foot, even if he had no back brake. Blood was oozing out of the boot — best not to look.

We finished the Zumstein’s Road then headed for Edenhope for a fuel up and clean of helmets. From there we rode through to Keith and onto Murray Bridge, where we stayed at "The Balcony".

The hotel rooms were great and our hosts most friendly and accommodating with secure off road bike parking an added bonus. We ended up in the pizza parlour for a good value meal. Then back to the common room to watch some of the footy live on TV. Sleep came fast that night.

We left Murray Bridge early on Saturday morning, eager to ride the roads of South Australia. First stop was at Mt. Compass via Strathalbyn and Meadows. The roads taken varied from very tight to open sweepers, all sealed. From Mt Compass we headed to Cape Jervis. (The roads were clogged with cars streaming south from Adelaide heading to this popular tourist spot. Patrick kept the mums and dads amused with his passing antics including big monos I heard. …Ed.) We crested a hill to see a fantastic view of the ocean: blue sky, blue ocean. Magic. This is where the Sealion ferry runs to Kangaroo Island, full of cars. Both Paul and myself were amazed at how fast the Sealion was when it took off. Geoff was happy eating his ice cream and just enjoyed the views.

Arriving at Victor Harbor there were cars everywhere. So we parked on the grass just outside the shops and bus stop. Off with our helmets, gloves and jackets, when a man strolled over and told us that if we stayed there we could get a $60 fine. So we moved. The small gaps between parked cars would do.

We had lunch beside the horse drawn carriage, estimating how heavy it was full of people. We estimated 4 tonne, drawn by one Clydesdale Horse. Very impressive as it squatted down and dug in. I went and enquired about the parasailing, but when I found out how much it was I decided against it. We strolled around and admired the sights, chuckling amongst ourselves because of Ben’s amusing walk. We left Victor Harbor and headed for home via Strathalbyn and Callington.

That evening we wandered the streets of Murray Bridge looking for somewhere to eat but being Saturday night everything was booked out. We eventually made a booking for 8 pm at one of the smaller pubs. But we ended up eating at the up-market seafood restaurant run by Damien, the son of our hosts. He was coming back to collect some of his Mum’s home made pumpkin soup which he had run out of. It was a good kilometer walk so Damien picked Ben up in his 1-of-3-in-the-country Honda midget car with an 885 cc motor in it. It was a real open top sports car. We had really good service; the food was great, and not too pricey. Ben was delivered back to the front door and we finished off the night with a port (medicinal purposes only) in front of the TV and the other Adelaide team playing while planning the next day’s route.

Day’s ride just over 400 kms with no incidents.

Patrick Davey (Kawasaki ZX6R)