Dave Ward -748SPS (leader) Ian Payne - CBR900RR

Bronwyn Manifold – RGV250 Danny Kosinski – VFR750

Craig Morley - YZF750 Greg Hales – TL1000S (3^rd)

Ben Warden - ZXR750 Jon Riddett – K1100RS *

Darryl Chivers – CBR929RR # Davorin Zivkovic – K100RT *

Rob Langer – VFR750 (r/rider) # Left at Yarra Glen.

Kirsten Anderson pillion * Met us at Railway

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What a sensational day, a little windy but fine and sunny, Perfect. I headed off to Yarra Glen, making a slight detour via Rob and Kirsten’s to pick up the emergency kit. Got to the pickup point with time to spare. First thing I noticed was the lack of riders! It never ceases to amaze me; some rides where you think there will be a million bikes there’s hardly any and on other rides which you don’t think will be popular, it’s standing room only! Still with Dave at the helm I knew we were in for a great day.

Ben then arrived with Darryl in tow on a new FireBlade. Darryl, a former workmate, was in the Club about 5 years ago and had come along just for the ride out to Yarra Glen. A little later Rob and Kirsten arrived.

Dave gave the pre-ride talk, stating it would be a shortish ride, and, due to the increase of police around the area, caution would be the order of the day.

We set off for Christmas Hills with Rob and Kirsten bringing up the rear. Dave set a good pace along this popular stretch of road. We then took a detour at Alma Road that brought us out onto the St. Andrews Road. Along to Panton Hill, St. Andrews and that fabulous tight and twisty piece of bitumen to Kinglake. We stopped here for a coffee at the local bakery. It was a fairly relaxed stop where Dave, Craig and Rob engaged in some dirty talk about trail bikes and Ben and Greg gave Kirsten advice on sending email attachments.

All too soon we were back on the bikes and heading for Mt. Slide and the Melba Highway. Then across to Toolangi and Myers Creek Road to Healesville. So far so good with great roads and good weather and, by the wide grins, everyone was having a great time.

We continued on through Healesville and headed for Yarra Glen, then detoured along the Old Healesville road to pick up the Christmas Hills road again. Just before Kangaroo Ground we detoured onto Henry, Menzies and Pigeon Bank roads, which brought us out on the Warrandyte road. This we followed for a short distance to link up with Eltham/Main Road for the final run to Lower Eltham Park and the miniature railway.

This was now the end of the bike ride part and the start of the train ride part! For those of you who have not checked out this attraction before, it is well worth the trip out to Eltham. The trains and rolling stock are replicas of diesel and electric trains as seen on our suburban railroad. There are even a few miniature steam trains. The railway complex has multiple tracks with the loops measuring about 2 kms in length. A ride takes between 10 to 14 minutes to complete. Excellent value at $2.50.

We parked the bikes and headed for the kiosk and lunch. Julie and Fiona arrived and Ben set off with them to fire up the BBQ. Several members of our group then drifted off home while others arranged tickets for a train ride or two. The rest of us took the opportunity for some rest and relaxation, just great. A little later Jon and Dav arrived to check out proceedings.

Many thanks to Dave who put together an interesting and fun day that catered for the rider as well as the family.

Ian Payne (Honda CBR900RR)