Sunday morning and the sun is shining but the threat of rain is ever present so I make sure the wet weather gear is packed. For pretty average weather, the roads out to Yarra Glen seemed absurdly busy, and I, of course, missed every possible traffic light. Arriving a Yarra Glen a tad late, I was relieved to see a pretty good show of bikes and that they hadn't yet departed. A lot of others must have had traffic problems because bikes just seemed to keep rolling up.

With a bunch of new faces eager to come along, Ron gave the briefing, described our corner marking system and we were soon on our way. Heading off towards Lilydale via Coldstream, we turned up the Warburton Highway towards Monbulk. From this point on, I was lost…….. I've cruised the Dandenongs a fair bit over the years, but Ron seemed to find roads that went who knows where. Now don't get it wrong, the ride flowed along just nicely, especially considering how many bikes we had, and although speeds were kept pretty much in check, the roads were varied and interesting.

Monbulk for lunch and I just had to know how Ron had worked out ride. Quote.. ' I've spent heaps of time up here, just going up roads only to find they turn to dirt, so back track and onto the next until I find a good one…' Well Ron you must have burnt up a power of fuel and time because you had me stumped.

After lunch we headed off on another loop taking in an extremely slippery patch where one of our 1^st timers had small off. Fortunately, the only damage was cosmetic and a bit of pride. Regrouping, the ride continued up and down until we reached Menzies Creek railway station where there was a short stop. Moving off, we headed on toward Monbulk but ran out of corner markers. Ben and I headed back all the way to Menzies Creek only to find that Danny Ks' bike had ceased to operate.

Danny's bike was left with a kind neighbor and we remounted with Danny and Renata on Ben’s ZXR and I pillioned Ben. Eventually we headed on toward Monbulk, meeting up with Ron along the way. Saying thanks to Ron, the decision was made to go to Danny's place where he would get his car and a trailer to pick up his bike later on that night. So back to Danny’s for coffee and a laugh. A good ride and easy on tyres and fuel. Thanks to Ron for all his efforts.

Rhys Williams (Kawasaki ZX7R)