CBR600 Steve 1^st ride TLR1000 Peter Doak

GSXR600 Collin 1^st ride K100RT John Curry 2^nd ride

XV535 Tom 1^st ride VTR1000 Jeff Bishop

VFR800 Bert 1^st ride VTR1000 Stewart Forster

ZX9 Mike Bosworth Hayabusa Wayne and Cathy

CBR250RR Priya Munasinghe VFR750 Phill Radcliffe

ZZR600 Geoff Jones (leader) K100 Rory and Kathy

FJ1100 Bruce Saville Sprint Geoff Hansford

RF900 Frank and Marion 1^st ride SZR600 Cos 1^st ride

FZR1000 Domingos 1^st ride R1 David 1^st ride

GPz900 Cameron Burgess CBR900R John 1^st ride

GSXR750 Ray Walker

"Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free,

With golden soil, and wealth for toil, our home is girt by sea".

There’s nothing like spending time in a foreign country to stir the patriotic spirit. At last I’m back in good old Australia, and what better way to experience the golden soil and the sea our beloved country is "girt" with than a brilliant romp down the Great Ocean Road? With the salty sea spray clearing the nose, and the not so enjoyable (but still appreciated in a strange kind of way) odour of the "golden" soils of dairy farms waiting to be sampled, this ride was a motor-cycling homecoming that was not to be missed. Throw in perfect weather after a few fine days practically guaranteeing dry roads and we have the recipe for heaven: enter now by twisting the throttle if you please.

An unusual (for the Club) single pick up point at the Westgate Bridge Service Station saw a large collection of bikes, mostly belonging to persons I had never met before. Since the service station is a popular departure point for many groups I had assumed these individuals were on a different agenda, but I was in error. Geoff Jones announced he was our intrepid leader for the day and after asking for a show of "first-time-with-the-club" riders Geoff saw more than half of the collected group raising their hands (phew - I hadn’t been in America THAT long after all).

Geoff explained the corner marking system to all present but with such a large number of riders unfamiliar with system things were bound to come unstuck at some stage. Fortunately it was later rather than sooner, but we’ll get to that after the fun bit.

A short drone down the Geelong road ensued, diverting off through Little River (with Priya on the CBR250RR providing entertainment for all with impressive wheelie displays), through the back roads of Lara and down to the Surf Coast Highway towards Anglesea and our appointed morning break. Drama struck just 3 corners shy of the first stop when Ray’s GSXR decided it had enough of being chained down, and promptly threw it (the chain). Riders immediately following couldn’t make out if Ray was dodging a snake on the road (the chain looking much like one slithering down the hill), or if something else was up.

Fortunately after some quick repair work Ray was able to continue, turning up at the petrol station for a quick top up with the rest of the riders and sporting greasy hands but with a bike in working order. The ride continued with all present. A quick warm-up down to Lorne was on order and we all ate it hungrily before continuing on through Apollo Bay to Laver’s Hill and lunch.

What can I say? I’ve been to quite a few countries and the Great Ocean Road is easily one of the best pieces of public road on the planet for your motor-cycling edification. The section from Apollo Bay to Laver’s Hill is pure magic, and from Lorne to Apollo Bay the Ocean Road offers coastal views and an all-senses experience matched rarely on this globe. I’m home!

Whoa! What happened? Rush hour at the Laver’s Hill place of purveyance bore witness to nearly 50 people clamouring for food all at once as a number of small tour busses decided to swoop in for a lunch-time feeding frenzy just as the Club turned up. Tills were ringing, dollars were clinking and within half an hour the staff were reduced to heating up pies in the microwave or placing people in a raffle for the only sandwich left. Most left with their arms and legs intact and something edible in their stomach but it was a bit dicey there for a while.

After a short period of benchtop-racing while food digested we were off again, tracing our exhaust fumes back through Apollo Bay to Lorne. I’d been having fun for the better part of the day running with the other VTR in the group. I wonder if the other riders thought that they were hearing/seeing double as the pair of red twins thundered by? Who cares? Where’s the next corner?

At Lorne we push on up the Dean’s Marsh Road for our last good set of twisties for the day. The day has been long and though the mind is willing the body is weak. A moderate pace is called for but it comes with no loss of enjoyment as we say goodbye to the only other type of curves that guys dream about.

Here’s where things started to go awry with the corner marking. With everyone a bit on the tired side many people were stopping for a short break causing large delays for the rear rider and stringing the ride right out almost from Dean’s Marsh to Geelong. Corner markers were often turning back so see if something had gone wrong. Somewhere in Geelong road weary folk focussed on the signs pointing to Melbourne rather than the corner marking policy and basically caused a split in the ride midway through the field. Unfortunately I was caught up in the errant pack and never made it to the break-up point. Apollo Bay to Little River (the nominated break-up point) must’ve been a little too far in one stint for the greater group. Like homing pigeons, instincts had kicked in and quite a large number of us were suddenly making a beeline straight for our nests, rear rider included. I hope not too much angst was visited upon Geoff and the other riders as they pondered the whereabouts of the stolen generation.

I’d like to thank Geoff for a fantastic day out; much fun was had by all.

Stew Forster (Honda VTR1000).

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