ZXR750 Ben Warden (lead) ZX7 Rhys Williams

YZF600 Mick Hanlon (rear) GSXR750 Ray Walker

CBR1100XX Martin Hastie CBR250RR Priya Munasinghe

TRX850 Darryl Otzen VTR1000 Richard Sudlow (1^st ride)

CBR600 Steve Philp (1^st ride) 9 bikes, 9 people

Contents of recent email: ‘Martin Hastie just rang me — he crashed the Blackbird on Sunday. Justt out of hospital after foot operation including removing big toenail. He stuck his foot out as he was running down the roadside drain and hit a log - 2 broken toes and a compound broken bone in his foot. Then Dicky (Darryl Otzen) sent him down 18 km of slippery, bumpy, dirt road which turned into even more because at the T junction he headed for Leongatha rather than Yarragon, not knowing where he was. It took him one hour to go the "18" km, in agony. (He would have been better off staying with us and doing the extra 17 km of bitumen.) He must keep his foot above his heart for at least a week and is unable to walk - bedridden actually.’

Let’s start at the beginning. The day dawned overcast and cool, occasional showers predicted. So when there were six bikes parked at KBCP I was quite surprised, particularly seeing Dicky and TRX after 18 months. After outlining the day’s activities we progressed down the South Eastern and Mulgrave Freeways to Hallam.

Mick volunteered to take the rear riding duties. We worked our way along familiar roads to Drouin before heading south to Poowong and Loch for morning tea. The roads were sometimes wet, but no rain was encountered, and it remained fine for the rest of the day. Recent roadworks had removed some of the nastier bumps around Poowong, though the sharp left hand turn at the end of the straight is still a trap for the inexperienced.

Heading south towards Wonthaggi, the road flows over undulating hills with occasional views of blue ocean. At Archies Creek we turned left and headed for Kongwak, rediscovering the longest, right hand sweeper south of the border. Sensational. Into Korumburra and a smidge of highway to Leongatha saw us heading north to that famed destination, Mirboo North, via Dumbalk and Limonite. This is a great section of road with a variety of corners ranging from steep downhill 100 km/h sweepers, to Omeo Highway-like road - along the river — fast, sweeping, undulating. Lunch was consumed at the Bakery and numerous tall tales exchanged. It was a good day to be out riding, despite the overcast, threatening weather. So long as the rain stayed away.

Heading south now on the Mardan Road, with more of those, at the risk of repeating myself, fast sweepers. No time to be wasted because you are straight into them. The crew, race faces on, soon appeared in my mirrors. Dicky pulled along side, giving me the hurry up. I motioned him past and he was gone. At Leongatha, we cut back on the Hallston Road, a great recent find.

Sitting on Grand Ridge Road for a minute too long, I suspected the worst, and my fears were soon confirmed. Back tracking, I met the others who described Martin’s tumble, having got caught out on the change in surface from dry to wet, mid corner, running wide and down a culvert, at speed, banging his foot in the process. He was probably half way to Yarragon by now. It was a fait accompli so we continued the ride, back to Mirboo North, around through Thorpdale and Trafalgar, regrouping at Drouin, after the Ellinbank loop from Yarragon. All good roads.

The ride disbanded at Drouin and we made our separate ways home, after some discussion of where Martin might be, and whether the short cut Dicky suggested was in fact a big mistake. The map indicated 18 km of dirt, to save 17 km of bitumen. We suspected we were a long way ahead of him, and Dicky was duly taken away and shot.

Ben Warden (Kawasaki ZXR750)