It was a Wednesday and Australia Day and if the assembled 22 bikes was an indication of the popularity of our short ride format then it already looked like an outstanding success. At Yarra Glen for the 10 am start we had:

Dave Ward - YZF-R1 (leader) Bronwyn Manifold - RGV250 (rear rider)

Darryn Webster - TL1000R Derek Atkinson - FZR1000

Ray Walker - GSXR750 Harry Miller - GSXR400

John Clowes - RGV250 Eric Makin - YFZ-R6

Ian Payne - CBR900RR Dianne Welsford - CBR600 (joined at Marysville)

Danny - CBR250RR Rob Wordie - GSXR750 Jeff Hornbie - ZX6

Dwayne - YZF-R6 Sam - ZZR250 Rob Jones- VTR1000

Dave Hives- ZX7R Dave - GSXR750 Darryl Hedt - T595

Brad Watson- TRX850 Lisa Caruana- FZX250 (Zeal) Neville - BMW R75/6

Wayne - GSX1300R (Hayabusa)

With such a large group of non-members in attendance special emphasis was made of our corner-marking-system: who the leader and the rear rider were was clearly identified. Once explained we set off for Healesville, then across to Launching Place, Warburton and Reefton. Along the way John, Eric and Dwayne joined in. We also attracted another half a dozen bikes from Warburton. You could tell by their attitude they were going to show us how to do the Spur, and they sure did, for not more than a couple of corners in, one of them ran his GSXR1100 straight off the road and down the embankment. He was unbelievably lucky: only a broken blinker and a couple of scratches on the fairing. The rider was also very lucky as apart from a bike jacket and helmet he only had on a pair of tracksuit pants and runners.

We continued on through the Spur to Cumberland Junction for the obligatory regroup and bullshit session. Then word came through that Danny on the Baby Blade had crashed. When he eventually showed up there was very little evidence of damage. Fortunately he was not going very fast and simply ran of the road and tried to brake on the grassy verge and fell over.

Off again, winding down the fast sweepers to Marysville. This is usually a favourite stretch of road for me,but with the Blade’s suspension now in the loosening up stage, I found it a very choppy ride. I will have to do some fine tuning to the front and back end of the Honda.

We stopped for fuel, then up to the Bakery for a leisurely morning tea. Dianne met us here and had been talking to another rider who had been out with the Touring Club but found them to be a pack a "loonies" and now rode with Andrew Kennedy and the Honda Club! Dianne quickly put him straight as to which group she would rather be with. The break also gave us the chance to talk to some of the other riders. Wayne, Dave, Danny, Rob and Sam were all on their first ride with us after being invited along by Ray Walker. Also Neville, on the BMW, used to be a member of the MTCV back in the 1970’s. He commented how things had changed and riders were much slower on the "dirt". He still remembered Les Leahy, Tom Saville and Peter Philferan from those days.

Dave assembled the troops for the final run through the Black Spur and back to Healesville. All was going well until Bron appeared with news that the Hayabusa had crashed. When Wayne finally appeared there was a remarkable lack of damage. It seems he had failed to negotiate a bend and ran off the road into a culvert before finally crashing. Damage was limited to a couple of blinkers and some scratches.

The ride officially ended here with most people heading for home. A few of us went to Warrandyte for a coffee. Only problem was a torrential storm hit the area and we had to wait for over an hour before it ended so we could ride home. Thanks to Dave for leading and Bron for the rear riding duties.