Alexandra via Broadford Sunday 8^th February, 2004

Honda CBR929 Greg Hales (leader) Yamaha R6 Joel Hale (1^st ride)

Honda CBR929 Ben Warden Honda CBR954 Paul Southwell (rear)

Suzuki GSXR1000 Danny Kosinski BMW R1100S Darryl Chivers

Suzuki Hayabusa Wayne/Joanne Nimmo Yamaha TRX850 Peter Rykenberg

This ride was unanimously abandoned at the second stop due to the extreme weather conditions – it was 41 degrees.

Heading out to Yarra Glen for the first early leave scheduled on the new itinerary I was greeted by the massive road works being performed at the Kangaroo Ground end of the Christmas Hills Road. It looks like it will take months, and there is four or five hundred metres of gravel road patrolled by a diesel generator powered red light signalling system. Luckily I just caught the tail end of these lights – otherwise you could read the Club Mag from cover to cover waiting for them to change.

From Yarra Glen Greg lead us through Christmas Hills and up the squiggly road to St Andrews and the twisties to Kinglake West. Top roads, and it had been a while since I had done the St Andrew’s twisties. Every year the road improves, resurfacing, slightly wider here and there. Much like the black and Reefton Spurs – always improving. On to Kinglake, Flowerdale, Strath Creek and Broadford for morning tea.

Magically Wayne and Joanne were there waiting for us – anticipating the route perfectly, arriving a couple of minutes before us. After a leisurely morning tea we decided to press on to Seymour and up the Highlands Road and then down into Yea for a drinks break. It was pretty uncomfortable, the bikes running hot. Joel, on his first ride, seemed to be hanging in there. It was no doubt a culture shock, riding in this company, Joel having the smallest bike and probably the least experience. But we could be just what he is looking for, judging by his reappearance on two of the next three rides.

The mountain coolness beckoned so we made haste for Kinglake West. I found myself following Darryl along the Flowerdale Road. He reckons this is one of his favourite roads. That BM has got some mid-range stick and it certainly handles well enough – and he gets incredible mileage out of his tyres – like 9,000 km out of a rear. They seem like a good jigger with that tricky wish-bone front end separating suspension and braking forces. Rob Langer certainly got motivated on his similar suspended 1150GS.

Home early to chill out in front of the TV. Thanks Greg for leading in trying conditions – and of course it was on this same ride in December that we had those two serious accidents – playing on your mind. Enough adrenalin was burned on this short ride to get me through the week.

Ben Warden (Honda CBR929)

Joke: A blonde police officer pulled over a blonde woman for speeding. The blonde cop approached the car and asked the blonde for her driver's license. The blonde driver asked, "What does a driver's license look like?" as she searched through her purse. The blonde cop said, "It's a little thing with your picture on it." The driver pulled out her powder compact, opened it, looked in the mirror and handed it to the officer. The blonde cop looked in the mirror, handed it back to the blonde and said, "If you'd told me you were a police officer, we could have avoided all  this."

True story #4:  Police in Oakland, California, spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them  in the police line, shouting, "Please come  out and give yourself up."

True story #5: An Illinois man, pretending to have a gun, kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines, where in the kidnapper proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank accounts.