Rear View - Mt Baw Baw Monday April 25^th, 2005

BMW R1150GS	Rob Langer (Leader)	Buell	Nigel and Kylie Hellyer
Suzuki GSXR1000	Lyn Duncan	Honda VFR800	Anders Plenge
Suzuki GSXR1000	Michael Albanese	Yamaha R6	Joel Haley
Suzuki GSXR1000	Ron Solomon	Yamaha TRX850	Tony Riditsis
9 Bikes	10 People	Yamaha YZF1000R	Trevor Harris (Rear)

Disclaimer: This is the view from the Rear Rider’s position, so it’s limited to what happened in front of me (ie. The bikes that I could see), plus what people were willing to admit to during the breaks.

Public holiday on a Monday, the weather is cool but fine and there’s a ride listed in the itinerary: “Mt Baw Baw, 10 am Yarra Glen”. But no leader is mentioned, so I wonder who has been volunteered by the Committee for this auspicious role? Having been out of town Saturday and Sunday, I took this opportunity to get a ride in. Jumping onto the trusty FJ - two owners, only 180,000 km - I head off through Eltham and the Christmas Hills [no speed camera sighted today], and top up the tank at the old gas station on the northern end of town.

There are a small number of bikes outside the shops when I pull up. I volunteer to go rear rider and find out that Rob is leading. I was among the last to arrive, and Rob calls us all together and gives the rundown on where he plans to take us today: Healesville, Launching Place via some dirt, Noojee, up Mt Baw Baw, into Trafalgar for lunch, then into South Gippsland. Just after 10:00 and we are ready to roll with nine bikes – not a bad turnout. And then I notice what seems to be a cut in Robs near-new rear tyre. We decide that something has cut the rubber but is not in there now. A quick discussion and we decide to keep an eye on it as the day goes on. And this time we’re off.

We head north on the Melba Highway and take the Old Healesville Road to Healesville. Up Chum Creek Road, without the multitude of cyclists that were present last weekend. Most of the group got ahead here, with Anders and I bringing up the rear. I felt the bike move around on one of the corners and had a closer look at the road surface – yep, it’s a bit damp in places. There had been a small amount of rain last night in Eltham; looks to have been a little more out here. At the top it’s right into the Myers Creek road, which again has some damp spots to keep us on our toes. The corner markers took off at a good pace, and again it was the VFR and FJ at the back.

Healesville again, where we basically cross the road and skirt the Healesville Sanctuary, on the road that leads to Don Valley / Don Gap. A couple of corner markers show where we are to branch off on what Rob described as “about 4 km of dirt” on the road to Don Valley. Interesting, I thought, looking at the big yellow Road Closed sign. Oh well, let’s go.

The surface is good (not too dusty, not too loose) as we head through some bush country. A few kays in and I round an open left-hander to find the VFR parked with its hazard lights on. “What’s up?” I think to myself. What’s down was the Buell, Nigel/Kylie biting the dust after a down change locks up rear wheel, just before the gate across the road. Broken indicator; snapped off gear lever; scratched tank. Nigel and Kylie are both OK. Comments of “She was telling me to slow down…” were heard.

We look over the bike, Ron kicks the front end more or less back into line and we decide that we can’t make any running repairs. Nigel decides to head for home the way we had come, as there would be less traffic and gear changes that way – these would involve some foot/ankle/knee gymnastics to achieve.

Then there were eight. Robbie has done a reccy past the gate and has found that the bridge, about 1 km further on, is being overhauled, but that we’ll be able to get through without problems. So it’s past the gate, across bridge and around the second gate, heading to Launching Place. We encountered a couple of cars heading in as we headed out, no doubt wondering where we came from when they found that the road was really closed – at least to them!

Left onto the Warburton Highway to Yarra Junction. Everyone got through the lights in one go, always a good thing to keep the ride together. Noojee was the short-term destination to end the first leg of the day. It was meant to be a quick stop but wasn’t, as we had a relaxed snack and a drink. Michael decided that his rear tyre was almost gone and that he would head for home.

Then there were seven.

Away we go. The group gets spread out, as usual, on this part of the ride – I guess, as the view from the rear is limited to the bike in front. Road is good, traffic light. I have two bikes ahead for company this time, the VFR and TRX. Tony takes an interesting approach to left-handers, using the right side of the road (when it’s clear) to open up the entry. Once again there are some damp/wet areas, most commonly in the tight, heavily shaded corners. Plus a couple of “Oh Shit” corners with that bloody fine gravel on it that is hard to see until you’re on it. The road seemed to go on and on, even though it’s only 50 kilometres from Noojee to the top. That gave the sides of the tyres a workout.

The Top. Regroup, discuss the road, and head back down. This time the brakes got a workout as well as the tyres, and they got better about halfway down. I must have burnt off the city crud that builds up during the daily commute. The plan is to head for Trafalgar for lunch ie. take the Moe turnoff at the bottom. I get to the bottom to find we are one short – Mr Solomon appears to have gone back to Noojee. Quick change of plans by Rob: Warby for lunch, then over the Spurs. All agree, and it’s back to Noojee where we find Ron topping up his tank.

Back to the Warburton Highway. Right turn near Gladysdale, on the highway and we behave, as this is a heavily policed area. Rob carries on through the shops, and we pull up at the old bakery at the far end of town. Lunch – at least it would have been if there was real food – not much left around 2:30 pm on a public holiday. Cakes and fruit pies are still available. Most of us ingest a sugar fix. Lyn and Anders headed down the road for petrol, in fact it looked like everyone except me filled up there.

Reefton Spur: good road, a couple of damp spots, minimal traffic. Anders had the VFR moving along pretty well, Joel was with us but got waved past about a third of the way up and moved ahead. Lyn must have really enjoyed this road as she was very excited at the top – all grins, bouncy and tearing her jacket off! Maybe she also had a sugar fix back at Warburton?

The road over and down to Marysville was generally quiet, but groups of 4WDs were appearing and travelling in convoy, making it a challenge to get past. Marysville: I fill up (324km, 20.08 litres, 44mpg in the old language); pretty good figures for the old FJ. But not as good as the previous weekend (Alexandra ride), where I got 50mpg out of the tank. I’m told Anders had carried on back to Melbourne, while the rest of us have a break.

And then there were six.

Last leg: the Black Spur. Lots of traffic at the start, one smaller group and then one big one being held up by a horse float. I pass that and it’s a clear run in Healesville, for the third time today. The others had all got ahead at the start of the Spur due to the traffic, so it was a solo ride. Break-up time by the car yard / petrol station. I follow Lyn back to Yarra Glen and into the Christmas Hills.

Thanks to Rob for leading, and the others for a (mostly) event-free day.

Statistics for Yarra Glen to Break-up at Healesville: distance 354 km; riding time 4 hours and 22 minutes; average speed 81 km/h.

Trevor Harris (Yamaha YZF1000R)