Castlemaine Economy
Ride 22nd
July, 2007
Ben
Warden (leader) |
Honda
CBR954 |
Geoff
Ross
(1st ride) |
Triumph 675 |
Paul Southwell (rear) |
Honda
CBR1000 |
Dale Shallcross (1st
ride) |
Ducati
620 Monster |
Renzo Cunico
|
Honda
VFR750 |
Luke Stratford
(1st ride) |
Suzuki
GSXR750 |
Simon Trubiano
|
Honda
CBR929 |
Duncan Ferguson (1st ride) |
|
Cameron
Stevens |
Suzuki
GSXR1000 |
Dave
Wilson (1st
ride) |
Yamaha
R1 |
Dave Twentyman |
Suzuki Hayabusa |
Cameron
Burgess |
Yamaha YZF1000 |
Lorry Ciantar (2nd ride) |
Aprillia
RS250 |
|
|
Even though the ground was blanketed by frost, with clear skies, it
wasn’t long before the sun dried things up. I even removed the wet riding gear
and threw the sunnies in, which later I regretted.
Being an economy ride and with a front tyre on the
way out, I was sure that the pace would be less “spirited.” Yeah,
right.
Petrol pumps at Whittlesea were manned by Ben
where odometer readings were noted and tanks topped up. Lorry’s
Aprillia had a bad chain and he decided he wouldn’t
venture out with us today. With more non members than members, Ben went through
our riding systems and the planned route: Flowerdale,
Broadford, lunch at Castlemaine,
and back home through Woodend and Macedon, was the
plan.
Heading through Kinglake West, it was
beautiful to see steam rising from the forest floor. The frost was starting to
fall from the trees but the road seemed to be holding good grip. At Flowerdale I saw our first corner markers, whom will remain
nameless. Strath Creek was clouded in and visibility
was exceptionally bad around Tyaak. Past the Broadford race track and
the fog disappeared. Riding alone all this way I caught up to Ben where I
corner marked just out of Broadford. Geoff, on the
Triumph, joined me to corner mark. We had a good chat. Before long Ben
returned. Something was wrong.
Returning back to the town of
We decided to refuel at Lancefield instead of Castlemaine. Ben took final odometer readings and fuel
measurements to later calculate our fuel economy to Lancefield.
This was going to be interesting as some of us had travelled
different routes while others had non-standard sprockets, upsetting the bike’s
odometer readings!
Coincidentally, Dave Ward was also at Lancefield
with his trail bike in the back of the ute.
Good time was made from Lancefield to Castlemaine. Stopping for lunch I felt a bit weary and cold. “If I ride quicker, this won’t happen”, explained Cameron. Luke, who was hoping to join us at Whittlesea, was iced in at Kyneton
but managed to catch us at Castlemaine. Ten past two we finished lunch. Dale
decided to break off here, not riding well due to fatigue.
Woodend was our next destination. The roads were
unfamiliar to me, though quite enjoyable. Heading over a crest towards an
unexpected corner marker gave us a chance to practice an emergency stop. When I
saw the Hepburn Springs sign, I was prompted to take a quick pit stop. Luke had a small mishap doing a U turn.
We fueled up at Woodend and then whipped
through Mt Macedon towards Bulla. After Straws Lane Geoff continued on to
Romsey and Whittlesea to watch the Superbikes on Foxtel at a mate’s. The rest
of us headed for Clarkefield and the eventually Wild Dog Road bringing us into
Bulla. The pace was up and Cameron on the YZF reckons his tyres
were just starting to warm up, although his front wasn’t touching the ground
much. Even though I was pushing hard down the straights,
everyone still passed me.
Goodbyes were said at Bulla after approximately 360 km’s had been travelled.
Thanks to all the corner markers who held their ground. Thanks to rear rider
Paul who did an extra 40 kms and Ben for his lead and
final calculations.
Simon Trubiano