Snake Valley MK II Sunday 13^th May, 2007

My first ride article, hmmm here goes:

Nine riders and one pillion met up at Whittlesea Caltex on a fine sunny, Mothers’ Day morning for what was going to be a great ride through central northern and western Victoria . The snake hitting GSXR 750 now owned by Misho was looking good, back on the road. It was fitting that this was the Snake Valley ride. We also had another newbie along with pillion on board. After only five rides with the club, three have seen new people coming along. Leader today is Geoff Jones, he briefed the clan and a liitle after 10 we were on our way.

I noticed there wasn't much happening at the Whittlesea showgrounds this Sunday and that the air was starting to cool me off after standing in the sun for the past half an hour with thermals on under my leathers. Well, we were going to be up near Ballarat later in the day, the coldest city in Australia.

Just out of Whittlsea where the Yea Road starts to straighten up Geoff gets going and I'm off after him, 3^rd gear, bum up off the seat and wind it on. Front starts to get light, then I'm tumbling along the road. “What the f#!k is going on here?” No warning from the gixxer that it wanted to rear up that far, no progressive lift to the balance point, yeah that’s it, little bit more, hold it there. Just up and slam.

I think I stepped off the back, maybe it was the side, but the next 2.5 seconds felt like 2.5 minutes. I even thought to get up and try and walk but the roll wasn't finished with me yet. When it all came to an end I was so pissed off, just trashed my bike, spoiled the ride for others, felt like a right idiot, f#!k, f#$k, f#$!@$#&kkkk but as people started gathering around me asking if I was ok I started calming down and coming to the realisation that I was ok, no broken bones, no major pain areas. Holy shit, I'm okay!

This was my first big road crash at speed and never again will I be blase about riding gear. The number of times I have ridden in jeans and runners, even in T-shirts on hot days. Yet when I ride my dirt bike I have always worn knee guards, boots, gloves, armour and, although the crashes are at much slower speeds, they are more frequent, so I have felt it necessary to be protected off road.

After Sunday's off, seeing how badly the bike was damaged and walking around the scene, estimating how far I tumbled along the tarmac, a much more abrasive and harder surface than a forest trail, I wondered how I would have fared in lesser protective gear. I'm feeling pretty luck to only have a couple of bruises and one small scrape, which probably would have been avoided if I had zipped my jacket to my pants.

Anyway, my Mothers Day Snake Valley ride lasted about 3 minutes and the same amount of km's. I rang my mum later that day to wish her a happy Mothers Day. Umm. By the way, Mum.............

In the meantime will have to drag my '88 GPX 6 commuter out for a blast. It doesn't stop or turn but it still has two wheels.

Matt Brice