Highlands Sunday 16^th November, 2008

Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000	Rob Jones	Suzuki GSXR1000
Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000	Bruce Fleming	Suzuki GSXR1000
Dave Ward	Honda CBR1000	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX10
Ben Warden (leader)	Honda CBR954	Pina Garasi	Yamaha R6
Graeme Tattersall	Honda CBR600	Cameron Stevens	Yamaha FZ6
Willem Vandeveld (rear)	Honda ST1300	Marty Thompson	Kawasaki ZRX1200
Mark Welland	Honda CB1300	Rob Langer	BMW R1150 GS
Jason Doherty (1^st ride)	Triumph Bonneville 865	Ron Johnston	Suzuki Bandit 1200
Alberto Tola (1^st ride)	Triumph Speed Triple 1050		17 bikes, 17 people

The weather was warm and sunny when I left Olinda that morning heading to the meeting point at the West Gate Shell Outbound. But the closer to the city I got, the heavier the cloud cover became, eventually starting to drizzle. Great start to the day and the ride, I thought.

The turn out at the meeting point was pretty good: 17 bikes and 17 riders, including two first-timers, one riding a Triumph Bonneville 865, an unusual choice of machine given the club name – Sports Bikes.

I was surprised to see Marty Thompson roll up. He told me about his operation. I thought it a bit risky to be out riding so soon after that kind of op. Oh well, we would see how he pulled up at the end of the day.

Ten o’clock rolls around and leader Ben gives the rider briefing. Then it’s off to Woodend in cold, cloudy conditions via the Tullamarine Freeway and Mt Macedon. At our first break Marty tells us, “I cannot continue the ride because the roads are so rough I am using my legs as shock absorbers”. He decided to call it a day. He was joined by the two ‘first time’ riders who were struggling with the cold, wearing only jeans and runners. (They arrived having visited the web site that morning and, having only half read it, expected us to be more of a social club with maybe a short ride around the suburbs. Oops. …Ed.)

Still at Woodend, Ben heads over the road for fuel, and within a few seconds Ron Johnston heads off on his own. We wondered what was going on but hoped that he would catch up with us at Seymour, our scheduled halfway lunch stop.

All thirteen of us made it safely to Seymour via Lancefield, Pyalong and Broadford (without Ron) in the blazing sunshine. Having been at the bakery for some twenty minutes, Ron turned up on his Bandit 1200. He said, “I thought you had left Woodend so when I came to the first unmarked roundabout, I went straight ahead, following the usual rule of thumb. Realising I was alone, I ended up going along the back roads to Seymour via the scenic route.”

After enjoying lunch we set off for Alexandra via Highlands, Caveat, Gobur and Yarck - roads I have never been on before. I thought, “You guys sure can pick `em”. Fantastic roads; like highways compared to my local roads.

At Alexandra we took a 20 minute break, this time searching for shade and finding it under a large tree in the main street. The conversation turned to tyres and I asked Ben and Willem to look at my rear tyre. The consensus was that it was “stuffed”. I thought I could continue as long as I took it easy. Silly me! What was I thinking?

Last leg of the ride was to Kinglake via Molesworth, Yea, Limestone, Murrindindi and Glenburn. Along the way I corner marked with Misho where I noticed the canvas was now showing through. I asked Misho, “Do you think I will make it to Kinglake?” He laughed out loud, shrugged his shoulders and walked off. I guess that meant no.

When we hit the 3 km of fast dirt near Limestone, I became even more concerned. So I imagined that I only weighed a few kilos - to take the weight off the weary tyre. At the Mt Slide intersection I told Willem that I would go straight home. Thanks Misho and Willem for sticking with me.

Near home I had to travel on another three kms of gravel roads. I arrived home and parked the bike in the garage checking out the tyre. Sure enough, the canvas was torn through. I was very lucky.

Thanks Ben for leading and Willem for outstanding TEC duties (as usual).

Bruce Fleming