Licola II Sunday 16^th May 2010

Chris Tran	Honda CBR1000	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX10
Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000	Viet Nguyen	Kawasaki ZX10
Tim Emons	Honda CBR1000	Jason Wilson	Kawasaki ZX9
John Rousseaux (rear)	Honda CBR1000	Damir Djikic	Kawasaki Z750
Ron Johnston	Honda CBF1000	Chris Pointon	Suzuki GSXR1000
Mark Copeland	Honda VTR1000	Ken Goederee	Suzuki B-King
Ben Warden (leader)	Honda CBR954	Geoff Shugg	Suzuki DL650
Dennis Lindemann	Honda CBR600	Piere Ong	Ducati 1098
Pina Garasi	Honda CBR600	Edward Simonis	MotoGuzzi 1200 Sport
Tony Raditsis	Aprilia RSV1000		19 bikes, 19 people

The promise of a sunny day entices many of the regulars and a couple of the not so regular riders to emerge on this very crisp autumn morning. Perhaps the anticipation of a ride lead by the very elusive Peter Feistl may have been a motivating factor as well. Licola itself is a definite lure for the hardcores; Cliffy is just about jumping out of his leathers for joy, he knows this road so well. I think he secretly escapes to Licola during the week for a fix. It’s a long way from Geelong, but well worth it with challenging roads, a picturesque and, at times, quite a rugged landscape. And Licola is very isolated from civilisation.

Well, the sunshine appears, but not Peter Feistl…

From the man himself: “Suffering from osteoarthritis causing searing pain in both wrists while riding, I have arranged with Ben to step in and take the lead. Rumour has it that I will seek medical advice from Kate Stewart and a re-supply of vitamins! …Ed

Accordingly Ben leads us on the epic journey.

Licola is not for the faint-hearted. It’s a lengthy ride with no cosy bakeries to stop at on the way and no café lattes anywhere to be had except for the petrol station at Tyers. Then it’s off again for the tough stuff: long stretches of twisties requiring full concentration. By the time we get to Licola we find ourselves sitting quietly on a bench in dappled sunlight, just letting our minds rest and our eyes wander lazily.

We are entertained with the vision of Ken’s new beast sitting in front of us – a Suzuki B-King. A few of us were trying to work out what the bike reminded us of and then we finally got it - a ‘Transformer’. When asked what Ken thinks of the bike he says, “It’s okay”, his standard response for every new bike he brings along for a thrashing.

I must warn you, Ken, your Ducati isn’t going to like all this flirting about; Italian things can be a little unpredictable when consumed with jealously.

Ben’s rides are long and challenging, as we’ve come to expect – 630km for me, door to door. I turn up to work on Monday tired and bleary-eyed. It’s been a while since we’ve done such a biggy and I think I was starting to go a little ‘soft’. It reminds me of Marty Thompson’s ‘words’ conveyed quite sternly to a certain member of the MSR club (me) to “Harden the f…k up and stop being a princess.” Well Marty, thanks for the advice; this ride really made sure of that.

Thanks Ben for a great ride and thanks John Rousseaux for the most-patient rear-riding. I’m only sad that Misho “I want more!” missed out. This time he would have got what he always wants from a Sunday ride. Sorry Bel x

Pina Garasi