This Club regularly rides in the area known as the Yarra Ranges and will be/should be interested in a report in a recent issue trucking magazine. The report states that "VicRoads has granted permits to logging operators to use 22 metre combinations grossing between 55 and 59 tonnes on a network of roads in the Yarra Ranges". The permits are for trials on "the Black Spur section of the Maroondah Highway between Healesville and Narbethong, the sealed section of the Acheron Way at Saint Fillians, the Marysville-Woods Point Road between Marysville and Cumberland Junction and the Warburton-Woods Point Road between Cumberland Junction and Matlock".

These combinations (known as B-doubles) are a truck-semi trailer with another trailer behind, and it has been shown in world-wide testing that they have a similar "swept path" to a normal truck-semi.This means they "track" around bends OK. Early trials last year demonstrated that these rigs "did not cross the center line of the Maroondah Highway between Healesville and Narbethong" (Black Spur).

Now these trucks won’t be on these roads during Club Sunday runs- or will they? And is there any real difference in a bike running wide and collecting a family Pajero or 55 tonnes of logging rig? (Well the narrower- shorter Pajero presents a smaller target to hit or miss.)

How about that skilful passing in the same direction assuming it’s a truck-semi only, and then finding you need to get by two trailers before collecting that oncoming Pajero?

Don’t say you haven’t been warned!