Licola 14^th April, 2002

I was in some doubt as to whether I would attend this ride due to the lousy weather we had on Saturday. However, Sunday dawned fine and a quick look at the radar and forecast indicated the chance of rain was only slight. So I rang Tom and told him to drag his weary butt out of bed and get along to the meeting place for his first Club ride. I assured him he would thank me....there's nothing like spending the entire day out riding after a late Saturday night !

Now that I was committed to attend, I rushed about to make it down to the old Liberty, now Ampol Servo, in Hallam, where I was greeted by lots of new faces. The only familiar ones were Ron - our leader for the day, Renzo, Orlando - who became a member last week, and my friend Tom who showed up! We hung around well after the posted departure time, hoping a few more of the regulars might turn up. None did!

After welcoming the new riders and a run through the Corner Marking System, a rear rider was called for. Looking around at all the first timers I reluctantly volunteered. This was going to really test my patience, but I resolved to learn from the experience and settled at the back of the pack (15 bikes/16people) for the frustrating crawl along the highway to Packenham. Once off the highway everyone seemed to be getting the hang of the corner marking and I got the chance to use my horn more liberally than I ever have, by tooting at every corner. I'm not sure if that’s what other rear riders do as I don’t corner mark often, being on a 250cc bike. It seemed to work well enough.

The speed increased as we got to the more fun roads after Drouin and the ride began to spread out, until I came across the group in confusion after missing one of the turns. Fifteen bikes trying to do a U turn in a disorderly manner on the crest of a hill with a bend, is quite a spectacle. We didn’t lose anyone, although Renzo came back to check if I had worked it out..... of course I had.... I was just taking my time, now that I was in relaxed cruising mode! I had a bit of fun playing catch up every now and then. My poor little engine!

We stopped twice at Moe. A restroom stop at the racecourse, as our leader could hold on no longer, and a fuel stop. It was now noon, much later than had been planned, so we grabbed some lunch. The tantalising smell of the local hardware store's BBQ wafted over attracting several of the riders. I went off in search of a bakery (more appropriate fare for a vegetarian) and was joined by Ron and Renzo.

By the time we got back on the road the skies had become overcast and I was beginning to wonder if we would make it through the day without getting wet. Before the ride I had considered only going part way if the weather turned bad, but as rear rider I felt compelled to continue. Both Renzo and Orlando had offered to relieve me, which was nice of them, but I declined.

We sped along the back roads through Yallourn North, Tyers, Glengarry, and Toongabbie to Heyfield where we reassembled.  Ron warned everyone about the unruly 4WDs and the loose gravel on some sections of this road, before heading on to Licola. My role as rear rider became a bit tiresome through some of the better twisty bits as I tried to work out how far to drop back so I could power through unimpeded. This was new for me as usually I'm the one holding up traffic! I still enjoyed myself. Loose gravel is one of my biggest 'bug bears', so I rode those sections very slowly anyway.

It was on one of the newly made sections that I came across a few bikes parked on the side of the road, and a very sad looking blue Ninja being wheeled off the road. Orlando had apparently been run off the road by a 4WD overtaking another 4WD around a corner. Orlando was walking about and seemed to be okay. I asked him how he felt and suggested he sit down for a while. He had deep gouge marks on one side of his new helmet, and graze marks on his leather pants and textile jacket. His ZX6-R had slid 35 metres along the coarse asphalt and ground away the crank case cover leaking all the oil out, making it unrideable. Two riders stayed with Orlando and his bike while the rest of us continued on to Licola to tell Ron what had happened.

Just before reaching Licola I passed Ron and Renzo heading back. I half expected to see the rest of the group following them but found them outside the General Store admiring Steve's on-board video camera footage. He has a tiny camera mounted on the front of his bike that he runs continuously while riding. Unfortunately he was in front of Orlando, so didn’t get any footage of the accident. We hung around Licola for, what seemed, ages, cursing the lack of mobile phone reception, then decided we might be better to head back the few kilometres to the accident scene and see what was going on. Only to pass Renzo and Ron pillioning Orlando towards Licola.

The two riders remaining at the scene told us they had wheeled Orlando's bike down to a nearby farm house and left it there to be retrieved later. Ron was taking Orlando to get some medical attention. So we waited...... and waited....... and waited. It was getting late and the skies looked ominous. The 12 remaining riders were getting restless so we decided to move to the more scenic 'Devils Elbow' a bit further down the road to wait for Renzo, Ron and Orlando to appear.  More waiting..... and still no sign of them.  Most of us had our tinted visors on, so there was some concern about making it home before dark. So we continued on to Heyfield to refuel, where at least we had mobile phone reception, food and restrooms to make the wait more comfortable.

Renzo overtook me just out of Heyfield, then doubled back and escorted Ron and Orlando to the Hospital for some medical attention, before reporting what was happening to the riders left waiting at the Mobil Servo/Timberline General Store. Several riders expressed a desire to head back to Melbourne as they had commitments to get to and it was getting quite late.

Renzo checked back at the hospital and returned to say the ride was officially over, and that Ron would stay with Orlando until he was cleared to leave.... that was expected to be another hour. Orlando's knee required 3 stitches, the bad gravel rash on his shoulder needed a dressing as did the minor abrasions on his elbow and palm. (I phoned Orlando to see how he was doing when I got home.)

Renzo, Tom and I decided to head back together and were the last to leave the servo. We back tracked to just outside Moe, then took the longer, more interesting and twistier route home via Willow Grove, Noojee, Powelltown and Yarra Junction. With the light fading and the temperature dropping we descended into the forest beyond Fumina South, our tinted visors fogging up, causing poor visibility on what turned out to be a very nice twisty road. Twisties in the pitch dark near Powelltown were more fun than I had anticipated. It did help following Tom's new CBR600F4i with its bright lights. The lights on my little bike could be better. I was pleased to have dressed warmly for the ride, however Tom was not so fortunate and got very cold. But at least we didn’t get wet! It turned out to be a perfect riding day..... Cool enough to preserve our tyres, and dry.

While refueling just past Yarra Junction along the Warburton Highway, a guy approached us and began asking questions about Renzos R1. When he mentioned he had one himself, I quickly produced a MSTCV ride calendar for him and a few extra to give his riding buddies. We might have some new recruits soon!

Tom and I said goodbye and turned off at Woori Yallock leaving Renzo to make his way home alone after what proved to be a long and eventful ride. (I was home by 7.30pm.) Ron pillioned a sore and sorry Orlando back from Heyfield along the Highway, arriving at Orlando's home around 8 pm.

Kate Stewart (Honda CBR250RR)

p.s. (via email) I had my bike serviced last week and it needed a new chain and sprockets. I had a tight spot in the chain and that’s why it appeared too tight or loose at times. My speedo cable is fixed too AND I had a new rear tyre put on..... A Dunlop GPR70, the stickiest of the 250 tyre. I can’t believe the difference it makes to my bike’s stability and handling ! It’s awesome! …..Kate