ANZAC Weekend 25^th -28^th April

I just got a call from Ben. He asked me to write some words about our ANZAC Day long weekend ride. This surprised me a bit because I’m not actually a member of the club (this was my third club ride). Plus, to put it bluntly, my enthusiasm is at a bit of a low ebb at present.

You see, I have a very sore right shoulder (the doctor says I have strained a ligament) and my beautiful red 2001 VFR800 is wounded on its right side. I suppose it could have been MUCH worse – at least I walked away from it and was able to ride the bike home. Apart from the pain, I mostly feel embarrassed and angry at myself. The damage to the bike and my safety gear will probably come out around $2,000.

The ride had been simply fantastic until I failed to get around that right-hander on the Granya road. Despite the fairly grim weather predictions on Wednesday, all we had was some light drizzle outbound to Yea. After that, the weather was glorious. On Saturday the sky was cloudless and a really brilliant deep blue.

The scenery is spectacular all around the Snowy Mountains area and the roads have everything from high-speed sweepers to tight, twisties. It is magnificent riding country. If you haven’t been yet, do it – soon. Elliott Way and the Omeo – Bruthen Road were highlights for me - simply wonderful.

We had seven people and seven bikes on the trip: Ben, Pete and Liz, Bruce, Rhys and Dicky. Everyone was friendly and did their best to make me feel welcome. The Cudgewa Pub was cheap and cheerful but I must say, the Walwa resort down the road looks rather nice – maybe next time.

So there I was on my VFR, on day 4 of a fabulous trip, chasing a Fireblade, an Aprilia Falco and a ZX9 around the twisties near Granya when it all went wrong. There is no-one to blame but me. Oh well, body and bike will be mended soon. It was certainly a memorable trip.

Mike Sampson (Honda VFR800)