Reefton Spur – 13th  July, 2003

 

Ben Warden (leader)                Honda CBR929RR                  Pete Weyermayr           Honda CBR929RR     

Derek Atkinson (rear)               Yamaha FZR1000                    Liz Oliver                    Honda CBR919RR     

Dave Ward                              BMW GS 1150                       Rhys Williams               Kawasaki ZX9

Ian Payne                                 Honda CBR929RR                  Daniel Kosinski            Suzuki GSXR1000

Allan Zimmer                            Kawasaki ZX9

 

It was 9.30 on Sunday morning. Time to go and Pete was still putting oil in his bike after an oil change. The normal funnel was still packed in a box somewhere and the tiny one he was using had taken him half an hour to get nowhere. By the time we left we thought we were late enough to have missed the start of the ride, but planned to catch up with everyone in Warburton where we assumed there would be a morning tea stop.

 

We were fairly surprised when we turned up to Yarra Glen at 10.30 am to see everyone putting their helmets on, only just ready to leave. Perfect timing! Rob was down for leading the ride, but had another commitment so Ben was leading, and Derek was our rear rider. We took off down the Old Healesville road, up Chum Creek and down Myers Creek roads into Healesville. The roads were pretty good so far – in spite of a bit of bark and the usual green moss they didn’t seem slippery at all.

 

Coming out of Healesville we cruised (at the speed limit of course) passed an unmarked police car that had pulled a car over. We stopped in Warburton for a break, which was a great chance to catch up with everyone as Pete and I haven’t managed to make too many rides over the last couple of months (a combination of a holiday, a new house and a crook back). We checked out Danny’s new bike, already sporting tape where he had hit a kangaroo a few weeks back.

 

After morning tea, we headed off towards the Reefton Spur. There was plenty of bark on the roads to keep you attentive. I sat behind Pete and Dave, enjoying the ride. I must have lost concentration because one minute we were cruising and the next minute they disappeared from sight. We stopped to regroup at the top of the Spur. It was surprising to see no other bikes (and no police) when we got there. Although it had turned a bit cold halfway up the Spur, it seemed like a great day for riding.

 

The plan from here was to head straight through to Healesville to break up. However Pete and I decided to stop at the Marysville Bakery for lunch along with Derek, Danny and Allan. While we were having lunch and a chat, Bruce turned up and joined us, followed by John and Eric with a few others who had been spotted at the bottom of the Spur. One young guy turned up who had just picked up 7 points and I forget how many dollars worth of fines from presumably the same unmarked police car we had seen earlier that morning. He got 3 points for passing on double lines, and the rest for speeding. Surprisingly he was still smiling – on the outside anyway.

 

Soon it was time to leave as we had a shed to finish demolishing that afternoon. When Allan discovered we were heading in the same direction home he decided to show us some new roads. I’d love to tell you where we went, but every time we came close to recognising some landmarks or placenames he whisked us off down another back road. It was a lot more interesting than our usual routes home, but alas, I don’t think we would have much hope of finding it again.

 

Thanks to Ben and Derek for doing the leading and rear rider duties, and to everyone for another successful, incident free ride.

 

 Liz Oliver (Honda CBR919RR)