Porepunkah to Dartmouth Dam, 27^th December 2002

Ben Warden Honda CBR929 Pete Weyermayr Honda CBR929

Liz Oliver Honda CBR919 Ron Johnson Suzuki Bandit 1200

Ray Walker Suzuki GSXR1000 Cliff Peters Kawasaki ZX12R

Enzo Cunico Yamaha R1

The first ride day at Porepunkah saw a group of seven keen riders set off about 9.30 in the morning. After a quick petrol stop at Porepunkah we cruised through Bright and on to the turnoff for Tawonga Gap, which was every bit as much fun as I remembered it being from last year.

From Tawonga Gap we turned left onto the Kiewa Valley Highway. As I cruised along pretty much on the speed limit (public-holiday-police-paranoia), I was passed first by a cop coming the other way, and secondly at great speed by Enzo, Cliff and Ron who had been corner marking at the last corner and were making up a bit of lost time.

When we got to the turnoff for the Happy Valley Highway, Pete left us to go back to Porepunkah. He had put his back out a couple of weeks before and as this was his first ride since then he wasn’t going to push it too far. Cliff was also having back problems but it appeared that riding the bike was quite therapeutic for him so he decided to push on with us.

The group minus Pete carried on a few more kilometres down the road and then turned off on to a minor road that was, hopefully, less policed. Anyway, the ride picked up speed from there and about 60 quick kilometres later we popped out onto the Omeo highway. We followed this through to Mitta Mitta where we stopped for a lunch break. By now the day was heating up.

After a lunch break we headed down to Dartmouth and followed the tight twisty road out to the dam. The plan after this was for the group to head back the way we had come to Eskdale for a petrol stop. A little way after Dartmouth I noticed that Cliff appeared to be having a problem with his bike. He stopped and looked at the forks – no problem so he kept going. Then he stopped again and looked at the back tyre –it was flat. Enzo and I stopped with him and we saw the large chunk of wood stuck in his tyre. The wood had ripped such a big hole in the tyre that it looked like it would not be able to be patched. Figuring that the tyre was already stuffed, Cliff decided to ride slowly on to Eskdale. Enzo took off to notify the others of the hold-up, and I followed Cliff to the turnoff where Ray was corner marking.

After a bit of confusion, we eventually all made it back to Eskdale where we filled up with petrol and cold drinks and found somewhere for Cliff to leave his bike. He was then treated to a fast ride to Porepunkah on the back of Ron’s rocket.

We returned much the same way we came, except turning off from the Kiewa Valley Highway to go via the Happy Valley road. This is a fantastic fast piece of road that everyone seems to like. We made excellent time from Eskdale back to Ovens – everyone was buzzing at the end of it, although I did notice that Cliff had a slightly glazed look in his eyes (fear) when we stopped at Ovens.

A new tyre was purchased and, while the rest of us lazed around the campsite that afternoon, Ron and Cliff drove back with the trailer to pick the bike up. The next morning amid a crowd of onlookers Ron and Cliff proceeded to impress everyone with their tyre removing and refitting capabilities.

Thanks everyone for a great ride, entertaining company and… honestly Pete - it wasn’t that good, you didn’t really miss out on such a great ride…(he he he).

Liz Oliver (Honda CBR919)