Kilcunda Sunday 4th
May
Honda CBR929 Ben Warden Suzuki TL1000S Greg Hales
Honda CBR929 Pete Weyermayr
Honda CBR600 Di Welsford
Honda CBR954 Paul Southwell Suzuki GSXR750 Will Surtida
Honda CBR600 Kate Stewart Yamaha R1 Mario Ibeas
Honda CBR919 Liz Oliver Suzuki GSXR600 Will Tran
Honda CBR600 Damian Tsang Suzuki TLR1000 Quan
Aprilia 250 Sof Fraval Yamaha R1 Dave Deas
Sunday dawned with a clear sky,
brilliant sunshine and not a breath of wind; a welcome relief after Saturday’s
damp weather. With the temperature forecast for about 20 degrees, it looked
like we would be in for a sensational day. The Hallam
meeting place takes only 11 minutes for me to get to, so I rolled out of the
driveway at
Ben gave his ride plan and announced Dianne had volunteered to be rear rider but added Liz would be the first rear rider. Then we headed off for the boring highway haul to Pakenham. I tried to encourage Ben into launching at the lights for a bit of fun, but he would have none of that... or was I just quicker off the mark? I corner marked alone at the right turn lights onto the Berwick by-pass and got confused when Dianne appeared behind me after the main group of riders had made the turn. I thought I could see Liz amongst them so I headed off.... oops sorry Liz, I was mistaken. I soon realized it was Pete. I had seen the similar black leathers and black helmet. All the way to Pakenham I worried about losing Liz and any other riders who hadn’t yet passed me, although I figured she knew the way.
There was a large group collected at the Bald Hill road roundabout so I stopped and waited until Liz showed, just to be sure. Then the group all headed off together with plenty of rear wheel shenanigans.
I think if there are more than the required two corner markers stopped at a corner, it slows the ride down and can confuse other riders. Riders only expect to see two corner markers, so when there were more I realised that some guys like to hang out together, but really fellas... do you all need to water the plants at the same time? I could swear I passed some people doing just that, at least twice. Was it a case of too much tea or coffee for breaky?
After Drouin
the roads became more interesting as we wound our way through the scenic green
hills of Poowong, Nyora and
stopped at
After morning tea, it was on through Grantville, Archies Creek and past the Woolamai racecourse near Bass, where we came upon an equestrian endurance ride in progress. The scrawny Arab horses didn’t seem very bothered by my quiet yellow bike as I slowly passed by, as far away from them as possible. I got several waves from grateful riders. Horses, in general, don’t like bikes and can behave quite unpredictably, so its best to give them space.
There were some great views out
over a very blue
After a lengthy lunch stop the group moved off in the wrong direction? I don’t know how it happened, I was just following, I didn’t see Ben heading off so I had no idea which way we were supposed to go. I saw a group of riders pulled up on the side of the road, so I slowed down, figured we must be going the wrong way, then followed Pete and Liz as they did a U turn.
Back on track the procession sped along the wide and twisty road towards Warragul. Somewhere along this stretch I surprised a 4WD about to do a right turn across the road in front of me as I came around a blind corner. The driver obviously had been waiting for the group of bikes a few seconds ahead of me to pass and thought the road was clear so started to go. I saw his vehicle dip as he jammed the brakes on. Phew that was a scary moment!
There was virtually no where for me to go as another car was sitting behind him, and no time to pull up. Uncontrollable and unexpected incidents like that make me ease up a tad as I realise the fine line I, and probably all of us, ride sometimes. I recognised the Arawata turn off as I passed it, and was thankful that horrible corrigated gravel section of road wasn’t on the agenda for today.
About 25 kms from Korumburra I noticed bikes on the wrong side of the road at a tightish left hander, looking into the sun. As I got closer I could see both Dave Deas and his R1 lying in the grass. Yikes! Rhys and Mario were attending to him and a couple in a car had stopped to assist. I knew Dianne and Tim weren't far behind me, so I kept going to inform those riders ahead that there had been a crash.
What I didn’t see was that Quan had also crashed his TLR. It was Quan who apparently locked up his rear under brakes and crashed first and Dave then locked up and followed him off the road. According to the locals, this corner has claimed many bikes in the past. Rhys mentioned finding several red bits of fairings while he was recovering all the broken bits of the blue R1 and yellow TLR! The R1 had lost its whole front fairing and instruments, but the TLR survived with only minor damage. I don’t know the run down on Dave's injuries, but I believe Quan broke a collar bone.
Shortly after passing the accident scene I came across Sof on the Aprilia 250 pulled up on the side of the road wondering what had happened to those behind him. I stopped and explained what I had seen, then we both continued towards Warragul. Sof stayed with the corner markers at the big roundabout near before Warragul while I turned left and continued on past the hospital. A few kms on I came upon Pete and Greg corner marking. I let them know what was happening and took off in pursuit of the few remaining riders ahead. A few more kms up the road Paul and Liz were corner marking and Ben obviously sensing something was amiss had turned around and come back to wait for the group to catch up. Paul, Liz and I back tracked to Warragul collecting Pete and Greg on the way, while Ben took a more direct route back to the accident scene to assess and assist if necessary.
While we were waiting in the main street of Warragul for the others to congregate, Greg noticed green liquid leaking from his radiator. It didn’t look good ! However he thought he would be able to limp home if he took it easy on the highway and carried a bottle of water for a top up if necessary.
After a short wait Ben, Tim and
Rhys rolled up and explained that Mario,Will,
Will and Damian were staying at the scene and arranging a ute
to pick up their two mates’ damaged bikes. Dianne also stayed with the injured riders,
waiting until they were released from hospital at about
Apparently Mario had the misfortune of crashing his R1 a few kms further up the road later that afternoon when heading back to the hospital to visit Quan, after organizing the pick up of the broken bikes. Unfortunately he too broke a collarbone and wrote off his bike. Rotten luck after only just recovering from a broken pelvis and ankle. I hope all the injured parties mend quickly.
The ride officially ended at Warragul as Ben and Greg opted to head home via the
I lead to the Powelltown turn off taking care to slow down at each of the Neerims on the look out for the notorious cop who lurks along this stretch. Last time I saw him he had a red VT SS sedan, but there was no sight of him today. Once on the Powelltown Rioad I waved the others ahead and they were off like scalded cats! The three blades got around a slow tractor just before a bend but alas, I did not.... I was having to really push it to keep sight of them. I finally caught up only to lose sight of them as they and the road disappeared in the harsh afternoon sunlight, then shadows. It was only by squinting and staying close enough to see Paul's tail light that I knew which way the road went.
We caught up with a group of Ulysees riders just before heading down the twisty stretch of road to Powelltown. The group was riding in haphazard formation held up behind two cars. This group wasn’t going to be easy to get by! Especially after the three blades had all dodged and weaved amongst them and got their backs up. Paul looked to be having some difficulty but managed to get clear just before the road narrowed and the corners became tighter. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it past them safely and opted to settle in and wait until we got to Powelltown where I finally blasted past.
I managed to catch up with the 'Blades'
just before Yarra Junction, where we stopped for a
short break and ended our unofficial ride. Paul headed off home, while Pete,
Liz and I took the road through Yellingbo, Emerald
and Clematis to
It was a lovely clear sunny day for riding, but it sure gets cold as soon as the sun disappears. Nearly time for the thermals I think!
Kate Stewart (Honda CBR600)