The Cross, Mt Macedon Sunday 16^th February, 2003

BMW R1150GS  Rob Langer                            Honda CBR900R       Ben Warden

Yamaha YZF 1000 Trevor Harris (leader) Ducati 750SS     Mark Easterbrook   
Suzuki GSXR1000     Ray Walker Suzuki GS500 Tanya Walker
Suzuki Hayabusa Wayne & Joanne Nimmo Suzuki GSXR1000 Dave Nimmo
Honda CBR1100XX   Martin Hastie & Carmen de Bono

We met at the Mobil service station at Whittlesea for the Mt. Macedon, (The Cross) ride. But, we didn't all make it there. It was a wet day and it was very slippery as Wayne and Joanne on the Hayabusa found out the hard way, giving the Hayabusa a little more power than required to get around a corner. The bike ended up on its side. The bike was sufficiently damaged so as to render it unridable (side cover holed, oil leaking) so Wayne & Joanne were unable to make it to the ride. They were both uninjured. Dave left to give them assistance getting the bike home.

So we left, riding into the drizzle, two bikes short already, with Trevor leading and Martin and Carmen taking rear rider duties. We headed off through Wallan and on to Kilmore and, yes, it was very slippery.  The first time I stopped for corner marking, I checked the back of the Ducati to see if there was something wrong with the bike because the back was all over the place when passing through some lovely, long, sweeping bends, which is much out of character for the Ducati. There was nothing wrong with the bike. It was just very slippery. We continued on to Kyneton where we stopped for a short break for food.

From Kyneton we moved on towards Spring Hill through some lovely little back roads to Bacchus Marsh via Little Hampton, Trentham, Blackwood, and Greendale. The roads were, thankfully, getting drier and the pace picked up a little. But it was a nice, easy going ride for a while. The roads were quite narrow at times. At some point I guess we all decided we were far enough onto the back roads to really up the pace and things really moved along. The roads were fairly straight and maybe a little undulating in places, but entertaining all the same.

Sometime before we reached Bacchus Marsh Tanya informed Ray that she was unable to stop for corner marking as her clutch wasn't working. She made it easily to Bacchus March. Upon arriving at Bacchus Marsh Tanya checked her bike and found the clutch cover had lost all but one bolt holding it on, so bolts were scavenged from Ben’s bolt container and the problem temporarily fixed. From here Tanya left us, as was her plan, this being a close point to her home.

There was ample choice of eateries at lunch with most settling in one or other cafe.

After lunch we proceeded on to Mt. Macedon via Gisborne. The real estate is amazing in Macedon but, unfortunately, being a built up area, means sticking closer to the speed limit of 60 km/h around, what could have been, some nice twisties. At Mt Macedon we walked up to The Cross and had a look. The views were spoilt by the low cloud but it was a pleasant stroll all the same. On leaving Mt Macedon we headed back towards Whittlesea via Romsey. I'm not sure how many of us got all the way back to Whittlsea because most riders cut out to go home as the chance came up.

Thanks to all who participated.

Mark Easterbrook (Ducati 750SS)