Pete Weyermayr Honda CBR929 (Leader) Mario Ibeas (Rear Rider) Yamaha R6
Ben Warden Honda CBR929 Liz Oliver Honda CBR919
Robbie Langer BMW R1150GS Paul Southwell Honda CBR954
Pete Rykenberg Yamaha TRX850 (1st ride)
I suspect this
ride to
The next indicator was the weather forecast. Absolutely crappy – wind, rain, thunder, hail, storms. You name it, it was forecast for Sunday. My prediction was that no one of sane mind would turn up. Good prediction (see list of attendees).
Pete told everyone we were going via Healesville and the Black Spur to Marysville for our first break. Then we would go on to Noojee for lunch via the Reefton Spur, Warburton, and Powelltown. There was a brief discussion about the possibility of snow on the Reefton, and then we headed off the usual way down the old Healesville road. Chum Creek road was littered with a fair bit of debris from the high winds the day before, and Myers Creek road was covered with the usual moss, looking far worse than it actually is. No problems, everyone seemed to be having a ball.
As we hit the Black Spur it started raining (great). After a while my bike appeared not want to go around corners. I assumed that it was me tensing up in the rain and stiffening my arms. I tried to relax, but then I realised that I was pretty relaxed. Maybe a flat tyre? I pulled over to have a look. The back tyre looked OK. I gave a quick glance over the front tyre, which also seemed OK. It must just be the awful conditions. I headed off again, this time with Ben in front, and Paul behind. I came to the first gentle corner and followed Ben into it an easy pace. Hmmm, there was definitely a problem as my bike wouldn’t go around it. We stopped at the turnoff to Marysville and my front tyre was completely flat. Pete and Robbie were already halfway to Marysville by this time, so Paul took off to bring them back. The rest of us went back to Narbethong to the petrol station.
When Pete got back with the puncture repair kit he plugged the hole. We all went inside the servo to get warm and have some lunch. We discovered that Pete, the new guy, was another Kiwi, from Palmerston North. Ben rolled his eyes at this discovery and tried to ignore the three of us as we chatted about the good old days in NZ.
By now the weather had completely packed in and the decision was made to abandon the ride. Thanks to the brave souls who turned up and made it a really enjoyable day in spite of the weather and the puncture.
Liz Oliver
(Honda CBR919)
The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed down from generation to generation, says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. In the Public Service, however, a whole range of far more advanced strategies is often employed, such as:
1. Change riders.
2. Buy a stronger whip.
3. Do nothing: "This is the way we have always ridden dead horses".
4. Visit other countries to see how they ride dead horses.
5. Perform a productivity study to see if lighter riders improve the dead horse's performance.
6. Hire a contractor to ride the dead horse. (Can be as useful as a saddle when it comes to protecting
your arse!)
7. Harness several dead horses together in an attempt to increase the speed.
8. Provide additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance.
9. Appoint a committee to study the horse and assess how dead it actually is.
10. Re-classify the dead horse as "living-impaired".
11. Develop a Strategic Plan for the management ofdead horses.
12. Rewrite the expected performance requirements for all horses.
13. Modify existing standards to include dead horses.
14. Declare that, as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overheads, and
hence contributes substantially more to the bottom line than many other horses.
15. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position (but the competition for positions is fierce).