Heathcote Ride - Sunday October 10^th, 2004

Honda CBR954	Ben Warden (Leader)	Yamaha YZF1000R	Trevor Harris
Honda CBR929	Ian Payne	Yamaha YZF-R1	Mick Hanlon (Rear)
Honda VFR750	Renzo Cunico	Kawasaki ZX12R	Paul Grosser
BMW R1150GS	Rob Langer	Suzuki GSX1300R	Wayne & Joanne Nimmo

Sunday’s weather forecast sounded good: fine conditions, temperature predicted to be warm to a little cool – but not too cool. Taking it as gospel, and after checking out the local conditions, I decided that it was a good day to leave the DriRider gear at home and don the full leathers for the first time in months, plus leave the rain gear behind. I left home, stopped off in Bundoora to fill the tank as I was on reserve and checked the tyre pressures (noting that my tyres are on their last run). Then off I went up Plenty Road to Whittlesea. Pet Hate of the Day #1: people who travel at 80 km/h in the 100 km/h stretches of this road; they were met and dispatched.

Arriving at the United service station at a couple of minutes to ten, I found a small group waiting, but no sign of Paul Southwell, the leader for the day. Ben explained that Paul (OH&S dude for a living) had slipped over in the shower and had hurt himself, and that Ben would be leading the ride. Most of us gathered at the northern side of the forecourt, but Paul G. had his bike on the far side. When questioned, he said that he had arrived early, parked where we were and then observed that the standard of driving in/out of the driveway by the local leadfoots was giving his bike the jitters. A combination of a poor surface, a near inability to avoid parked/solid objects and swinging v-e-r-y wide to exit the pumps saw them driving uncomfortably close to the ZX12R.

Ten o’clock. Time for the rundown on the day’s ride. Mick shows up, volunteering to be rear rider. Ben tells us where to go, and it’s off to Kinglake West, the road up the hill being taken at a reasonable pace as there were a few damp patches visible, just to keep us paying attention. On to Flowerdale, and I notice that the band of water on the medium lefthander is still there – wonder when the council will get around to redoing that drain properly? And who else thinks that the 90 km/h section seems to go on and on? Around the long right-hander (the one where the road surface changes twice, but the corner makes you just want to keep on the gas) and soon the pub is in sight.

Rob and I corner mark at the Strath Creek road. Mick appears and we’re off again. Roadwork signs are displayed about half way along, but there is nothing obvious to note. Pet Hate of the Day #2: leaving the signs out when there is nothing there, and the workers have gone home. Two dark bikes corner marking at the store (Ian/Renzo), where we turn right and head to the highway at Trawool. This is one of the roads that lets you check out how effective your suspension is, and it includes an open stretch to blow the cobwebs out of the fairing. Allegedly. So I’ve been told.

Left, when the Seymour-Yea highway is reached, following Rob. Nice road, with the potential to encounter one of those funny white cars with lights on the roof, keeping us well behaved. Mostly. And then it was time to corner mark again, where the ride went left to Tallarook. Fun road, but watch some of the corners in the early part that can tighten up – especially if you are looking at the river. Right turn at the end where two dark bikes are corner marking, then under the Freeway and left towards Pyalong heading west.

This is another road that lets you check the effectiveness of your suspension, especially the rear. When I first got the YZF it was bouncing me out of the seat along here, making for an uncomfortable ride and also proving to be somewhat distracting. Having softened up the preload and compression damping from standard, it isn’t too bad now. Again I found myself following Rob, and doesn’t he seem happier off the 1200 and back onto an 1150? Up, around, along, down – good scenery, green grass, sharp left onto the one-lane bridge and some of that bastard pea gravel where I’ve put my front wheel. Nothing too exciting, but enough to get me concerned.

Another left where the corner markers showed the way, and we continue on to Pyalong itself. Eighteen kilometres later, Rob and I are corner marking again at the Northern Highway. Riders come past, and I mention that I haven’t seen Paul for a while; Rob informs me that Paul’s wasn’t feeling well and has left the ride. And then there were 7 (bikes). Waiting for the rear rider, we watch as the world goes by. After five more minutes I head back to check out Mick’s whereabouts, scanning the roadside for rider and/or bike. As I pass the road on the right that leads to Broadford, I think “maybe Mick went that way” but discount the thought, as the main road is Big and Obvious, and the Broadford road is much smaller. I recall the ‘rule’ that we follow the road we are on unless corner markers indicate otherwise.

Ten minutes and 18 km from where I left Rob and I’m back at the last marked corner to Tallarook – no riders seen, so Mick must have passed through already. So I do a U-Turn, heading back to Pyalong and checking out the roadside more intently for Mick and the R1. Noting that the road to Broadford goes straight ahead where the main road goes into a nice right-hand sweeper, I decide that Mick has surely taken the wrong road. And when I get back to Rob, who’s there with him? Mick! And yes, he did take the road less travelled, rode along for a while without coming across any corner markers and then turned around. He must have gotten back onto the main road after I’d gone past….

Back to the ride. About 1 km of the Northern Highway and then it’s turn right to Lancefield via a nice little – and occasionally narrow – road. First regroup of the day where we also had a few riders leave the group: Rob Langer and the Nimmos’. As it’s 12:30ish I visit the bakery, Ben gets his customary sandwich and Rob gets food and a coffee. The others also ate and drank. Then I go and put $5 worth of petrol into the tank, to make sure that I’ll make it to the Heathcote, after my Mick-hunting loop. As it turned out, I didn’t need to worry, but it’s better to play safe and not have to literally push the bike, right Geoff? Some of the others topped up here as well. 135 km for the first leg according to Ben.

Leg two began. The Burke and Wills road ends at Mia Mia where we turned left and headed to Lake Eppalock via Redesdale. We deviated via a picnic area that would give us a view of the lake, only to find ourselves back out on the main road again. Next, we rode across the spillway wall and decided that this was one spillway that was very unlikely to see any spilling for a number of years. That Lake is way, way low; don’t bother bringing your boat. Apparently, a number of local businesses and clubs have closed due to the lack of water and the related lack of people/tourists. It seems that the pub is changing its focus from a base for boating piss-ups to a base for hiking and taking in the serenity and beauty of nature, etc. Good for them if it keeps them in business.

After crossing the spillway we turned left at the T-intersection towards Knowsley. Feeling that we were not going in the right direction, Ben had us all do a u-turn after a few hundred metres and head the other way. Great idea, it always pays to know when you’re going the wrong way. This way led us to a dead end (also to the long driveway of the local bike/boat shop). So we all turned around again (because we need the practice, right?) and headed back the way we were going before we turned around to go the other way. Through a small part of Knowsley, and then Ben spots the Northern Highway. Right turn here, and it looked like a short run down to Heathcote for lunch.

Wrong. The club is not known for taking the direct route to anywhere, and off the highway to the right we went. If I can read the map correctly, after Derrinal we appear to have headed back towards the Lake (also known as the large hole that used to have lots of water in it), another left took us to Mia Mia and then another left and it was back to the highway and we were suddenly in Heathcote. Alternatively, my map reading skills are suspect and I’m making all of this up.

130 km travelled on that leg, so it must be time for lunch number two. We parked over the road from a bakery, so I headed over to see what was on offer. Not much at this time on a Sunday, so I got an iceblock. The day had warmed up quite nicely by now, and we congregated in the shade outside the local Information Centre. Most of us filled up here, with three gas stations to chose from. I managed to fill up at Mr Surlys’ shop.

Ian had walked around the corner to the campground where Les Leahy lives, and was gone long enough for Ben to send me to round him up when it was time to head off again. Riding down the road and in the entrance I found Ian and Les walking out and heading our way, so that obviously worked pretty well...

Off we went towards Nagambie, turning left off the highway about two k’s out of town. Not too far in, we caught up to a 4WD (Full Wanker Dickhead) towing a horse float, with a Holden right behind it, in a no-passing zone. As we all rounded a left-hander, a passing opportunity arose, so Ben signalled and pulled out. As did the Holden – plainly not looking before making his move. And to add to the excitement, the fool in the 4WD decided that he would place his vehicle smack bang in the middle of the road. Note that this was not a narrow little road, but a normal-sized two-lanes-wide road. So we had the Holden trying to fit beside the Dickhead, with Ben trying to fit beside the Holden. Something had to give, and it was Ben. Onto the brakes, staying on the seal, and wait for things to calm down. Which they did, so we all passed both vehicles and continued on our way.

The good thing about Club rides is that you can just follow the leader and corner markers, without knowing where you are. Which explains why I cannot recall just how we got to Seymour, but we did. I know we had to turn right at Nagambie onto the Goulbourn Valley Highway but that’s it. I corner marked here, opposite a stop sign, and observed that quaint Aussie (Victorian) habit of ignoring Stop signs. This was an otherwise uneventful 95 km leg, but we enjoyed ourselves on the back roads that Ben just keeps on finding. He must have been a boy scout in his youth, and (almost) always knows where he is.

Main Street Seymour, we stopped for fuel, and decided to end the official ride. Two groups looked to be forming for the trip home, based on which side of Melbourne they lived on. In the end it was the one group that headed down the Hume, off at Clonbinane and back-roaded our way through Wandong to Wallan. Ben and Co continued south towards Epping, as I followed Ian to the Eden Park corners. This is a Very Nice piece of road, with 14 corners in 1.4km. Now if they would just seal the roundabout at the top it would be great!

Another prang-free ride, and no Mr Plod activity either – just the way we like it. Thanks to Ben for leading, Mick for rear riding, and the others for making it a good day. Also thanks to Paul for making the effort of putting his name down to lead; next time just try to behave yourself in the shower and keep it ‘bums up’….

Trevor Harris (YZF1000R)