Mt Baw Baw - Sunday December 12^th, 2004

Honda CBR954	Paul Southwell (Leader)	Yamaha YZF1000R	Trevor Harris
BMW R1150 GS	Rob Langer (Rear)	Yamaha YZF1000R	Izi Hadziomerovic (2^nd ride)
KTM620	Rhys Williams	Yamaha YZF1000R	Peter Parissis (1^st ride)
7 bikes	7 people	Yamaha R6	Joel Haley

The itinerary had Greg Hales, of Christmas Hills fame, down to lead this ride, but after his recent encounter with the long arm of the law, it turned out to be Paul Southwell who was to be at the sharp end for the day. After a few days of heat, then very sudden, localised thunderstorms, today looked to be better: sunny and dry – I hoped. With a forecast temperature of 27 degrees and high humidity, it was going to be hot and sweaty. Days like this remind me of summer rides back in Auckland in the 1980s.

Yarra Glen for a 10:15 am start, just like the old days. In case that was a misprint, I aimed to be there at 10:00 am, and made it on the dot, after a legal cruise through the Christmas Hills. They have finished sealing the roadworks at long last, with 60 km/h and 40 km/h sections still in place. It looks like they just need to finish off installing some more armco barriers and painting the lines, and it will be all done. Who knows, they may even get it done before Christmas.

I got to the far end, with no sign of the speed radar ute today (maroon, with a canopy). I was followed for the last couple of kilometres by another YZF1000R. That’s interesting, I thought, wondering if he would be on the ride. The other YZF pulled in for petrol, and I parked outside the Original Café, finding no-one else there; it’s unusual for me to be the first to arrive. Deciding this was a sign to do the overdue tyre-pressure check, I headed over the road and did just that.

Back across to the Café to find not one but two YZF100Rs parked. And mine made three. This is the first ride in some months where the Yamahas have outnumbered the Fireblades – about time! Rhys pulled up and parked in the shade, followed by Rob, Joel and then Paul. Joel told us that he was here at 09:50 am, filled the tank and then discovered that his wallet was at home. One quick return trip to Montrose and back. Paul gave Izi and Peter the rundown, tells us where to go (short ride, no Spurs due to roadworks, Mt Baw Baw) and we’re off at 10:25 am.

No bike cop in sight today; I wonder if it’s his day off? Up the Old Healesville Road and skirt the west side of Healesville, and we’re heading to the Woori Yallock road, which is a first for Peter. Yarra Junction comes soon enough. We turn right, as a group, at the lights and head to Noojee. We got spread out through here, with Paul and Joel breaking away, Rhys having fun until the road opened out by the Ada Tree, and Peter and Trevor cruising along at a fun pace. Izi was taking a calm approach, with Rob bringing up the rear. The roads were in good condition, considering the amount of rain during the last few days, with minimal gravel washed onto the bitumen.

Noojee after 80 km. A snack and cold drink for the hungry/thirsty folk, and petrol for the small-tanked or thirsty bikes, ready for the up-the-mountain-and-return loop. The sun disappeared behind a cloud while we were stopped, cooling us down considerably. And then it came out again as we got ready to head for the High Road. Out of town we went, past the pub where the dinosaur used to be (does anyone know why they took it down?), heading east. Yet another staggered getaway, so we are spread out immediately. Once again it was Joel behind Paul, and a larger gap between the other riders. Clear roads, little traffic, apart from some cruisers and an L-plater or two.

At the Moe turnoff I noticed a Harley-type bike waiting, looking like he had come down from Mt Baw Baw. I briefly considered whether we needed a corner marker for the new riders, but quickly decided that they would know the difference between Moe and Mt Baw Baw. It is an interesting road. I’ve only been on it twice before, and one of those times it was foggy/damp/slippery. Going around tight right-handers I noticed what sounded like something rubbing on the ground, possibly a stick caught in the fairing, as there was a lot of debris on the road due to the high winds during the week. This was bit concerning. About now Rhys passed by, enjoying the KTM on the tight roads.

Soon after this I pulled over into a ‘slow vehicles’ space and found nothing attached to the bike. Peter pulled up behind me and told how he was looking at the Harley-type bike at the intersection, and was trying to decide if it was one of us, when he kind of ran onto the gravel shoulder and had a slow-speed mishap. What Ben likes to call ‘minor cosmetic’; this time it was accurate. The left side of the bike made contact with the ground producing scratches on some fairing panels plus a crack in one. The mirror and indicator were both OK. Peter had tried to aim between a couple of roadside posts but didn’t quite make it, estimating his speed as about 10 km/h when the bike went shiny side down. He was still in good spirits, though.

Carrying on to the top, we passed the L-Plater and two friends who were content to bop along at L-plater pace. Reaching the car park, Peter and I regrouped with the first three. Izi and Rob weren’t too far behind; 50 km covered, with 50 km obviously to go to get back to Noojee. It was noticeably cooler at the summit, where we chatted about suspension, off-road cyclists (there was a bunch of them), my rubbing sound (probably my helmet edge rubbing on my jacket collar due to the humidity) and Peter’s mishap.

Down we went. Joel and Rhys were first away, and were not seen again until Noojee. I’ll take an educated guess here and say that they had an excellent ride back. I followed Paul, and Peter followed me, Izi and Rob again bringing up the rear. Quite fun at a reasonable rate of knots, with Paul being a guide to oncoming traffic on right-hand turns i.e. CBR makes a sudden trajectory change and a 4WD comes around the corner. We were close enough to use the rider ahead as a guide, but not so close as to try and be in the same place at the same time – unlike Junction Hill on most runs.

Noojee again. Lunch is ham rolls for most, and a cool drink as it was again hot and humid. Petrol was $1.12 a litre, which was only 20¢ per litre more than Melbourne. Looks like they don’t get many deliveries and were still selling at the old price. More talk, more comments on the Mt Baw Baw road, and eventually we head off.

All but Rhys took the right turn after the trout farm to head back to Yarra Junction. The final regroup and break-up is short and sweet, with Paul saying that a) there was a cold beer at home in the fridge with his name on it, and b) he wanted to get home before it rained. Prophetic words, those… I noticed that my YZF had just clocked over 23,000km at this point; so my new bike isn’t so new any more.

Traffic was noticeably heavier than the mainly empty roads we had been on for most of the day. We took the Old Healesville road once more to Yarra Glen and then headed up the Christmas Hills road. There was a bike cop and unmarked silver SS Commodore at the Eltham end, just after the road works finished, but we had been flashed on the way up the hill and were behaving.

I got to the Kangaroo Ground intersection to find Izi putting on his wet weather gear. Paul’s forecast of rain was now found to be 100% accurate. I headed for the general store, and sheltered under their veranda, just as a thunderstorm hit. I’ll bet Izi would have done the same thing if he knew/remembered it was there. It pissed down for about 10 - 15 minutes, with the wind changing direction and bringing the rain back for a second go. The cops went past as the rain started to get serious, and they looked to be exceeding the 60 km/h limit – maybe they wanted to get back to their nice dry station in a hurry? While watching the world and rainstorm go by, I noticed that the fastest vehicle on this downhill stretch located in a 60 km/h zone was a large truck towing a trailer with a medium-sized piece of earthmoving equipment on it. When the rain had almost stopped I headed home, wondering if Paul had stayed dry and started on his first beer.

Thanks to Paul for leading, Rob for rear riding, and the others for an enjoyable day. Peter decided that rather than jeans, he will wear his leather pants on any future Club rides. No doubt his mishap has something to do with the decision. The jeans were dirty but not torn, so that was a good result.

Stats: Club Ride = 220km; Home/Home = 327km. Riding time = 4hr:14min. Average speed = 77 km/h.

Trevor Harris (YZF1000R)