Heathcote Sunday 9^th, October 2005

Honda CBR1000	Paul Southwell (leader)	Suzuki GSXR1000	Lyn Duncan
Honda VFR750	Renzo Cunico	Suzuki GSXR1000	Ron Solomon
Honda CBR929	Ben Warden (rear)	Yamaha R1	James Giordmaina

The weather was pretty cold and this was reflected in the turnout. With only six bikes it was an easy decision to nominate myself as the rear rider from Whittlesea. So after an outline of the day’s route by our leader Paul, and Lyn reminding me to notify the other riders of the slippery patch of water running across the road a bit before Flowerdale, we were off. Of course, Renzo is still waiting for a new starter motor clutch and is having to push-start his bike once the oil warms up; that is, the first morning start is fine.

Paul was in so much of a hurry (he wanted to get home and watch the cricket, watch the end of Bathurst and then watch the Japanese MotoGP) that his words were coming out faster than usual, putting the fear of god into Lyn before the ride had even started!

Flowerdale, then Yea via Junction Hill twisties slipped by, Paul setting a brisk pace, the damp road surfaces now improving on the other side of the Divide, though it was still quite cold, the top temperature only reaching 17 deg. Left at Yea for 4 km before a right turn heading for Highlands, all nose to tail, riding in close formation.

On to Seymour for a welcome morning tea break after 112 km. We refuelled at the Shell Servo on the left, just around the corner from the police station.

From Seymour we worked our way west towards Pyalong along good roads, keeping an eye out for kangaroos. A right, left jiggle at the Northern Highway in Pyalong saw us heading for Emu Flat. Another right left jiggle over the hill put us onto the Baynton Road, bumpy and back jarring as ever, including the 600 metres of unmade but relatively smooth sandy, dirt road. We turned right onto the Burke and Wills Track, cunningly missing the best bit of it, heading north along the straight and bumpy section all the way to Mia Mia where we turned right, sticking to the main road all the way to Heathcote for lunch. That is one of the main attractions of Club rides: variety. In this section alone we had had everything.

After refuelling at the north end of town we ventured down to the bakery, parking near Les Leahy’s caravan park, as per usual. We all sat outside the bakery on the aluminium tables and chairs, definitely not designed for clumsy, leather clad motorcylists. After a while I flopped out the camera and took a stack of mug shots, Lyn doing her best to try and get James to smile, doing something suggestive with the ice-cream, which was only scaring him, and making the rest of us laugh.

After lunch we tootled down the highway to Tooborac, peeling right onto the Lancefield Road. The country is very volcanic with lots of large bolders strewn around, the landscape undulating with lots of white sheep contrasting starkly with the bright green paddocks. At Emu Flat we turned left and headed back to Pyalong and back onto the Seymour Road. As usual, repeating roads on the same day gives you a lot of confidence knowing that the surface offers no surprises. Consequently the pace crept up again.

At the Glenaroua 45 km/h corner we turned right and wended our way back to Broadford, on to Strath Creek and Flowerdale to break up at Kinglake West after a final fling up the 60 and 70 marked corners and 125 km, this last section a real blast. It was a pretty tiring section requiring absolute concentration for the whole time. As rear rider I could see people getting tired and making minor mistakes. The call of the wild TV rang true and clear and Paul was soon off, the rest of us not far behind.

It is rides like this that we can tell our grand children about, and it would be good to tell the truth if only we could. Thanks Paul for an exciting and varied ride with lots of laughs at each of the stops. We all know each other too well and the quality of the jokes/conversation is getting lower.

Ben Warden (Honda CBR929)