Loch Sunday 18^th September, 2005

Kawasaki ZX12R Paul Grosser (leader) Suzuki GSXR1000 Lyn Duncan

Honda CBR929 Ben Warden Yamaha TRX850 Tony Raditsis

Honda VFR750 Renzo Cunico Honda CBR1100XX Peter Feistl (rear rider)

Lyn dropped by to pick me up on her way through for the long freeway haul to Berwick though it feels much worse than it really is – 63 km of freeway taking 35 minutes. I was a little sluggish after a late night out visiting Pete and Liz and their new baby who must be the best baby in the world as she is always asleep when we visit. Lucky parents.

The forecast was for 18 degrees and I expected a bumper turnout, particularly after last week’s washout. Alas, no. There were only five starters with Renzo turning up 12 minutes late making the sixth. He was mistakenly camped up at the Shell service statio in town. I noticed his bike was sporting a new rear tyre, ready for last week’s Dargo extravaganza which he bailed on due to the forecast – rain, hail, wind. Of course it was so warm on Saturday that we ran out of luggage carrying capacity as clothing was shed. Even I divested myself of my over-jacket and waterproof pants. It was around 25 degrees. And no rain except one downpour just after 5 pm and 530 km, 8 km short of Dargo. We copped a bit of rain on Sunday from Drouin back to Melbourne, when the ride was effectively over. I digress.

Paul outlined the route and off we went, Renzo joining in just in time. Down the freeway to Pakenham, then parallel to the highway to Longwarry and Drouin before picking up the Main South Road to Ranceby, a right turn around the smooth twisties saw us in Poowong and straight into Loch for morning tea. Paul fine tuned the ride as we went, taking a more direct route than originally planned, avoiding the wet roads which would be picked up later, effectively running the ride backwards.

I filled up at Loch, still not on reserve at 240 km, the good economy an indication of the wet/dry roads, steady speeds and the gentle west/tail wind from home. The sun was now bright and strong, so much so that we sought refuge in the shade. A monster ham and salad roll slowed Paul’s plans for a short stop but given that all his distances were quoted in Kawasaki kilometres, there was an immediate 10% saving in time ie his odometer is reading (at least) 10% high with the changed gearing, the result of a sprocket change. Paul’s bike was suffering with ground clearance problems, grounding out the fairing at regular intervals. No doubt the damping has gone off by now and with only the standard spring fitted and 150 plus horses on tap, you can see the problem.

Paul Grosser spends his time flitting all over the world sorting out engineering problems. He regaled us with his last trip to a nuclear power plant in eastern Europe. A guy drank the cooling water to prove it was safe – or how stupid he was. Maybe the rear shock could be modified while he is away on his next trip.

After morning tea, the plan was to head south and perform a figure eight route and end up back in Loch for lunch. About 15 km after leaving Loch, heading for Wonthaggi on one of my favourite roads, I got distracted by an oncoming suspicious silver commodore as the road crested and dropped away. A big corrective shove on the handlebars saw the front slide away scarily, unloading the back, right boot grinding into the bitumen. Thankfully grip returned and, after an ugly weave, the bike regained composure and off we went. Not sure if there was anything on the road though the tyres could have still been cold and the tank was full and the front was heavily loaded with the sudden change of direction. Live and learn.

At the end of the high speed twisties near Archies Creek we turned left with views of Wonthaggi and the sea off to our right. Six kays of straight roads saw another left turn as we headed for Kongwak on a series of very wide and fast sweepers before the road narrowed down to a sandy goat track running along the ridge as we now made our way west through Glen Alvie crossing over the Loch Road and picking up the beautiful run down towards Grantville, riding amongst the tall gums. A couple of kilometres before Grantville we turned right and up the hill along a few kilometres of pleasant twisties before narrowing down again for the run into Kernot. Rather than turning right just out of Kernot as I often do we continued north along some straight roads (except for the occasional sharp right angle bend) towards the South Gippsland Highway rejoining 4 km west of Loch. Loch is now bypassed and the old road is now a dead end, momentarily confusing Paul as we re-entered Loch for our official lunch stop.

The weather was now magnificent, roads fast drying. Conversation flowed.

Food, fuel and social requirements sated, we now set off on the last pleasurable leg. Around to Nyora and up the gentle hills requiring sharp concentration in the dampish conditions. On through Poowong and the fast section of sweepers to Ranceby, turning north onto Lyn’s favourite section, the Korumburra-Warragul Rd, sometimes referred to as the Strzelecki Highway. He must have been a hell of an explorer as there are so many mountains, places and roads named after him.

As usual, the road was engrossing, and having done it only a week before on the Dargo ride, every corner was familiar. We diverted south around Warragul, avoiding three sets of traffic lights, crossing over the Highway at Nilma and proceeding directly north to Crossover and more magnificent roads. A jot of highway before turning left at Neerim South heading for Jindivick – watch the gravel strewn right handers – and on to Labertouche and break-up at the highway after a great flowing ride.

A hundred kilometres of boring highway saw me home and well satisfied. Thanks Paul for putting together an interesting and varied ride. The beauty of Gippsland is it just has so many possibilities – we have done all the roads before, but never in that combination. It worked well.

Ben Warden (Honda CBR929)