Walhalla – Thompsons Dam Sunday 24^th September, 2006

Trevor Harris (leader)	Yamaha YZF1000	Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000
Ron Johnston (rear)	Suzuki GSF1200	Ben Warden	Honda CBR954

I was early at Berwick, the fierce tail wind from the north and west pushing me along at a fair clip, wind noise strangely absent. I had to take shelter next to a car crossing the Bolte Bridge, the risk of being blown across a lane “clear and present” as President Bush would say regarding a terrorist attack.

Dawdling along the freeway gave me time to observe my new economy indicator, a feature not present on the 929 instrument display. As much as 30 km/l at 80 km/h around the Monash by-pass roadworks is pretty frugal, but more an indication of the wind strength. It never got below 20 km/l on the 62 km trip from home. I thought Trevor and Martin Hastie, not averse to the odd electric gizmo, would have loved this. Instant fuel economy reading. Only moderate acceleration drops the reading down to 8 km/l and cruising at 130 km/h shows are fairly high rate of consumption at around 12 km/l. All those experiments about whether to ride a gear higher or lower for best economy can be instantly assessed. Brilliant.

Ron was already there, itching for a ride, no matter what the forecast said. And the forecast was abysmal for riding: gale force winds, hail storms, snow at the higher altitude, storm warnings, sheep weather alert and frost alert. After Paul arrived, he mentioned that he had heard the forecast and said: “I know I said I wasn’t riding today, but when I heard the forecast, I just had to come!” Of course Trevor was leading and had to be there. I was hanging out for a ride after only riding to the GP the week before. Ern was also keen on a ride, but said he would consult with his pilot friend who has access to very accurate weather reports and would decide then. No Ern could only mean a very bad weather report.

And so it came to pass that the four social misfits set off into the wild, black, cloudy yonder at 10.11 am. It wasn’t cold, but a squally wind threatened to dissolve into rain. Heading north from the service station back into Berwick proper we all managed to get across the Princes Highway thanks to long lights on green picking up Inglis Rd across to the main Beaconsfield Emerald Road. (I needed a street directory to quote these names, so rest assured, my memory or geographical knowledge is not that good.)

Now scooting north to Upper Beaconsfield and the set of smooth twisties, alas quite wet, saw us making good progress around the bottom of Cardinia Reservoir. Memories of very high speeds along this road came flooding in as Trevor sat on the legal limit, ever wary. We turned right at the sharp Paternoster Rd turnoff immediately around the left bend, and headed for Cockatoo. Trev missed Bailey’s Road at the top of the hill, unbeknownst to us, and continued down Paternoster Rd, exactly as we did on Ian’s Gembrook ride earlier in the month. It certainly is a spectacular road with glorious views in all directions as it dips and weaves along the ridge. Left at Pakenham Road and back to Cockatoo for more pleasant twisties, the odd car now coming into play.

We overshot the Woori Yallock roundabout resulting in a messy U-turn 100 metres up the road. Some got around before a contingent of mud splattered, high ground clearance, specialist 4WDs came howling through; the roar of their tyres very distinct. And later on we ran into the Moke Club, but I can’t remember exactly where. All I remember is that there was lots of them, some very highly decorated.

We got a bit of a wriggle on this road, the surface dry, more cars. At Woori Yallock we turned right onto the Warburton Highway and off again a couple of kilometres up the road at Wickhams Road on to the Gembrook road. Left again on Milners Road brought us out on the Yarra Junction Noojee Road. This little bypass is often featured on Ron’s rides and is now quite familiar.

On to Powelltown and the tempo quickens again. The tight twisties were heavily strewn with gravel on every corner, not ideal for twitchy, high powered sport bikes. Mental note that if we came back this way to be on guard. The high speed sweepers were wet and not to Paul and Ron’s taste as Trev and I pulled away. I knew my tyres were good and Trev’s less so. Hence I was quite impressed by our swift progress, though the others were never really out of eyesight. Trevor had the benefit of pre-riding the whole route the day before, so was well versed in the conditions. A fine, committed effort, worthy of a special mention. Thanks Trevor.

Noojee hove into sight just on morning tea time after 106 km (or 111 km according to Paul’s odometer). The mud grubs were just leaving, all seemingly on orange and black KTMs. A ham and salad sandwich hit the spot. Striking up a conversation with the cook always seems to guarantee lashings of fillings. A bargain at $4.50.

The weather was relatively good at this stage; still warmish. Paul was tossing up whether to take off his wet weather pants or not and decided to do so, a decision he didn’t regret. Now heading for Icy Creek and Hill End in amongst the trees on very twisty, wet roads, I sat on Trevor’s tail. He was pushing, judging by some hard, late braking manoeuvres. Following is much easier, though I really appreciated the 40 kg weight advantage. A few years engine and chassis development seems to make a tremendous difference.

Leaving the sheltered twisties, now up high, running along the ridge, a sudden temperature drop and increased wind velocity heralded the advent of the front, as predicted by the weather bureau. It felt like a long ride down to Willow Grove, Tanjil South and Moe. There has been significant road widening along this section and once the loose gravel on the corners clears in a month or two, it will be an excellent motorcycling road.

It was lunch time and we parked opposite the Chinese-run bakery, strangely quiet, barely a car in the shopping strip. We could have parked anywhere. Not like other times where we battle to find a single car spot.

The storm clouds were gathering, the sky turning an ominous black, no matter which way we looked. The decision was made to discontinue the ride and beat a hasty retreat. It was about 1 pm and Paul noted a couple of temptations; the Japanese MotoGP on free-to-air at 4 pm, preceded by the V8 Touring Cars. It fell to Ben to lead.

It had started to rain and as we picked up the Old Sale Road, all hell broke loose. A fierce rain storm ensued with unpredictable squally winds. We were caught between a rock and a hard place, 150 km from home. Travelling on the highway, the risk of being blown across a lane or off the road was a definite possibility. Seeking the shelter of the back roads ran the risk of being hit by flying debris – and there was plenty of it – or something bigger! We chose the latter option, having to navigate only three fallen trees blocking our lane. It was a very tough ride and the thought of stopping altogether crossed my mind many times. It was particularly unpleasant negotiating the tight twisties where the wind wanted to grab your front wheel as we almost came to a stop trying to get around the corners. I also remember approaching Buln Buln around the fast, open sweeper, raked mercilessly by a cross wind and driving rain. Survival was the only instinct in play.

We rode the direct route to Longwarry North, not even contemplating the Jindavick, Labertouche loop, stopping at the usual point just before rejoining the freeway. It was only 53 km since Moe but much had happened. We were emotionally spent. Luckily all survived unscathed.

I last saw the group at Pakenham when I pulled off for fuel, the first time for the day. The official ride length was 213 km, Berwick to Longwarry North. Home to home saw 378 km worth of exhilarating riding and the bike clock over 50,000 km. I see next week’s forecast is 25 degrees and fine.

Thanks Trevor for leading us along a well thought out route. Maybe next time, with a better forecast, we will get a few more people out to share the experience. And thanks to Ron and Paul for being game enough to ignore the forecast and make a day of it.

Ben Warden