Walhalla Sunday 24^th September, 2006

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

Today looked like one of those days. Standing at the back door watching the clouds skittle by, I didn’t know whether it might rain or not, but decided to go for the ride anyway. I got myself organised and left home around 9 am having a leisurely ride to Berwick. When I arrived, there were no club members. I started to wonder: “Was I late? Has no-one turned up? Have they already left? I checked my watch and it said 9.30 am. Phew. I am early. There wasn’t much traffic on the road on the way over so that explains that. Filled up with petrol, parked the bike and headed to Maccas for a caffeine fix and to keep warm while I waited.

Ben arrived about 9:50 am. I wandered out to meet him. Trevor and Paul arrived soon after. Once we all gathered around, Trevor gave us a briefing on where we were going, distance, fuel stops, etc. Next question: who would be the rear rider and scribe? I volunteered to be the rear rider on the pretence that I still have to get used to wearing glasses.

We left the servo, crossed the railway line and Princes Highway and followed some dude towing a trailer with rubbish including a few short sheets of corrugated iron on top, precariously tied down. Paul was giving him a wide berth. I watched in case the sheets came adrift. We passed the golf club at Guys Hill, then on through Upper Beaconsfield, Cardinia Reservoir, and Emerald where we turned on to Paternoster Road. Fabulous roads all through here. It’s been a long time since I have been up this way.

We climbed our way to the top and then descended down through the trees. The roads were a little damp but okay. Next we crossed Mt Burnett and do a left onto the Gembrook Road. From here we pick up the Belgrave/Gembrook Road to Cockatoo. At the roundabout, Trevor goes left instead of right. A quick U-turn remedies that. We ended up at the Warburton Highway. The roads through here are well worth investigating. They go up, down, left and right, S bends and sweepers. It’s got them all. If you have a spare afternoon, go for a spin. You won’t be disappointed.

We headed down the Highway looking for adventure. It came, in the form of Hoddles Creek to Gladysdale. When I first came to Australia I knew some people that lived at Hoddles Creek. At that time, the first part of the road was sealed and the rest was gravel. How times have changed. The road is now sealed through to Gladysdale and is tight and twisty.

Just before Three Bridges there was a grey VP Commodore station wagon on the side of the road with no plates on it. I reckon it must be stolen because it was there last week when we went through. The average punter doesn’t leave a car parked in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am right. Who knows?

Powelltown. The roads are damp/wet in places again, depending on whether the sunlight penetrates the trees. We have had the road to ourselves, except for a few cars, one towing a camper trailer and the other a horse float.

Whites Corner. There was a bloke with trail bikes on a trailer parked on the side of the road. The bloke and one of his kids appeared to be putting a marker post back up. Maybe they had driven too close and knocked it over.

Noojee. There were about 7 trail bikes, all KTMs I think. It was good to get some of my riding gear off and have a break. Trevor and Paul rode to the loos while I walked because I needed the exercise. Ben got something to eat. By the time I returned they were discussing speed cameras. Trevor commented that the person who invented them, intended them for starting rally car races. Somehow they ended up in the hands of Law Enforcement. The Irish are trashing them badly. They have had enough, like Victorians, but go one step further.

Time to hit the road again. This time the roads were wet and Trevor took his time. We passed a couple of cars and that was it till we came to the Willowgrove turn off. The road was covered in sticks, bark and leaf litter. It was like doing a slalom course with of all the rubbish. We passed one Land Cruiser on the way through. This would have to be the slowest ride through here, ever. We never went over 80 km/h.

As we got to the other end, the road started to dry out which was good. By the time we got to Tanjil South the sky was decidedly black looking to the south. We passed a cavalcade of Mini Mokes coming in the opposite direction. The first one had no top on it, but the rest did.

As we arrived in Moe it started raining and blowing a gale. Paul stopped for fuel and the three of us continued on into town and parked. Subway was a couple of doors down, the bakery across the road. We had something to eat while the wind blew up, trees and power lines swaying. You could hear the wind whistling loudly around the buildings and power lines.

Due to the inclement weather conditions, Walhalla was off the agenda. Paul made a comment that the car racing was on, followed by bike racing. That sounded like a very good idea. Trevor, Ben and I decided that we would get fuel down the Highway somewhere, instead of stopping in the rain after just getting in your “comfort zone”.

Old Sale Road here we come. It was pissing down, wind blowing a gale. It was difficult to stay upright on occasions. One left hand corner I came to the wind was blowing me in the opposite direction. There were parts of trees blown literally half way across the road, heaps of leaf and bark litter, visibility down to a minimum. One intersection Trevor crossed, I thought I was seeing things. In fact, Trevor’s bike was fishtailing. Next thing Trevor raises his left thumb to indicate he is okay. So I wasn’t seeing things after all. The way it was raining, visibility through the visor was terrible.

Riding through here we were doing slalom course number two, again dodging trees, sticks and everything else thrown at us, all the while watching the trees above in case they decided to fall. At Buln Buln there was a lot of water across the road. Along the Drouin West to Robin Hood stretch we came up behind a slow car that we had to pass. It was hard to see with all the spray coming off its wheels.

By the time we got to Longwarry North, amazingly it had stopped raining and the road had started to dry out. Trevor was wringing water out of his gloves. We haven’t ridden in bad weather like that for a long while. It was long before we said our goodbyes and headed down the Highway.

I ended up filling my bike with fuel just a couple of kilometres from home. From Berwick to Canterbury Road I did 288 kms, which isn’t bad for my bike, considering I don’t usually let the fuel get that low. But it’s good because I know I can do the distance if I have to.

For those who didn’t come along, you missed out on half a day's good riding. Good weather (half a day), no incidents and good company. See you next time.

Ron Johnston