|
Phillip Hotschilt (1st
ride) |
Suzuki GSXR1300 |
Graeme Tattersall |
Yamaha MT01 |
|
Cliff Peters |
Suzuki GSXR1000 |
Damian Jones (1st ride) |
Yamaha R1 |
|
Rob Jones |
Suzuki GSXR1000 |
Geoff Jones (leader) |
Yamaha R1 |
|
Mark Rigsby (rear rider) |
Suzuki GSXR1000 |
Misho Zrakic/Pina Garasi |
Yamaha R6 |
|
Geoff Shugg |
Suzuki DL650 |
Ben Warden |
Honda CBR954 |
|
Rod Merrett (1st
ride) |
BMW R1100RS |
Ron Johnston |
Honda VFR800 |
|
Tony Raditsis |
Aprilia RSV1000 |
Peter Fisher (4th ride) |
Honda VFR800 |
|
Ivan Radywonic |
KTM 990 |
Ha Du |
Honda CBR600 |
16 bikes, 17 people, 410 km, 15 deg.
Does anyone else think Geoff Jones has a thing for really bumpy roads? For what it’s worth Geoff, I think your rides are always very cool (all three that I’ve been on anyway J), but geez, I’ll be sure to triple check that all my bike parts are intact and fully secured next time! Don’t worry though, Ben keeps telling me that he really doesn’t mind working on my bike, which seems to have become an ongoing project of sorts. I’m so grateful, what a champion! Julie, you can’t let Ben ever retire from the club! He made it all look really, really easy.
I was quite impressed by how much the rear mud guard had slipped out of place, enabling the chain to chew up part of the guard. The left hand mirror, I easily readjusted myself upon noticing that it was facing downwards after each series of bumps.
This write up’s going to be in a bang-bang-bang-here-it-is format, mostly due to writers block, but you’ll get general the drift of things.
· Three new faces came along on the ride through Pina and Misho, but I forgot I was doing the write up and didn’t ask any of them for feedback—doh! They looked like they had fun...does that count?
· More feathery green shoots sprouting from the burnt trees. The contrast has quite an impact, not just in colour, but also in concept. Foundations of houses being rebuilt will continue to spot the areas for some time.
· Ben took a very leisurely pace for the first quarter or so of the ride so that I could sit behind him and practice my positioning into the turns, thank you! J It was a good challenge trying to keep up with Ben’s ‘leisurely’ pace.
Watching from behind, I think we can add Rosellas to the list of wildlife that Ben allegedly has a habit of endangering.
· I did my second ever corner-overtake, and then a few more followed after that. It was just beautiful and made me so happy! I was coming into a right hand turn and I sat on the far left so I could see further around the corner through the trees—this is the bit where Ben says I told you so. Yes, ok. The coast was crystal clear up ahead so as I drew closer to the car going around the corner, I moved over to the right and then NNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!! Ahh, the sheer joy of it J Not very exciting for anyone else, but totally awesome for me!
· Hey Geoff J, no wobblies on the dirt road this time J
· It was super misty and cold on the Burke and Wills wet track heading towards Lancefield. This meant either slowing down or breathing in short, tiny spurts so as not to further impinge on my vision any more than the mist and spray was already doing. With the aid of a hazy, red image in front of me that was Geoff Shug and a handy hand to regularly wipe the moisture from my visor, I was able to maintain my speed through the turns. Hard work, but good fun.
· We stopped in Lancefield for morning tea where the Werribee Bike Club and MSR checked out each other’s bikes, gear and riders. Not sure why I mentioned that, maybe it’ll interest someone in 15 or so odd years when they’re looking back through the MSR club history...or maybe I just needed to fill up a bit of page space.
· The wind was full on, but awesome!—Thanks again to Pina’s supply of clothing, I didn’t get cold! It was very bizarre leaning right in the left hand turn to maintain balance against the gusty wind, but I went with it and came out the other side smiling. I really want to accurately convey my emotions here, but seeing as the club mag has a borderline PG rating, I guess I’ll have to settle for bloody ace, mate!
· Eventually, I’ll become more familiar with the areas and be able to match the occurrences to the locations, but in the meantime, you’ll just have to accept that somewhere after Lancefield I caught up to everyone else, only to discover that we were all sitting behind a chequered sedan. Quite a sobering experience, really.
·
We had a break at the Bacchus Marsh servo and
Ivan asked if I knew the other Asian chick with blond hair. Yes, and I believe Geoff J called her
· Somewhere around Anakie, the second chequered sedan came towards us from the other side of the road. Geoff J slowed down to what credibly passed for the speed limit, and I think the same could be said for everyone else, seeing as no one was stopped. Luckily also for me, I was sitting on the speed limit in between two cars just as the marked vehicle came over the hill. Phee-ew!
· Ben got a hole in his radiator. By the time we all arrived at the Werribee split up point, his temperature gauge was displaying over 100 degrees. Cliffy and I followed Ben to the BP in Werribee. Ben delegated, Cliffy did the majority of the work, I was there for support. Go guys!
· Cliffy showed Ben and I the neat job on his radiator guard. Mental note to get one for myself at some stage.
· I had heaps of fun practising my manoeuvres on the roads today, wind, bumps and all—thanks Geoff.
· Mark, you’re still my favourite rear rider.
Ah-bdee, bdee, bdee, and that’s all folks!
Ha Du