Loch Sunday 11^th January, 2009

Richard Marek	Honda CBR1100	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX10
Paul Southwell (leader)	Honda CBR1000	Bronwyn Manifold (rear)	Kawasaki Z750
Ian Payne	Honda CBR1000	Geoff Shugg (3^rd ride)	BMW K1200RS
Tim Emons	Honda CBR1000	Rob Langer	BMW R1150GS
Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000	Ron Johnston	Suzuki GF1200
Ken Goederee	Honda CBR1000	Bruce Fleming	Suzuki GSXR1000
Dave Ward	Honda CBR1000	Michael Srb (3^rd ride)	Yamaha R1
John Rousseaux & Kate Stewart	Honda CBR1000	Pina Garasi	Yamaha R6
Brett Chambers (1^st ride)	Honda CBR1000	Frank Makryllos (1^st ride)	Ducati ST4
Glen Morley (1^st ride)	Honda CBR1000	Matthew Egan (2^nd ride)	Ducati M. 1000
Ern Reeders	Honda CBR954	Rick Chambers (1^st ride)	Aprilia RS250
Ben Warden	Honda CBR954	Henry Wright	Triumph 675
Kern Bridgeman	Honda CBR600	Lee Solomon (4^th ride)	Honda CBR600
			26 bikes, 27 people

Nine CBR1000s on the one ride – I would think the most single make and model on one ride for at least 30 years (or living memory) …Ed.

Loch MK I A cool overcast morning, the prospect of some good fanging in South Gippsland and a heap of riders gathered at the servo. Lots of new faces since I last rode with the Club some time ago. The cloud cover lasted ’til lunchtime so we got no distracting shadows across the roads which apart from a few patches of gravel or dew were in good nick.

There’s a wide range of machines out, from 1200 tourers to an Aprilia two-stroke 250. But Honda rules the day and the Club is starting to appear like a Fireblade group as it did a few years ago.

The new bypass is a boring stretch which whets the appetite for the twisties, and things warm up slowly as we do the hundred kays to Loch. Folk are getting into a rhythm while respectfully allowing others to pass them. Feeling my oats I overtake a few bikes and a little while later check the mirrors… Damn, there’s a flickering blue light behind! Arghhh! But no, it’s just a rider with a blue tint headlight globe.

We pull into Loch to find another couple of groups there. The bakery is doing a roaring trade. Then it’s out up the hill and onto a fine ridge-top route of fast bends with some good sight lines. Seventy k’s brings us to the outskirts of Korumburra and a heart-starter in the form of an oncoming police bike. We’re all ignored, thankfully.

After lunch it’s onto the road to Warragul. Others are feeling their oats here and the pace picks up. This is a varied road and the early tight bends often have corrugations. Whatever it was, Lee ran wide on one and remodelled his front wheel on an armco post. Flat tyre; unrideable; Lee fortunately only bruised. Ian dropped his bike avoiding the mess and expertly slid the front wheel under the armco but between posts so his new Fireblade was christened but still rideable. Further up in the pack Ben ran wide but recovered; Ken followed him and decided on some trail riding up and down a bank and back onto the road. Nice work.

Beyond Warragul Paul took us up some roads new to me, including a sordid little section from one of the many Neerims down to Noojee. Narrow, bumpy and gravelly on some corners and all downhill. I lost the rear on the Fireblade on one bend but somehow the tyre regained traction and the heart rate settled down from 160. I’m now thinking of that area as “Neerim my God to me” ;-} Earlier in one of the loops out of Neerim Junction, Rick zapped passed me on his 250, leaving a wake of wonderment and two stroke fumes.

Meantime, Geoff burned out his clutch and had phoned for instant membership of, and a pick-up from, the RACV. Hope he didn’t have to wait for half a day which was my experience with that organisation.

So we all cruised into Noojee to find more law enforcement and charitably dropped back to let Paul demonstrate what fine law-abiding citizens we could be.

Past the turn-off to Powelltown we were stopped by the authorities with the message that there’d been a fatality further on, so it was picture time (see front cover …Ed) and then a diversion south via Nayook, which should be called Neerim West to complete the Neerim compass. From Neerim South we took the Jindivick Road which happily has been resurfaced. My apologies to the guy on my tail through here, as I was expecting the normal surprises of bumps and gravel, and hence, was riding somewhat unevenly.

We ended the ride near the Princes Highway at Longwarry North. Barring the “offs”, for such a varied group, we stayed together pretty well. There were some riders who went hard down the straights but consistently lost confidence in the bends, giving others a somewhat frustrating time.

But all up it was a great day and terrific to catch up with old friends. Misho’s got a real bike finally. Pina is riding on the edge in more ways than one. Ronnie’s got his vintage bike back. Robbie can still punt a monster bike faster than most. Cliff has gone back to a brand of bike that matches his leathers. Paul’s still the sleek old b*gger he always was. Ben still rides fast and smooth (give or take a corner). Dave still swaps bikes like they were undies. And it was great to make the acquaintance of new members and visitors.

It’s been a while since my last Club ride. My demerit points clock had edged too close to noon for comfort so I’ve been hanging back til it drops back to drinks time.

Many thanks to Paul for leading, to Bron for sweeping us up, and to the Club Committee who put in so much time to make this larger machine work.

All up, 330 kays from ride start to finish. 500 km door to door for me.

Got home to find a message on the answering machine from my 88 year old Mum. Rang her back, ‘Where have you been?’ she asks. ‘Err, out riding’. ‘Isn’t it your turn to cook?’ she replies. ‘Err, yep, but I got things organised before heading out’. Something else that hadn’t changed. I’m still a 56 year old boy.

Ern Reeders