Mirboo North – Grand Ridge Road Sunday 7^th December, 2008

Dell Schwaz	Honda CBR1100XX	Ron Johnston	Suzuki GF1200 Bandit
Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000	Chris Pointon	Suzuki GSXR1000
Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000	Cliff Peters	Suzuki GSXR1000
Dave Ward	Honda CBR1000	Bruce Fleming	Suzuki GSXR1000
Ben Warden (leader)	Honda CBR954	Magnus Cameron (2^nd ride)	Suzuki GSXR1000
Kurn Bridgeman	Honda CBR600	Geoff Jones (rear rider)	Yamaha R1
Lee Solomon (2^nd ride)	Honda CBR600	Pina Garasi	Yamaha R6
David Williams (4^th ride)	Honda CBR600	Cameron Stevens	Yamaha FZ6
Jarrod Wade	Triumph 955i	Marty Thompson	Kawasaki ZRX1200
Michael Srb (2^nd ride) Suzie Srb (pillion)	Kawasaki ZX9	Bron Manifold	Kawasaki Z750 20 bikes, 21 people

Another excellent turn out: 20 bikes. Fantastic! All the usual faces were there with a couple of (slightly) new ones. Welcome back Michael & Suzie Srb and Magnus Cameron.

Ben gave us the Gippsland pre-talk mentioning some places that you recognise but others like Arawata, Dumbalk and Ranceby can be a mystery. First scheduled stop was Loch, a picturesque little place that has become very popular with all types of “other” clubs and tourists. It’s not uncommon to see rare and exotic machinery, mainly cars in the main street nowadays.

From Loch we back tracked to Poowong and headed east over the Strzelecki Highway, then went uphill, along dirt tracks and down dale till we reached the heavily wooded section of the Grand Ridge Road where the tar meets the dirt. Here we dismount, stretch the legs, take the “must have’ photo, mount up and do it all over again till we reach Mirboo North for lunch and much needed fuel.

After lunch it has become Ben’s custom to lead those who are up for it on a quick 70 km loop via Leongatha and back to Mirboo North through places only Ben knows. Back in Mirboo North we pick up those who have decided to have a good break and head for Trafalgar via the famous Thorpdale “curves”. The “curves’ are a brilliant series of bends equally challenging in both directions. Each bend feeds into the next bend (without any straight bits) in opposite direction i.e. left-hander then right-hander then left-hander.

After Trafalgar it was a fast and furious run through Crossover down into Neerim South, across to Jindivick and on to the break-up point, Longwarry North.

A lazy 390 km for the day with only one incident, a flat (rear) tyre. Thanks Ben for leading and Geoff for rear riding.

Paul Southwell

For the record should anyone consider leading this “standard” ride:

Leg 1: Berwick, Drouin, Warragul-Korumburra Rd, Ranceby, Poowong, Nyora, Loch, 115 km

Leg 2: Loch, Poowong, Ranceby, Arawata (3 km dirt), Dumbalk, Mirboo, Grand Ridge road till it becomes dirt, Boolara South, Mirboo north Bakery for lunch. 124 km

Leg 3: Mirboo North, Leongatha, Hallston, Mirboo North, Thorpdale, Trafalgar. 92 km

Leg 4: Trafalgar, Noojee South, Jindivick, Longwarry North. 60 km

(565 home to home for Paul and Ben)