Walhalla Sunday 28^th June, 2009

Honda CBR1000	Tim Emons (leader)	Honda CBR600	Dennis Lindemann
Honda CBR1000	Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR600	Ha Du
Honda CBR1000	Ian Payne (rear)	Suzuki GSX1300R	Tony Stegmar
Honda CBR1000	Paul Southwell (rear)	Suzuki GSXR1000	Cliff Peters
Honda CBR1000F	Martin Govett (2^nd ride)	Triumph 955i	Jared Wade
Honda CBR954	Ben Warden	Yamaha R6	Pina Garasi
Honda VFR800	Ron Johnston	Yamaha FZ6	Cameron Stevens
Honda VFR800	Rob Croft		15 bikes, 15 people

After my early retirement on the Eildon ride I had to wait for two long weeks for the next ride. Withdrawal symptoms were getting stronger. I was hoping for at least no rain for this Sunday although I bought a new jacket and wanted to know whether it works in rain or not. Luckily, there was just a little bit of fog in the morning and clear blue sky for the rest of the day... just prefect.

It was freezing cold when I fired up the mighty 600 and it took a while until the engine didn’t need the choke anymore. I had all my available gear on to keep me warm but while I was riding on the Monash Freeway, I couldn’t help thinking about those heated grips. I arrived with leader Tim at Berwick with a couple of people already waiting.

It took us a while to leave the starting point as many people arrived after the briefing due to the Burnley tunnel being closed. Ian volunteered as rear rider until Noojee. Tim told us to feel free to overtake him at any time, but whoever did so had to write the article; and here I am.

We left the servo and made a U-turn to ride through Berwick and Harkaway to turn into Boundary Road and continued on the Beaconsfield - Emerald Road. My rear tyre reminded me every now and then that the roads were still cold and damp. Passing thick fog and some V8 Supercar wannabes, we turned into Paternoster Road and to Cockatoo and Gembrook. Ron wasn’t happy about those guys at all as one of them ended up on his side of the road. But we weren’t really role models either as Tony was passed by an old-timer earlier in front of Misho and me – on his left side.

Somewhere after Gembrook, the ride came to a stand still. I was corner marking with Misho for quite a while until he rode back to investigate what was going on. Still waiting, I saw Ron approaching with news that someone might have crashed; luckily it turned out to be just a bit of confusion at the last corner marking, Paul Southwell missing Ian (rear rider) pass by, and then sending Jared back to find out what was going on. We all reassembled at the Yarra Junction- Noojee Road to turn right and ride through Three Bridges and Powelltown for the first stop in Noojee. Nice roads to whet the appetite for more…much more.

But first food and drinks. Walking back to the group, Ben and Cliff where standing around Ha’s bike, now with fairings and seat off, and the battery out. No electrics. Ben checked the fluid level in the battery - completely empty. Something about dropping the bike at Paul’s the night before and not being able to pick it up until he returned home. Ha was already on the phone to the RACV to organise a pick-up. Meanwhile Ben put his filtered water from home into the battery to give it a try; then put everything back together and bump started the bike. It was idling okay now, but without good enough electrics to make it all the way home, the risk was too great, so it had to be the RACV after all.

We left Ha behind as it was already 1 pm and we had only completed one third of ride. Rear rider Ian left and Paul took over his duties.

We left Noojee making our way towards Icy Creek through some nice sweepers with a mixture of dry and damp roads. The sun shining through the trees made it difficult to see whether it was dry or wet. I really had to hold back not to get too excited about the oncoming sections until the tyres had warmed up a bit; I noticed at one point that it still wasn’t time to push it. After the tight and twisty part through the woods it was fast, open roads and I had to keep the revs up to keep up with Tim.

Looking at the speed every now and then, I asked myself whether doing deleted km/h through this section is a smart thing to do. No time to think; Tim is getting away!

I corner marked at the Moe Rawson Road with Cameron and Cliff. We noticed that we were all getting hot in the sunny weather. But I’d rather be hot than freezing in the cold rain.

After filling up at the servo in Moe, I couldn’t wait to get out of my jacket and take my thick winter gloves off. I should have brought my summer leather gloves. I visited the local Bakery and was tempted by their “special” chilli pie. Great idea. As if I wasn’t sweating enough already.

Everyone was catching up on the usual topics. Paul was looking for a replacement for his current jacket; I guess it has done its duty - it certainly looked like it.

Ready to leave, Tony was missing. He eventually turned up with both hands full of fish and chips. We took off without him as the serving looked like a two course meal. Ben left him instructions “Turn left at the ‘T’ and keep going till you catch us at the Dam.” So we didn’t really abandon him.

On the way out I noticed that the goat on the left side of the road was missing. Did anyone else?

We turned left at the roundabout and rode back the way we came continuing on towards Thomson Dam. Again, great fast roads with the sun in your face that kept you guessing: wet or dry? Past the danger already; too late now.

I spent the time trying to keep up with Tim, Cameron and Cliff. Eventually we stopped at the Dam to have a look at what’s left. Ben took the picture for the day and shortly after we were complete again with Tony arriving. As the day was already a bit older than initially planned, we skipped Walhalla.

The sun now at my back, I had a ball on the road back down to Tyers. I remember the last time I rode on this road with the Club, I would never have dared to ride that fast along here.

Reflecting on my riding career from when I started riding: no riding since I got my license when I was 18 and then only a few rides on my dad’s 650 cruiser, till now, after 1.5 years riding with the Club, I think I would still be doing do 50 km/h in a 50 km/h marked bend if I had continued riding on my own... or be parked on St. Kilda Road drinking lattes.

We even saw Valentino Rossi. Well, at least he had all the gear money could buy, but it didn’t help him a lot. We rode back up through Willow Grove and back down to get on to the Old Sale Road. Somewhere along here I guess I earned my right to write the article. I saw Cameron corner marking and a yellow Fireblade similar to Tim’s. Still in race mode, I thought, that is Misho. No worries, head down! Started thinking after a while: Misho was behind me and I didn’t see him pass me. Looked in the mirror: Misho already? Hmm…that helmet looks a lot like Tim’s. He passed me and I think I even heard him laughing under the helmet.

Fast, tight and twisty sections all the way with barely any time to catch a breath from here on. All smiles for the whole ride. Riding behind Tim through Crossover the engine started to choke and I had to switch to reserve. Checked the counter: 186 kilometres is not very economical on a 17 litre tank (probably less due to some dents). (Closer to 14 litres? Plus reserve? …Ed.)

Take it easy and save fuel to be safe? No way! I’d rather push! Blasting along the last fast sweepers towards Longwarry North and then – it’s all over L

We filled our bikes up at the servo and, as predicted, Tim was happy to announce today’s author for the article. Everyone was getting ready earlier than usual as it was getting dark already and we all had a long and boring ride ahead of us.

Great ride, awesome roads and the weather couldn’t have been better for this season.

Thanks Tim for planning and leading this ride. I guess, as you might have noticed, I had a lot of fun. Also thanks to Ian and Paul for rear riding.

See you guys next time!

Dennis Lindemann