Eildon Sunday 4^th October, 2009

Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000	Phillip Hotschilt (2^nd ride)	Suzuki GSXR1300
Ken Goederee	Honda CBR1000	Tony Stegmar	Suzuki GSXR1000
John Rousseaux	Honda CBR1000	Chris Pointon	Suzuki GSXR1000
Ben Warden (lead)	Honda CBR954	Duane Rafferty (2^nd ride)	Suzuki GSXR1000
Rob Croft	Honda VFR800	Rob Jones	Suzuki GSXR1000
Dennis Lindemann	Honda CBR600	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX10
Ha Du	Honda CBR600	Dave Ward/Penny Green (rear)	Kawasaki Z1000
Damian Jones	Yamaha R1	Rod Merrett	BMW R1100S
Graeme Tattersall	Yamaha MT01	Dave Chisma	BMW F800ST
Cameron Stevens	Yamaha FZ6	Tony Raditsis	Aprilia RSV1000

How to make a good time from a day that starts off bad….

· When you are well-advised by your fellow-rider to wear wet-weather gear for the ride and you stubbornly chose leather and then it rains… well.. bad luck, just take it and be very happy when the sun pops out.

· When your bike decides to cough, splutter and cease on the Christmas Hills twisties coming down into Yarra Glen – persist and persist in getting it going but know when to give up (ie take Ben’s advice) and hop on the back with someone else (unable to pillion with Misho due to racing cowl on the Blade… damn; Dave Ward to the rescue) and enjoy the onboard entertainment :

- random wheelies executed on tight twisty bits

- extra long scary but exciting wheelies on slippery wet roads

- imitating urban cowboy - Cameron’s riding style, whip included

- imitating smooth operator - Cliffy’s wind-cutting riding style

- Dave rating Misho’s wheelies most critically with a very small finger

- watching more great wheelies – Ken and Rob Jones … thanks!

- reaching over and giving the throttle a bit more of a twist just to make sure that you also give the rider a bit of a thrill, especially when approaching the corner markers at an exceptionally fast speed such that a stoppie is in order. Good fun hey Dave?

The R6 wasn’t the only bike which was a problem today. Apparently, Tim Emons never made it to the ride because of a rear tyre puncture… shame he was unable to get his Sunday fix because of this.

Craig Morley almost didn’t make it to the start at Yarra Glen; a loose axle nut almost caused the rear of his bike to collapse, ejecting him at the same time. It was a bit nerve-racking considering the potential consequences. The Yarra Glen lady shopkeeper kindly soothed Craig’s rattled spirit before he took off using the R6 to go home and retrieve a nut off his spare bike.

Ben’s bike also played up on the way home, having to push start it, and then having to leave it at Kinglake, hitch a ride with Cliff and retrieve it bit later using a spare battery, then finally having to use a trailer to get the bike home. New stator coming from Peter Stevens.

Hmm, never a dull moment in this Club with the hard core riders not surrendering easily. We started off with 21 riders, but gradually finished up with 10 riders, mainly due to the cold and wet conditions combined with a tough day of relentless twisties. I’m very grateful that I listened to Ben and pillioned on a ride that would have been extremely challenging on a sick bike.

Thanks also to Dave, who did such a wonderful job in keeping the rear-riding, with me as pillion, as entertaining as possible… you made it a lot of fun – thanks heaps!

Penny Green