Black Rock BBQ II             Saturday 19th September, 2009

 

On the ride:

 

Paul Southwell (leader)

Honda CBR1000

Nic (first ride)

Aprilia RSV1000

Misho Zrakic & Pina Garasi

Honda CBR1000

Ben Warden

Honda CBR954

John Rousseaux & Kate Stewart

Honda CBR1000

Henry Wright

Triumph 675

Geoff Shugg (rear)

Suzuki DL650

Clifford Peters

Kawasaki ZX10

 

 

 

8 bikes, 10 people

 

At the BBQ all of the above (except Nic) and:

 

Ian Payne & Kerrie Gooding

Dave Ward & Bron Manifold

Bill Wee

Chris Pointon & Suzi Pollard

Ron & Julie Johnston

Julie Warden

Cameron & William (5 yo) Stevens

Ha Du

22 people

 

I was really hanging out for a ‘speed-Misho’ thrill as was his newly-fitted Ohlins, so on the back of the Blade it was.  Misho needed a fix too, having missed the last two Sunday rides due to work commitments. So this Saturday ride was a MUST.  The sun was out and the wind rather fresh but no rain for the ride which meant we could do a bit of ‘yee-hah’.  

Paul Southwell - our  ride-leader for the day, provided a fast-paced 160km of ‘never a dull moment’ for the 10 of us who turned up, taking us via Chum Creek and Myers Creek road, Yarra Junction, Powelltown, Noojee and finally Neerim South where we stopped for a little break before heading over to Black Rock.

You really notice it’s Springtime when travelling through these areas with the little lambs and baby calves frolicking about in the grassy meadows; the yellow sun-kissed daisies and buttercups adding a happy dimension.  

The tricky part of riding in Spring is working out what to wear – it’s cold in the morning so you end up choosing warm fabric gear. Then, as the day goes on it gets warmer and you start “cooking” and you wish you had leathers on. Then it starts to rain and you feel grateful to be wearing wet-weather gear – bit like a mental merry-go round.  Luckily for us, it was sunny for the good bit of the ride and only started raining when we were heading down the freeway to get to Black Rock.  Once at the BBQ, the rain stopped and the sun popped out again.  Perfect timing.

More happy faces greeted us at the BBQ and Ha was doing a good job in getting the sausages, steak and chicken (and one lonely veggie burger… thanks Ha) nicely cooked for the hungry riders and guests.  The meal was beautifully complemented with yummy salads and Julie Johnstone’s baked potatoes.  To finish the BBQ off in great style, we were offered a choice of Bronwyn’s deliciously decadent tarts - chocolate or lemon depending on your mood; they were gastronomical works of art and you either overdosed with rich chocolate or with citric zing... mmm. So good, I had both.

Thanks to Ha for making available the home she is house-sitting for us to enjoy and to all the MSR Committee and members who helped in organising a most enjoyable BBQ lunch; such a lovely way to spend the afternoon – great ride, good food, happy friends, lots of laughter and the best thing was we still had another day’s ride up our sleeve.  Yay!  I just love the weekends.

 

Pina Garasi