Licola Sunday 31st January,
2010
|
Misho Zrakic/Pina Garasi |
Honda CBR1000 |
Cliff Peters |
|
|
Tim Emons |
Honda CBR1000 |
Jason Wilson (2nd ride) |
|
|
Ron Johnston (rear) |
Honda CBF1000 |
Adam Wright |
Triumph 675 |
|
Ben Warden |
Honda CBR954 |
Henry Wright |
Triumph 675 |
|
Dave Williams |
Honda CBR600 |
Damian Denny (2nd ride) |
Honda CBR600 |
|
Cindy Lee |
Honda VTR250 |
|
11 bikes, 12 people |
I’m running early for a change today, though I’m not here
first. Dave Williams (CBR600) greets me at 9.30 after having breaky at Maccas. We walk over to have a look at some vintage
cars in the Maccas car park. I had followed one of
them along the Monash as it was cruising along at 105 km/h. The driver had installed a push bike speedo
as the original speedo dances between 15 mph below and 15 mph above the actual
speed. I commented on his front tyres
getting down in the tread department and he said he was going to re-groove them
himself (32” by 5” or 6”) He can get away by doing it once. They are $400 plus
new. And I thought bike tyres were dear!
People started rocking up and I give them time to take their
helmets off. Then shove a pen and paper in their faces, name and serial number
please. Well, name, emergency contact, bike make and model. Tim’s bike should be fixed in the next couple
of weeks as all the parts have arrived at the repairers.
I do the pre-ride spiel with the first stop at Moe for
morning tea. Did I mention the weather? Hot and windy. Off the freeway at Nar Nar Goon, down to
Longwarry, cross the freeway and on to Jindivick, Crossover,
Henry has heated grips on his bike. I had the same on my previous Kwaka, two position switch, low
and high. Either too cold or too hot I found.
Henry, an electronics wiz, has put a sensor on each grip to control the
temperature. If the day gets colder the
grips get warmer and vice versa. How
good is that? Brilliant! I tell you, these young blokes are switched
on.
I didn’t fill at Berwick as I thought I had a full tank when
I left home. The fuel light came on 23 kms
out of Moe. I forgot I had taken four litres of petrol out for the mower. First fuel stop is at Tyres so we can get to
Licola and back on the one tank. Should
I get five bucks in Moe? I started doing
the maths and told myself I should make it.
23 km plus another 30 km on reserve should be fine. The seed has been planted.
What did Pina say back at Moe? Living on the edge? I mentioned
I was on reserve.
Past Yallourn North, about eight kilometres to Tyres and I
start to sweat. And it’s not from the heat.
A voice in my head says “Why didn’t you fill at Berwick? Should have got some at Moe.” Is that Ben’s voice? Can’t be. He’s at least a km behind me. Sweating harder now, motor please keep
going. My old one ran out after 75 kms
on reserve after a Club ride last year on the way home from
I can see Tyers now. PHEW!
Made it. I ended up putting 17.5 something
litres into a 17 litre tank. If you can
work that out, let me know!
Fuel up and we are gone.
Toongabbie then Glen Maggie taking the scenic run to check
the water level, adding an extra five kms. The level’s receded a bit. I’m not sure what they do with the water;
irrigation and household water I guess.
I see several people jet and water-skiing, swimmers having fun.
We go past my previous crash site. Ben has them all stashed in his head, not
just mine, but everyone who has crashed in the Club, past and present, some on
the same corner, on different rides.
I get the mind back on the road (Yes, please do… Barb). The first time I did this road was nearly
seven years ago on the ZX12. I remember
thinking, “Jeez, what a road!” I still think the same. But it seems a lot shorter now. Better handling bike and road knowledge is
probably why.
At Licola I corner mark and wait for the others to arrive,
waving them past into town. Ronny
arrives, rear rider for the day. I
follow him in.
The run up the hill is optional today as it’s hot as. The shopkeeper said it was 39 point something
at around 1 o’clock, so it will likely get warmer.
Ben, Ronny, Jason, Adam and I headed up the hill. From about a third of the way up, every
corner is normally covered in gravel from washouts from rain storms and log
trucks pulling the gravel out of the tar. But today is the best I’ve seen it; virtually
spotless except for the melted bits on a couple of corners.
We arrive at the top end of the tar and Jason keeps us
entertained with his very interesting background. A good laugh was had by
everyone. We shared some great views
overlooking the valley below. Ben had a
photo shoot on the way back down.
Did I mention the evidence of cows on the road? Some dry, some not. Sure enough, there they are, under a tree beside
the road. Watch out boys. Livestock!
Back to the Licola General Store for
lunch. My sandwich has melted, well the cheese
anyway. Apparently, I have more on my
face than in my mouth. It doesn’t matter. Still tastes good! I mostly take my lunch on rides, saving a few
dollars.
I bought a snake lolly from the shop. Where did it go? How did it get in Pina’s drink bottle? Now it’s all slimy. Still tastes good, but!
Someone has taken their boots and socks off. So it’s not
that dead wombat. Cindy? Pina? LOL
It looks like lunch is done so we head back to Tyres. Ben’s on my tail. I know he enjoys this - putting the pressure
on from behind. Stuff that corner up and that one. LOL Can
go half as fast again if no one’s close behind.
It’s all in my head. Oh well,
it’s all fun. He does it from the front
as well. (Gosh, what do you boys get up to out there? …
Barb). I’ve been following him around
for about seven years now and think I’ve seen most of his tricks, like the one
where you come up behind a car and instead of passing,
he waits until there is just enough space for him, then goes. LOL. It’s usually the last easy passing spot for the next
few kms. You can see the smile on his
face through the back of his helmet.
But I can tell you it’s not as big a smile as mine because I know its
coming and I can’t do a thing about it. Sneaky beggar. He’s got the break now and you know he’s
going for it too. Gotta work twice as hard to catch up. Head down time. Ah, I love Sundays: great bikes, great roads,
great people.
Awesome! Ronny would say,
“Grouse!”
Everyone makes it back to Tyres okay. It’s starting to cloud over a little, the
expected cool change not far off. Lots of drinks and icy poles because it’s still hot. I got told not to sit on the ice cream cooler,
thank you, so went back outside. Joined in the gossip and banter.
Damien and Henry left the ride here, taking the freeway
home. The rest of us headed back through
Yallourn North. At
Old
Left to Jindivick heading for Longwarry North. The road winds through
the trees and is very undulating. I wind
it up around the big sweeper heading out of Jindivick. As I come out of the
first hollow, cresting the rise, I see a cloud of dust, right hand poised to
employ the brakes. A four wheel drive has
just completed a U turn. A few seconds
earlier and it would have been interesting.
A similar thing happened another time chasing Paul. A car pulled out of a drive way. It took a
while to get the ridge off the middle of the seat cover that time, I can tell
you. Same bit of road, chasing Dave:
crest the rise and the road goes left.
If you close the throttle it’s easier to get the bike to turn. But Dave’s got it pinned, over the crest on
the back wheel, leaning left. Awesome.
Back at Longwarry North servo for break
up. More drinks and icy poles.
Someone said it was raining in
Everyone says bye. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. I saw lots of smiles all day, so I reckon you
did. I know I did, as per usual. Thanks for coming. And thanks, Ronnie, for rear riding and Adam
for your official write up. See you next
time. I just sent this in for something
to read.
Ten kms out of Berwick we went through a thunderstorm; got
soaked. Absolute bliss. Lovely and cool.
Cliff Peters