Mt Baw Baw Sunday 6^th December, 2009

Willem Vandeveld (rear)	Honda ST1300	Ben Fuller	Suzuki GSXR1300
Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000	Chris Pointon	Suzuki GSXR1000
Dave Ward	Honda CBR1000	Rob Jones	Suzuki GSXR1000
Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000	Rod Boulter	Suzuki DL1000
Ron Johnston (lead)	Honda CBF1000	Andrew James (1^st ride)	Suzuki RF900
Ben Warden	Honda CBR954	Geoff Shugg	Suzuki DL650
Peter Fisher	Honda VFR800	James Gravanis (2^nd ride)	Kawasaki ZRX1200
Rob Jovanovic	Honda CBR600	Dave Hives	Kawasaki ZX10
Ha Du	Honda CBR600	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX10
Brett Richards	Yamaha R1	Jason Van den Akker (1^st ride)	Kawasaki Z1000
Pina Garasi	Yamaha R6	Damir Djikic (1^st ride)	Kawasaki Z750
Tony Raditsis	Aprilia RSV1000	Ken Goederee	Ducati 999
Mick Whitehead (2^nd)	Aprilia Tuono 1000	Jared Wade	Triumph 955i

Up at 7 am and a quick check of the sky saw me contemplating going back to bed. It was dark, overcast and unsure. By 8.30 it didn’t look any better so I logged into BOM: 26° and fine was the report. Let’s go!

By the time I arrived at Berwick the sky was clearing and it was shaping up to be a great day. What a turnout! (Biggest for the year…Ed.) With the usual suspects in tow and a few first timers we set off.

It seems we were not the only bike riders with the same idea that day. As we passed through Harkaway we became entwined with a Ulysses group. Not to worry. We soon got through them and were off, only to catch up to them a few kilometres later! This made corner marking an interesting activity as they too were corner marking but heading in a different direction. I swear it felt like we had overtaken the same bikes about five times by the time we reached Upper Beaconsfield.

With some clean air, the MSR riders found their legs as the corners opened up with a great mix of tight twisties and long, fast sweepers. On through Cockatoo, Gembrook and Hoddles Creek.

About eight kilometres from Powelltown a few of us came up behind a campervan. While waiting to overtake, a couple of Harleys blasted around us on the wrong side of the road before a blind right hander. “Mad bastards”, I thought. Finding our way around the campervan, we ended up behind the Harleys again. But they were not really receptive to us overtaking. They were trying to match our corner speed, and, as you can imagine, this made for a humorous couple of corners. They were all over the road, coming in and out of each corner, making already wide bikes even wider. So I took advantage of the next short straight, topping out fourth gear, only then having to brake hard into a tight left hander, advisory signed 45. As the back end squirmed under the braking, I was aware my tyres were nearing their life’s end. One by one we all made it around those humorous Harleys and rode through Powelltown and onto the fast sweeping bends and into Noojee for our first break.

No fuel in Noojee saw us heading up to Neerim Junction to get fuel. Cliff was admiring the exhaust on my Trumpy as it does have a distinctive note, but I think he secretly wants to own it.

We headed up through Icy Creek and continued up the tight and winding road to the Mt Baw Baw summit. For at least the second time that morning, Ben (Fuller), Chris, Dave and Misho reminded me I still have a lot to learn as they rounded me up and blew me away. About two kilometres further on, Paul Southwell flagged me down. I pulled over and as I shut the bike off, he said someone had gone down.

I think nearly everyone feels that initial pit in your stomach as you take in the surroundings. Knowing the road we were on, I hoped the worst had not happened. As we removed our helmets and ran over to the edge, we were informed it was Ben Fuller on the Hayabusa who had crashed.

But Ben was standing right next to us, quite intact, shaken, but safe. I remarked, “Where’s your bike?” He pointed down the mountain. Looking off the edge we could not really see it, so some of us went down the steep embankment to inspect the wreck lying some 50 metres off the road. The Busa had seen its last day on bitumen.

Walking back to our bikes we looked at the skid mark on the road that started about xx metres before a yellow 45 km/h advisory sign for a very tight left hander. Turning to Paul I said, “What was he thinking?” Ben, you sure have bigger balls than me! Avoiding an errant animal was later mentioned.

The ride continued to the summit where we had lunch and took in the magnificent view of the surrounding valleys and forest.

After the rest we headed back down the mountain to Icy Creek and then on to the awesome Hill End road to Moe, returning via the Old Sale Road and Crossover sweepers regrouping at Neerim South. These are roads I know well, having ridden on them many times. Yet after being reminded of my own mortality, I did not feel like pushing as I normally do.

Mick and I corner marked. I couldn’t help but laugh as Dave and Ken approached our corner on their back wheels. Dave put his front down with enough time to take the corner well. Whereas Ken was a little later and we could hear him laughing inside his helmet as the back of his Duke was bouncing under the braking strain, trying to make the corner. Good thing the corner was wide, eh Ken.

Another well earned rest at Neerim South before we took the last 20 kilometre leg through Jindivick to Longwarry. Ken was worried about his fuel lasting the distance because when he peered into his tank, he could see the bottom. About half a kilometre from the servo his 999 motor coughed and died but he rolled the rest of the way.

All in all, a good day. Thanks to Ron for leading and thanks to the motorcycle gods for bringing Ben home in one piece.

On the way home, I was in my own little world, as I often am on the bike. I take moments to relax and feel human. As a father of four, I don’t get to ride as often as I would like to, so I take in the experience each time I do. Suddenly I see a P plater in front erratically change lanes to the left. I check my mirrors and see a highway pursuit car with all the lights and sirens ablaze right behind me. Where did he come from? I look down at my speedo which was indicating the wrong side of a 100 km/h. Oh shit. I pulled to the left lane expecting to cop a very expensive fine, only to watch the police car blast past me. Phew!

Thanks guys for a great year of exciting and awesome rides. I will see you in the New Year for a whole lot more.

Jared Wade