Pillion Ride 23^rd October 2010

Dennis Lindemann (leader)	Honda CBR600RR	Sebastian Lunke	Honda CBR600
Misho Zrakic & Pina Garasi	Honda CBR1000RR	Craig Morley	Honda VTR1000

The only day in a radius of two weeks when it rains is my pillion ride. The weather forecast wasn’t even close to the bad weather we rode through.

I had offered a mate, Sebastian, my old CBR to use as he used to ride back in Germany. He can’t afford a bike over here as a student. I picked him up in the car from the Box Hill tram stop at 8.30am. It hadn’t stop raining since midnight… not good. We took off from my place, me swearing most of the way to Berwick.

I was surprised to see Craig waiting at the servo. We discussed what to do if no one else turned up: straight to the hotel, do the whole ride, or go home. I wasn’t really keen on Sebastian doing his first ride on my bike in these conditions. After a while Misho and Pina arrived which meant we would do the whole trip. Pina’s gloves were already soaked. I changed the proposed first stop to Beechworth Bakery as the original planned short stops wouldn’t be necessary with this group of riders.

We left the servo going through Harkaway, Boundary Road, Beaconsfield Upper, Paternoster Road and Gembrook. The roads were 100% wet and it rained most of time. I tried to keep an eye on my old bike while going through the corners. It was a mostly stiff ride through the twisties which could have been so much more fun.

As we approached Healesville I could see the thick clouds hanging in the mountains and soon after the rain got heavier. We stopped at the bakery and grabbed the tables - outside of course. I received a call from Cameron, a colleague of mine, who wanted to do the ride as well, but bailed at the last minute. He just went through the Black Spur and spotted three accidents - bike, trailer lost a wheel and two car accidents. A couple of minutes later we observed a tow truck passing with a BMW GS on the back. The front tyre was covered in mud and panniers bent.

I decided to avoid the Black Spur and try the Chum Creek Road instead and then take the Melba Highway to Alexandra. More rain through the twisties plus the fine mist while riding through the clouds. A police car was coming towards me, but I wasn’t even close to the speed limit.

Misho and Pina went past and we re-grouped at the Toolangi Melba Highway intersection. From here the rain started to ease and the roads became dryer. Eventually I spotted the sun and, with a dry road under the tyre, it was finally time to get the bike air-dried.

We rode straight into Alexandra following the Highway to stop at the Commercial Hotel. Cameron and his wife Jess were waiting for us at the hotel. The outside of the hotel looked a bit rustic which wasn’t really appealing to Pina, but she came in anyway. The inside wasn’t any different!

The menu offered around 20 different Parma’s which made it hard to choose. The portions were reasonably sized and tasty. Pina had organized an electric heater to get her clothes dry, while we were waiting on the food.

With partially dried clothes, the plan was to get some fuel and take the back road into Molesworth instead of the Highway. Craig led the way until the turn off, as I had never been on this road before. I loved this road! All the frustration from this morning was forgotten and I enjoyed the greater lean angles on the dry road, blue skies above.

We joined the highway at Molesworth, rode in to Yea and then took the road to Flowerdale. We sat on cruising pace until we reached the 60 km/h corners where it was time to open the throttle again. Sebastian later complained about our weird riding style: one moment we are cruising down the road and the next we were gone while he was still in sixth gear in cruise mode.

The roads started to become wet and the clouds thick again as we closed in on Kinglake West. At the turnoff to Kinglake we separated. Misho, Pina and Craig continued on to Whittlesea while Sebastian and I rode in to Kinglake, back to Yarra Glen and home.

Thanks to everyone for coming out despite the miserable weather. I hope the next pillion ride will see more participants.

Dennis Lindemann