Well the droughts broken, must be Ian Payne’s ride coming up! Yes, it seems that every ride I lead lately, the weather on the day turns out to be a real shocker and this one looked to be no exception. Just my luck it was the first ride I’d been on since the Café Cruise back in April. In fact the first time I’d been on the bike for 7 weeks and the weather turns real nasty with hail, gale force winds and freezing temperatures predicted!

Not much one can do about it except rug up, head for KBCP and hope no one else turns up! Just as I expected, deserted. (I missed Ron Johnston who was there in the car with the emergency kit.) I asked the attendant if he had seen any bikes. "None today" so it’s off to Whittlesea. Just to get back in the swing of things I detour via the Boulevard and notice more anti-motorcycle measures on this road with the inclusion of a ‘bicycle only lane’ now incorporated into half the road.

I arrive at the Whittlesea servo and surprise, surprise, another 3 hardy souls are waiting. After some discussion it was decided that we would stick to my original route although Craig’s suggestion of heading straight for the pub and the open fire sounded tempting! With Jack taking up the rear riding duties we headed off to Wallan and Romsey. So far so good but I felt a little uncomfortable on the bike as I had far too much clothing on which was restricting my movement. The wet roads and strong winds didn’t help either.

Through Lancefield and you could actually feel the temperature drop! We continued up the road to Emu Flat, then along to Pyalong for a break and pee stop. Surprisingly it was dry and sunny but still very cold.

We continued on to Tallarook and Trawool, then along the Highway till the Strath Creek turn-off. These usually great roads were a bit of a chore today as I just couldn’t get into the notion of leaning the bike in the wet. Still, practice makes perfect, so it was off on the last leg to Flowerdale and the Pub.

On arriving we were greeted by another 4 bikes but unfortunately they weren’t anyone we knew. So, with just on 160 kilometers travelled since Whittlesea, it was good to be able to unrobe and sit down in dry and warm surroundings. Although we had travelled a relatively short distance, it was showing up my lack of riding as my back was aching and my left ankle was quite stiff and sore. We settled in to the cozy surroundings, ordered our meals and enjoyed a leisurely lunch.

After about an hour and a half it was time to head home, and, as it wasn’t really the day for riding, we decided to break the ride up here. So Ben and then Craig departed. With Jack living out my way, we travelled home together. Just before we left Jack checked the ambient temperature of the air outside the Pub using the VFR’s fancy gauge. It was a teeth-chattering 6 degrees. (He later informed me that it got as low as 3 degrees at Kinglake West!)

We motored on towards Whittlesea with much light-flashing from oncoming cars. Expecting a speed camera, we kept to the posted speed limit. But Mr. Plod’s presence was for a wayward motorist who had left the road on a right hand bend and plunged down into the under-growth. Jack and I continued on to Arthurs Creek, Hurstbridge, Wattle Glen, Kangaroo Ground and Warrendyte before going our separate ways home.

What a day. Although the weather was quite abysmal we were fortunate in that we never actually got caught in any really nasty downpours, and, although the roads were quite wet, it appeared we were following the rain! Thanks to Ben, Craig and Jack whose presence was most welcome.

Ian Payne (Honda CBR900RR)