Boolarra South Sunday 29^th June, 2003

Honda CBR929 Ben Warden (leader) Honda CBR929 Pete Weyermayr

Honda CBR919 Liz Oliver Aprilia RSV1000 Ken Wright

The forecast was abysmal and I really didn’t think there would be anyone at Hallam. The roads were very wet and I was already planning how else to use the day. I had made really good time around the Bolte Bridge and out the South Eastern Freeway. Leaving early helps. Was that one of our bikes in the first servo? I pondered. Sure enough Pete and Liz arrived and noted they had seen a bloke pushing his bike back at the previous service station. It turned out to be Ken, his battery flat after such a long period of inactivity. Looking for and then moving into their new house had consumed so much riding time, Pete and Liz just had to go for a ride, no matter rain, hail or shine.

And so it was. The four of us set off for Korumburra via the normal roads parallel to the Princes Highway to Drouin, then south down the Warragul-Korumburra Road. Now occasionally the sun was peeping out from behind scudding clouds. It was cold, but amazingly, there would be no rain for the rest of the day, and eventually the roads would dry.

We parked in the upper car-park just off the main street after some 115 km of good twisty roads after the initial 55 km of straight roads to Drouin. With only the four of us we made good time, Ken punting along a little quicker solo. Pete’s back was killing him. It had been serious enough to miss a few day’s work, and though he sorely wished to continue, he took solace in the highway and headed home to lay flat on his back on the floor for a few hours. I think Liz was tempted to join him, as a supportive wife might, but only for a fleeting moment. The sun was shining, the roads were drying and the worst of the commuting and bumps were behind us. Only fun lay ahead! So now there were three of us.

To avoid the recently laid thick gravel on the Arawata Road it was necessary to travel along 14 km of Highway to Leongatha. Of course, Mr Plod lay in wait just around the first corner, but we were erring on the side of caution around town and passed safely.

At Leongatha we turned left off the highway over the rail bridge and past the dairy. Now the road started to open up as we headed for Dumbalk. Soon enough we were amongst the very fast sweepers with concrete gutters along the sides to help control the water and stop erosion, presumably. Still, it is somewhat of an unusual sight to see concrete gutters in the middle of nowhere.

At Dumbalk we turned left and headed for Mirboo and then Boolara South following the creek line, the road gently twisting this way and that, rising as falling along the way. A great motorcycle road, the surface wide and grippy. Ordinarily the GSXR and TL riders would be panicking about their low fuel warning lights blinking away, along here, but it wasn’t an issue today. Onto Boolara and the tight twisties to Mirboo North where we fuelled at the BP, then regrouped outside the bakery for food stop number two.

After a relaxing lunch break we headed west picking up the Halyston loop. Great flowing roads with only the occasional intersection to break the rhythm. Look out for Martie’s corner, and now Will’s T junction. Back through Mirboo North and out towards Morwell, through the fast Thorpdale sweepers for a regroup at Trafalgar. Then onto the highway to Yarragon and the horrible traffic, traffic lights and overwhelming police presence. With relief it was back onto secondary roads and around through Lardner, making our way to Drouin for our final regroup.

Ken was pretty happy with the day’s ride and vowed to be on more – and he has been true to his word. Given the diabolical glare of the sun at this time of the year, and the now threatening dark skies, we decided to take the direct route back to Melbourne. We set a fairly fast pace, getting involved with a fast BMW rider who acted as a snow plow. Liz and Ken hung on, eventually Ken peeling off near Hallam. For the last bit I followed Liz to catch up with Pete and borrow a “snake” to assist with some power cabling work I was doing. Liz gave me some leaves off a tree to identify at home. Not sure what happened but that is the last I saw of them. 380 km for the day. Thanks one and all.

Ben Warden (Honda CBR929)