Mt Baw Baw
Honda CBR929 Ben Warden Suzuki GSXR1000 Danny Kosinski
Honda CBR929 Pete Weyermayr (rear) Suzuki TL1000S Sam Sirianni
Honda CBR929 Greg Hales Suzuki GSXR750 Matt Clark
Honda CBR954 Liz Oliver Suzuki GSXR600 Will Tran
Honda CBR954 Paul Southwell KTM 950LC8 Rob Langer
Honda VTR1000 Dean von Schill Triumph 955 Mark Easterbrook (lead)
The scorching 35 degrees of the day before had dissolved into overcast and foreboding clouds with a maximum forecast temperature of 20 degrees. It was already spitting as I donned the wet weathers, a picture of sartorial elegance as I strapped my old boots together with white electricians tape, adding another stripe to stop the wet weather pants flapping, the velco long given up the ghost. Black wet weather pants, blue bug-spattered rain coat over purple and silver leathers, much loved gloves, multi-coloured deeply scratched helmet, black and yellow bike completed the picture. Late again – and needing fuel.
Around the Ring Road through the ridiculous 80 km/h roadwork section (they are building a bridge over the top) all the while on the lookout for the dreaded speed cameras. Only five months to go and some points will drop off. Diamond Creek, Kangaroo Ground (no camera today, Marty) and masses of trees cut down on the skinny, bumpy bit down hill from De Bortolli’s vineyard. Maybe they are going to widen the road at last. Bike steering feels light and “tight”. I tightened the steering head bearings, again, the night before, a 10 minute job. It seems the replacement bearings are still bedding in. It is difficult to tell when they are loose other than a ‘click’ under hard braking. Almost a quarter turn on top of the same at Jingellic a couple of weeks ago.
Arriving 15 minutes after the scheduled leave time, I was resigned to having to play catch-up, having a fair idea of the route Mark had proposed. But I was surprised to see the Club still there. And Dean rolled in after me. And then we waited even longer for Will, eventually leaving 30 minutes after the scheduled start time. This is becoming a problem. The more we wait, the more we have to wait. The onus is on the leaders to leave at the scheduled leave time. It was suggested that the time on the itinerary was the meet time, not the leave time, and that we should use the word “leave time” to make it perfectly clear.
There was some confusion as to who was the rear rider. I was taking money and details off Sam Sirianni, an old member, back after a long absence from Club rides, having got involved in the dirt scene. He ran into Rob Langer who had encouraged him to come for a ride on the promise he would be there. Rob was still on his way at this stage, eventually catching the Club half way down Mt Baw Baw! I digress! While taking Sam’s money and address details I thought I heard Greg H. volunteer. While corner marking at the Old Healesville Road turnoff, he flew by, clearly not the rear rider. After a long delay, Peter (waiting for Will) eventually hove into view. From that point onwards the ride was fairly compact with no inordinate delays.
Chum Creek road was wet and cold as was Myers Creek Road. I sat behind Greg going up the hill. He knows it like the back of his hand. We had a string of bikes behind us but they dropped off as Greg pressed on. With no-one in my mirrors, I hoped for the best as there was a bit of gravel around. Sitting at the next corner 30 or so Honda riders came sailing past heading for Kinglake, a Chapter ride of some sort.
I followed new rider Paul down the Chum Creek road. Down from Queensland, this could be a baptism by fire, I thought. He was a safe and conservative rider, pushing a little here and there when tempted, and looked a likely candidate for membership. Alas, his radiator was holed and he only lasted as far as Warburton.
At Yarra Junction the traffic was fairly heavy and I found myself travelling up the outside of the cars towards the lights, a la peak hour traffic. The lights changed perfectly and I scooted around onto the Noojee Road, glancing across to see Mark and the rest of the troops continuing straight on. Oops. As Liz kindly pointed out, there was Ben hijacking the ride again. Pete and Greg had followed me. We hastily did a U turn, still on the green, and rejoined the ride for a painful 50 and 60 km jaunt through the suburbs to Warburton for morning tea. I darted into the first available parking spot, giving Will some extra braking practice as he followed a little too closely. I was oblivious to this but Liz informed me.
Sam had rejoined the ride from Launching Place, having decided to go home from Yarra Glen via Cockatoo to avoid the highways. By the time he got going, we had been up and down to Toolangi in time to meet him again. He left for the second time.
Danny reckoned my ham and salad sandwich looked good value. He passed judgment on my afore-mentioned sartorial elegance but I suggested he wasn’t in much better shape, his bike plastered with duct tape and generally “Dannyised”, as Greg put it.
After early lunch (for some) it was back to Yarra Junction and on to the Powelltown Road. As usual, the tight twisties after Powelltown had gravel strewn corners and the road was wet and dry. It was a relief to get onto the more open section. Near the end three Club bikes were pulled over, not long after the group of mud covered trail bike riders. There seemed to be some bike mounted police involvement with the dirt group, whether organised or “spontaneous”! I didn’t hang around at either grouping, corner marking at the Warragul turnoff.
It turned out that Dean’s aftermarket muffler had fallen off. Amazingly, no damage was sustained, and after slipping it back on and tightening the offending nuts, the ride continued. Plenty of stop-start action for Pete as rear rider.
It was now imperative that all the bikes, with a 230 km range or less, fuel up for the Baw Baw return trip. This turned out to be an impromptu second food stop as well. The weather was on the improve temperature wise and, hopefully, the roads would dry out completely.
Mark set off at a great rate of knots, having pre-ridden the route the week before. I took off next and pushed fairly hard but only managed to bring Mark back into sight when he stopped to chat to Rob Langer coming down the mountain, still looking for the ride! I decided the conditions were fully wet, and rode accordingly.
This is certainly an arduous stretch, requiring full and undivided concentration. I counted four 4WDs and two cars coming down in the 50 km to the summit. None of the vehicles expect to see bikes arriving at speed and make little or no effort to surrender your piece of tarmac. This observation must be taken as gospel truth and allowed for. So, when rounding a hard left hander to be confronted by a large tree laying across 75 percent of the road I decided it was safer (and faster) to go under it rather than around it, and face whatever was on-coming. Dean was rather bemused by this idea. (In fact Dean was like a pig in the proverbial. He was having the time of his life, popping monos out of corners, especially on the way down. He said he had forgotton just how much fun riding with the Club is.)
Now following Mark at a fair clip, the road climbing steeply, and the fog becoming thicker and thicker. Memories of Hotham came flooding back. The temperature was dropping as well, though I was well rugged up and not bothered, though Liz and others were feeling it. Mark eased ahead in the trying conditions, visibility a real problem.
I was struggling a bit with the bike’s steering, the bike not liking the full fuel load when changing direction rapidly. The front felt heavy and resisted turning to the point where I thought I would have to change the front tyre sooner than expected.
We all made it to the top successfully, Will quite a while later, riding cautiously. Liz checked out the toilet facilities and noted there were literally “thousands of moths all over the seat”, somewhat off putting.
The trip back down was great fun after the fog and wet section were negotiated. There was a couple of interesting bike skid marks at the end of a long, steep downhill straight. Even with a light bike, soft compound tyres and good brakes, it was hairy trying to pull up.
On the flatter stuff, with everyone in the groove, and fuel loads less, much fun was had. All of a sudden, the bike’s steering returned to quick and neutral. Consuming 4 or 5 litres had made all the difference. There were only two vehicles on the way down.
We regrouped at Noojee again, confirming everyone was okay, and then proceeded back along the Powelltown Road. I remember contemplating passing Liz in the open sweeping stuff and waiting for the right opportunity. She loves that bike, and at these speeds, gently, gently is the order of the day. Now, if only she would brake for the corners! Alas she didn’t and I had to go in a bit deeper and harder, asking the front tyre a question or two. Not a problem. It was fairly kamakaze across the twisties. What gravel?
Breakup at Yarra Junction. Thanks Mark and Pete for leading and rear riding duties. It was a great ride with no incidents of an unpleasant nature. Dean followed me back across to Healesville, Yarra Glen, Christmas Hills to Diamond Creek and the long haul around the Ring Road to Hoppers Crossing. I am not sure if it is any quicker than the Eastern Freeway but there are a few more twisties. We split up at the Hume Highway exit. I was home around 5.15 pm after 400 km. The official ride distance from Yarra Glen to Yarra Junction was 290 km. The water bottle was hissing and spitting, close to empty, easily solved with a lime cordial.
Ben Warden (Honda CBR929)
p.s. Will had woken at 7 am and completed a service on his GSXR600 including oil and filter, vacuuming the air filter, and changing the plugs. A man after my own heart. Not unexpectedly, it took longer than planned, and hence his very late arrival at the Yarra Glen.