Walhalla Sunday 4^th April, 2004

Honda CBR954       Paul Southwell (Leader) Suzuki 1200      Ron Johnston

Honda CBR954       Liz Oliver KTM950       Rob Langer

Honda CBR929       Pete Weyermayr Yamaha YZFR1        Geoff Jones

Honda CBR929       Ben Warden (assist. leader) Kawasaki ZXR750     Cameron Burgess

Honda CBR929       Greg Hales Yamaha YZF1000      Trevor Harris (rear)

Honda CBR600       Peter Pondeljak Kawasaki ZX9          Alan Zimmer

Honda CBR600       Kate Stewart Ducati 620   Anton Tzar (1st ride)

Kawasaki 1000RX Nigel Hellyer (1st ride)

The usual friendly faces and a couple of new ones greeted Peter and I as we lined up with the collecting bikes at the Ampol servo in Hallam. After Paul gave the run down on the day’s route and the corner marking system was explained to the new riders, we all headed off down the Princes Highway for the slow crawl to Pakenham. Ben was leading due to his expert knowledge of the back road route to Moe, where Paul would take over as leader.

At Pakenham we turned right off the Highway past the racecourse and left onto Bald Hill Road. This road is long and straightish with the odd bump to keep you on your toes or bruise you in unwelcome places. Even so I always seem compelled to clear the cobwebs along it, this time being no different. So I ended up corner marking at the next turn. Nar Nar Goon, Garfield, Bunyip, Longwarry, to Drouin there are loads of corners and straight roads. The twistier stuff starts after leaving Drouin.

Left at Ellinbank and on through the dairy farms to Yarragon. It was all pretty quick with the roads dry and almost vacant. From Yarragon to Moe we took the road parallel to the Highway but just cruised along sensibly. I even noticed some vehicles were making better time on the Highway but there is less risk of a speed trap on the smaller road. (Two reasons: it is 110 on the Highway and 100 on the parallel road – you wouldn’t want to be seen going as fast let alone faster than the Highway traffic; secondly, not so long ago a few of the Club lads were hammering on the road parallel to the Hume. Cop on the Hume booked all three. Not the time or place. …Ed.)

At Moe we all stopped for fuel and food, assembling outside the bakery for about a half hour break. The skies had become overcast and the temperature had dropped but no rain would spoil the day. With Paul now leading we traveled out of Moe along the Erica road, then turned right and took the road through Yallourn North and on to Tyers before climbing up the hill and wound our way through the forest to Walhalla. The last stretch of road had quite tight twisties, slow tourists and damp patches where the road doesn’t see the sun due to the narrow pass through steep mountains. I got stuck behind a 4WD with the cutest fluffy white puppy peering coyly out the back window. It kept popping up for a peek, endearingly, with its dark seal like eyes, then disappearing. I suppose I should've been concentrating on the road rather than focusing on the pup, but we were traveling very slowly.

Finding a place to park along Walhalla's narrow street isn’t easy with all the tourists who frequent there on weekends, so we were all parked fairly spread out. Lucky for me we all grouped together near my bike. Ben pulled out his digital camera and took a few photos of the group during the quick lunch break. Then we got back on the bikes and on our way.

At the end of the Walhalla Road we turned right towards Rawson, through Erica and down the main road towards Moe. I was close behind Peter when he accelerated quickly to pass a car. Pete’s bike kicked, what felt like, a huge rock, but was probably a small stone, with his rear wheel, straight into my shoulder. I was thankful it hadn’t hit my bike, helmet or throat as I can only wonder what damage it might have caused. 

My rear tyre was getting pretty thin in the middle so I tried to ride on the edge of it on the straights by leaning the bike over and balancing over it. Pete W later asked if I was having trouble with my back or was I just weaving around trying not to let him pass. He laughed when I told him what I had been trying to do and informed me that I'd been unsuccessful... so much for that !

We turned right at the Willow Grove turn off and made our way to Noojee for another fuel top up and quick break. About 10 kms out of Noojee Cameron stopped on the side of the road. Peter stopped to see what was wrong and discovered Cameron was seriously low in fuel after not realising his bike had been running on reserve for some time. He decided to return to Noojee and fill up there rather than risk continuing on to Yarra Junction. Peter continued on while Trevor returned to Noojee with Cameron. I got concerned that Peter hadn’t yet appeared so I pulled over and waited for him. He finally showed up and we rode the final stretch together joining the assembled riders at Yarra Junction where the ride officially finished.

Fifty kilometres more to get home and another fun day riding was over. The bikes got their usual wash, dry, lube, rug up and were put to bed. Then, too tired to cook, Peter and I collapsed in front of the TV with a pizza.

Kate Stewart (Honda CBR600F4i)