Kilcunda             26th June, 2005

 

Honda CBR929           Ben Warden (leader)                Yamaha R6                  Joel Haley

Honda CBR929           Ian Payne (rear)                        Yamaha R1                  Geoff Jones

Honda CBR900           Shane Hindle                            Buell 99m2 cyclone      Nigel Hellyer

Honda CBR900           Breht Emmerson                       Triumph sprint ST         Ern Reeders

Honda CBR1000RR    Paul Southwell                          BMW R1150GS          Rob Langer

Kawasaki ZX12R        Paul Grosser                             Suzuki GSXR1000       Lyn Duncan

Yamaha XJR1300        Laurie Sherry (1st ride)

 

We are in for a great day. Ben never fails to string all the best roads together and good weather is a certainty. The roads have already had a couple of days to dry out, but there will still be those tricky spots that just don’t dry out, hey Shane!

 

Left Berwick with Ian as rear rider, Rob Langer joining in just as we were getting mobile and now I notice Breht in the pack; he wasn’t at the pickup either. He must have just caught us. We took the usual route parallel to the highway to Drouin. Then directly south to Topiram, Poowong, Nyora and into Loch for a leisurely morning tea and refuel after 105km.

 

We have one new rider along today, Laurie, a neighbor of mine. I warned him it would be a big day, especially for a first ride. I think he may have been a little surprised by the style of the ride. I heard Ian chatting with him and conveying our motto, “ride at your own pace”.

 

After the break, we headed south on the Loch–Wonthaggi road, a great road that runs through to Dalyston on the Bass Highway. Ben has planned a couple of deviations off this road but cleverly returning at the same point. So if you felt like you did a few circles during the day, you did. The first loop started at the   Almurta turnoff to Grantville and headed down through Kernot and back rejoining the highway near Glen Alvie, luckily after the last bike had entered the loop, or it may have created real confusion.

 

Continuing south on the Loch-Wonthaggi road, we finally turned right through Archies Creek, past the horse gymkhana and around through Woolamai and down towards Kilcunda, stopping a few hundred meters before the Highway to absorb the spectacular 360 degree views of Bass Strait, Phillip Island, Kilcunda and South Gippsland. Paul Grosser was unable to continue, his rear tyre not up to it. Laurie also called it quits. It was a barren landscape, but thankfully a big bush was handy.

 

A quick visor clean and then we were rolling east a short six kilometers along the Bass Highway. And then back to the fun stuff. Onto the Korumburra-Wonthaggi road, then we were off on another 23 km detour loop after Kongwak heading for Bena and back rejoining the K-W road through Jumbunna and into Korumburra for lunch after another 125km.

 

The rest of the troops were taking too long, I felt. Eventually they start trickling into town. Ben spotted a bit of mud on Shane’s bike as he was doing a U turn to park with us, evidence of a minor mishap. (Are they the same slippery tyres you did Mt Hotham on?)

 

Another leisurely break has us heading off fresh after lunch. Not quite all of us. Some kind of holdup has Joel and I melting in the sun, corner marking, still in Korumburra. The others must have had a good ten minute start on us. Ian relieves us, saying he’ll wait for Rob, so we’re off.

 

I’m starting to get a vague knowledge of where we are, occasionally, and I know this next section is slightly more open. We have ridden through here recently, all grouped together, but not today; we are all spread out on the Korumburra-Warragul road. There are so many good roads around here and Ben seems to know them all.

 

On the outskirts of Nilma, just after a couple of kilometres of road works, we turn east and Joel and I are corner marking again, on a huge roundabout. Another long wait has me wondering. Ern comes by saying only one more to come! Geoff has taken over the rear riding position, while Ian, Paul and Rob have gone home. Ben now has us heading west on the Freeway which seems odd. But it only lasts about five kilometres. Then we are repeating the road work section. Surely this is going to mess up Ben’s fuel calculations. I think we just added an unplanned 16 km.  I’m pretty sure he didn’t fuel up with the rest of us, but he seems to get better economy each time he fills his tank. I think he is looking to get about 270 km from this tank!

 

We get on the Bloomfield road at Nilma, then on through Crossover, turn east at Neerim South to keep us off the main roads and add another interesting loop. We pop back out on to the highway just three kilometers before Neerim Junction, where we take an unorthodox left hander and cut across to the Noojee road.

 

It’s like there has just been a rain shower go through, the road is so wet. Funny, though, when we get into the tighter stuff, it seems dry(ish), but unpredictably so.

 

Happy faces showing the enjoyment we all got from the day were very obvious at our split up in Yarra Junction. Hopefully this is some reward for all the kilometre counting and planing that goes with such a complex ride.

 

When Ben and I rolled into the local servo, they were wheeling things inside, getting ready to close. Ben must have been cutting it close now – only half a litre remaining, he said.

 

Thanks everyone for such a fantastic day.

 

Lyn Duncan (Suzuki GSXR1000)