Toora Wind Farm Sunday 21^st May, 2006

Ron Johnston	Suzuki Bandit 1200	Ben Warden (leader)	Honda CBR 929
Paul Southwell	Honda CBR 1000 RR	Joel Haley	Honda CBR 1000 RR
Ern Reeders	Triumph Sprint	Dave Ward	MV Augusta Brutale
Ron Solomon	Yamaha R1	Ian Payne (rear)	Honda CBR 1000 RR
Bevan Roberts (1^st ride)	Suzuki GSXR 750

I kept looking out the window checking the weather because it was foggy. I was wondering whether it would rain or not, and thought if I wear my leathers, I will be cold all day. The fact that we are going Gippsland way, history tells me, it is going to rain. So, Dri-Rider gear is the order of the day. Better to be warm and comfortable than cold and miserable. I was ready to go around 9 am, but for some reason I didn’t end up leaving till 9.20 am. Arrived Berwick around 10 am. Quite a few people were already there.

Ben was leading the ride. I asked, “Where is Peter?” (the scheduled leader …Ed) “Hurt his elbow playing squash”, came the reply. “Bloody tennis elbow. Should be out twisting his wrist on the motorbike”, I said. “He knew it was going to rain so he decided to stay at home, bloody piker.”

Ben gave us the run down on the day’s programme. Then it was mount up and head off down the highway to Pakenham. I see they are building the Pakenham by-pass now. Nar Nar Goon, Garfield, Longwarry to Drouin, Lardner, Ellinbank (corner marked) Strzlecki, Ranceby to Korumburra. I had passed Ron Solomon on his R1 and he was riding rather quietly, not his usual self. At Korumburra we parked at the car park across from the shops that backs onto the old railway station.

Everybody went to Kelly’s Bakery where they enjoyed hot food, drinks and the usual gossip. It was warm inside and it gave people time to thaw out. Back at the car park, Ron was fixing the new steering dampener fitted to the R1. When he had done a mono earlier, it had dislodged itself and when he went to turn, it sort of locked up and he was unable to steer properly. Hence the slow ride. He did a bit of remove and refit to fix it. Good as gold. Ron said it was a new type of steering damper he was trialling, and that he was providing feedback to the supplier. He reckons it’s pretty good, and worth the $800.

It started to rain on the second stage of the ride. Great. Just as well I had my Dri Rider gear on. It might be cold, but at least I was warm and dry. Even my new gloves are okay. I followed Dave for a while. At Outrim I corner marked with Dave at a T-intersection, previously a Y-junction. They have put in a new bridge and modified the intersection, for the better of course.

On the Tarwin Lower Road we turned right towards Fish Creek. Dave and a couple of others stopped in time to turn, but, Ron on the R1 was going too fast and disappeared over the rise straight ahead. (In fact he has passed the leader just prior, no idea where he was going …Ed.) I corner marked at the next corner with Ern and it took a while for Ron and the others to catch up. On to Foster and Toora.

I indicated to Ian that I needed fuel, but still went up to the Wind Farm car park. I spoke to Ben about fuel and had to come back down and get some, otherwise I might not have made it to the next stop. On the way up I saw Ern coming down. Joel said he was frozen to the core and going home.

I corner-marked at Hazel Park with Joel. We had to wait quite a while for Ron and Paul to come through. Instead of the usual trek into Woorarra and back into Welshpool trip, we took the short route, Hazel Park/Slades Hill Road, into Welshpool. Not as good as the long way, but it’s different. It had started to rain again, but improved as we moved closer to Yarram where we stopped for lunch. The bakery was busy, busy, busy. I mentioned that last time I was here, my bike turned over 70,000 kms and now it has another 11,500 kms on the speedo.

After lunch Joel couldn’t find his key. Ron told him not to lose it or he would be in big trouble, especially with the key programmed to the ignition system. The bike would have to be picked up.

Near Won Wron in the twisty stuff, I came up behind a boat being towed behind a Landcruiser. I followed it for a while, thinking about passing it. I looked at the speedo and noted it was doing *40 clicks. Not bad for the size of it. I eventually passed them, but they didn’t slow down much.

Between Won Wron and Traralgon we seemed to spread out. I corner marked in Traralgon and everything seemed to be alright. Ben, Dave, Joel and myself then waited at a roundabout out the back of Morwell. Bevan rolled up and said something had happened to Ron on the R1. Dave was low on fuel, so Ben looked at the map and told Dave that Morwell was the closest, so he set off for home. We waited for a little while longer before Ben decided we would all go back and see what was happening. We passed Paul who waved us on, but stopped to talk to Ben.

At the service station there was Joel, Dean, Ben and myself. Ian, Paul, and Ron had disappeared. We all took on fuel before we left. Today wasn’t a good day for people putting fuel in their bikes. Some did, others didn’t, some were low on fuel and others weren’t. We were all over the place; not good. I don’t know where the others were, but we ended up coming back as small group. On the way back we went via Tyres, Yallourn North, Westbury and the Old Sale Road. Near Buln Buln it started to pour down through to Drouin West.

At Drouin West, where we turned right, the road was pretty greasy, and the back stepped out, but I didn’t come off. The ride ended at Robin Hood. We had a quick chat and then everybody left for home. I was last to leave. When I got to Berwick, the throttle started to play up like it did the week before on my Strathbogie ride. I don’t know what’s causing it, but it’s not good.

Thanks to Ben for stepping in again and Ian for being rear rider. There were no mishaps, the weather was poor, and people got lost, but hopefully everyone got home okay. Bevan enjoyed himself.

Ron Johnston