Dandenongs Breakfast Ride Saturday 11^th February, 2006

Honda CBR929	Ben Warden	Suzuki GSXR750	Richard Field (1^st ride)
Honda CBR1000	Ian Payne	BMWK100RT	Ray Young (1^st ride)
Honda CBR1000	Joel Haley (leader)	BMW R1100RS	Malcolm Oakey (1^st ride)
Yamaha TRX850	Tony Raditsis	MV Brutale 900	Darryn Webster
MV Brutale 900	Dave Ward (rear)	Suzuki GSXR1000	Lyn Duncan

Paul Grosser was down to lead this ride but at the last moment – 5.45 am in the morning - he rang to say that he had contracted severe food poisoning and was making very frequent visits to the toilet and would be unable to lead the ride. He tried to give me directions over the phone of the intended route but decided he would make the effort and get to the start point with a map. The act of lifting his leg to get on the bike proved disastrous and I got another call at 7 pm to say we were on our own. Rather him than me.

It turns out almost everyone except Lyn and I new the roads intimately. Joel took over leading and after a brief discussion with Paul from home, was able to devise a route. Lyn and I had travelled together leaving Oak Park at about 6.15 am for the 7 pm start at Upper Ferntree Gully railway station, barely a car on the road. There was a slight mixup as we negotiated which of the car parks to congregate in.

There were three new riders: Richard had been talking with Ian and I for sometime. He was put onto the MSTCV by Sarah and Ron Vise from the Towong Murray Holiday cabins. Richard had only been riding for 4 years, having taken up motorcycling late in life. Malcolm and Ray were also first time Club riders and were expecting to see Paul, colleagues of his. They were quite cable riders and seemed to have fun.

After about 50 km of very enjoyable roads (no idea where we went) we ended up in Belgrave at the Bakery for a leisurely breakfast. Another 30 km of twisty roads saw us breakup and head home. Thanks Joel for leading and most unusually, Dave Ward for tail riding.

Ben Warden