Trafalgar MK II
Ben put together a slightly less confusing route than the Coalville ride two weeks ago. Well, I pretended not to be so lost. Forecast temperature was 38deg. There were only five starters including Geoff (glad to be back on the road), Cameron, who hardly misses a ride and providing more updates on his GSXR ignition saga, Hilly and I. We had pre-planned the weekend, the logistics quite complex. Geoff and I suffered from the heat worse than everyone else, the others seemingly not bothered.
We left our pick up point at Yarra Glen. I had expected Breht to roll up with his new GSXR. There was a slight delay in Healesville with Geoff retrieving Hilly’s GPS that slipped out of his tank bag while on the move. It was still in one piece but not speaking anymore. Across to Yarra Junction and Powelltown where we picked up an extra (NQR) rider. The guys were happy to let him go after we took off from temporary traffic lights installed at the Poweltown end of the twisties where the road is reduced to one lane due to repairs. (He followed in the twisty bits and then took off along the straight …Ed.)
Now I thought
Ben said we were taking the Nayook road. At the intersection I slowed down but with
no corner marker in sight, the others already catching up. They must be
wondering what I’m doing, I thought. Then we spotted Cameron coming down the
triangle-about. So everyone stuck behind me till Neerim where we stopped for a
visor clean. Then off to visit the rest of the Neerims, Crossover, Buln Buln,
Hilly brought a Camelback for me. What a great idea on a hot day like today. There were no corner marking opportunities to catch a break because we were all riding together, making the day flow well. Drouin was alive with cops and hotted up cars doing circuits. At least we knew where the cops were.
We headed off for the wonderful Korumburra-Warragul road. ‘Tops’. We turned up the Arawata road with a few kms of dirt and then regrouped at the end for a visor clean. Then on to Hallston, Mirboo North, Thorpdale and Coalville along the bestest roads all day. Ben stopped under a shady tree, not to rest the troops, but to check Cameron’s fuel situation. Geoff and I flaked on the ground simultaneously and empathetically from the heat. Hilly offered to fill Ben’s empty water bottle with fuel from his huge, easily drained 22 L tank in case Cameron ran out. But we decided to see if Cameron would make it to Moe.
With 400mL to
spare, Cameron refuels. Geoff and I take the break as recovery time. The others
are fine. Cameron’s secret is honey sandwiches. Hilly has done 30 odd rides to
Ben, Cameron and
Geoff are heading back through Hill End,
Back down to Tyers and the highway. At least the breeze is slightly cooling until Hilly turns onto a dirt road. It’s so jagged and rough it felt like it was taking chunks out of my tyres. My suspension is taking a pounding and my headache I’d been managing to keep to a dull throb was about to erupt into a migraine. I’ve now slowed to 30 km/h, out of sympathy for the bashing my bike is getting. We are both over-heating.
I came up to a bitumen cross road and could see Hilly waiting about 50 meters ahead. I stopped to look at my map to see how much more of this dirt there was. He came back and told me it was only another km or so, so we took off after my dummy spit of ‘What for?’ with Hilly behind me. When we get back onto the road we were originally on, we had saved 3 km off 12 km, and taken three times as long. I had the last laugh when my bike spat up a rock that knocked off Hilly’s indicator. I laughed in disbelief, him calling that a short cut. Yeah, maybe for his 950 KTM Adventure. I think he’s got a cruel streak, like Ben. I ashamedly didn’t look properly, but I think the blinker was just knocked off, not actually broken.
Thanks Ben for a great twisty filled day and Geoff for tail duties. Lyn Duncan