MotoGP BBQ – pre-ride Lancefield             Sunday 14th October, 2007

 

Paul Southwell

Honda CBR1000

Shane Hindle

Suzuki GSXR600

Ben Warden (leader)

Honda CBR954

Misho Zrakic

Suzuki GSXR750

Bill Wee

Honda VTR1000

Penny Green (Rear Rider)

Yamaha R6

Dave Ward

Honda CBR600

Nic Jacka

Hyosung GT250

Simon Trubiano

Honda CBR929

 

9 bikes, 9 people

 

I woke up feeling tired after having had a restless night’s sleep. I peered through the blinds and was greeted by a sombre looking sky with threads of rain in the offing. That was at 7 am which gave me temporary comfort that I still had an hour’s sleep before having to decide whether to go on the ride.

I didn’t set the alarm but put my faith in nature to take care of waking me in an hour’s time. My faith was rewarded with a warm ray of sunlight through the blinds just when I needed it. I was grateful when I saw that the sky had cleared and the day’s ride beckoned.

With new found enthusiasm, the leathers, boots and miscellaneous riding paraphernalia went on easier than normal. After a quick check of tyre pressures and chain lube, I was on my way. Stopping at the first set of traffic lights, I noticed a smallish frame on a black Yamaha R6. I thought the bike and rider looked , familiar…it was our new member Penny. She asked if I was going to the ride start at Whittlesea. With a nod and a hurried ‘yes’, we negotiated our way to the meeting point.

It was nice to see a good turn out of riders on such a glorious day. After fuelling up and the usual preliminaries of Ben mapping out the route, we were on our way. Ben led and Penny had the job of riding rear.

Just out of Whittlesea enroute to Flowerdale, a series of fast bi-directional sweepers towards the top of the hill provided an early adrenalin rush with the wrist twisted at ‘fully open’. Looking like Stoner and Rossi (Paul Southwell and Dave Ward) overtook me in the middle of the sweepers. It was like a scene out of PlayStation 2 seeing them disappearing progressively into the distance, weaving left and then right. Except that I was in the scene too. “Stop that”, I told myself and FOCUS. It was a surreal moment. It made me wonder what it would be liked to be programmed into a Playstation game, without the crashes of course.

The roads were excellent without the usual traffic. Other bike groups and Mr Plod were obviously on duty at the Island end of the State. With the weather perfect (21 degrees with little wind), the ride started to have a magical feel to it and I am sure everyone was feeling as happy as I was.

Flowerdale came up rather quickly. I corner marked for the left turn towards Strath Creek. More great twisty roads for the ‘real’ Playstation game. Exhilarating until another corner mark saw the group heading towards Broadford.

Glenaroua through to Pyalong heading for a morning stop at Lancefield provided more adrenalin flow as we rode through the beautiful twisty roads lined with fresh spring foliage. It was on one of the right hand sweepers that I had the front end of the VTR shaking its head for the very first time. It must have been a rough patch mid-corner, or I was also on a faster pace than usual. The shaking caused me to run close to the roadside gravel before I gained control. Ben and Paul advised that the front tyre is not up to scratch and no doubt would have contributed to the experience. The tyre looked fine and appeared to have plenty of tread left until Ben kindly showed me where it had worn. It just shows that you can always learn something. Thanks Ben.

Morning tea break at Lancefield witnessed the normal bakery indulgence and the usual chit-chat about what happened on recent rides including a few mishaps. Nic on the Hyosung left us here for a prior engagement.

The plan was to be at Trevor Harris’ residence in Bundoora around 1pm for a BBQ to watch the Phillip Island MotoGP on a Big Screen.  But first there was the serious business of having the last bit of ‘twisted’ fun for the day from Lancefield through Romsey and Bolinda. Of course we had to go via Wild Dog Road with the dreaded wooden bridge which I didn’t pay too much attention to the week before with a near mishap. (I couldn’t decide which path to take after coming up to it without heeding the posted ‘Narrow Bridge’ sign.) Today I took notice of the signpost and crossed the bridge at a much slower pace.

We regrouped at Bulla where Paul left the group for a BBQ event at Redwing Honda.

From Bulla we headed off at legal pace amidst flashing warnings from cars that there is a ‘Kodak’ on the side of the road. From the Tulla Freeway we peeled off to the Western Ring Road in single file exiting at Plenty Road for Bundoora.

We arrived at Trevor’s and Barbara’s in plenty of time. El Presidente, Ian Payne, and Peter Philferan (member No.1) greeted us. Peter came on his 250 cc Yamaha Majesty scooter. It was time to get out of our hot leathers. I had my jeans and tee-shirt with me and quickly changed into them. Everyone soon settled into their comfort zones after removing their riding gear.

Trevor and Barbara had the place all ready with snacks and drinks and three TVs going. We were joined later by Rob Langer and Kirsten Anderson, Peter Feistl and Jacinta Thomas who was still enquiring about the Malaysian MotoGP which I tried to organise a few years back. Here is a promise, Jacinta:  should I organise another one, you will be on top of the list :) 

We had the BBQ on the outside patio with Trevor endeavouring to clean the windows so that we could see the TV inside and watch the action. There was plenty to eat and drink with desserts for the sweet-toothed.

We watched Casey Stoner lead the race from start to finish. The race had its moments like the one in which Pedrosa and Rossi tussled with Rossi running wide on to the ripple strip, then wider on to the grass, kicking up dust. They didn’t finish there with the two fighting for a place on the podium. It was a great day for Ducati securing 1st and 2nd positions. AND it was a great day for all of us.

I left not long after the race and was soon home, tired but happy. The clock showed 195 kms for the day.

Thank you Ben for leading and Penny for rear riding duties. Our thanks also to Trevor and Barbara for their generous hospitality.

 

Bill Wee