Hill End Sunday 23^rd September, 2007

David Twentyman	Suzuki Hayabusa	Paul Punicki	Honda CBR1100XX
Corbin Spurr	Suzuki Hayabusa	Jurgen Mennel	Honda VTR1000
Chris Bouwmeester (1^st ride)	Suzuki GSXR1000	Ben Warden (leader)	Honda CBR954
Cameron Stevens	Suzuki GSXR1000	James Giordmaina	Yamaha R1
Misho Zrakic	Suzuki GSXR750	Ron Solomon	Yamaha R1
Shane Hindle	Suzuki GSXR600	Bruce Fleming (1^st ride)	Kawasaki GPz900
Rob Langer	BMW R1200S	Nic Jacka (rear rider)	Hyosung 250

The weather was pretty much as predicted:  fine, high teens, low twenties and not too much wind. And from the way things had been in the last week, the roads should be fairly clear of debris.

The meeting  point was opposite the servo at Yarra Glen. Everyone had arrived early and fuelled up. Thirteen bikes  and  thirteen riders including a couple of unfamiliar faces and a couple of  first time riders. Ben gave us a clear briefing of our intended route, identified a few hazards to be wary of on the way and their location. I try to listen up big at these briefings to avoid any grief later. Nic on a Hyosung was to be back marker.

We headed out the Melba Highway and turned off to cut across to Healesville, then towards Woori Yallock, Powelltown, and the Neerims. The roads were great, clear of gravel and not too much bark, though I gotta say that the lichen that grows on the surface of the road in the shadows spooks me a bit.

Mono Rono was up to his usual antics. That bloke needs to spend more money on advertising on the underside of his bike, because that’s all most people see.

The ride continued on to Jindivick, Drouin West and Brandy Creek to Drouin for a smoko and a light snack. The roads had been a mixture of good tighter twisties and high speed sweepers. (The Melbourne Ulysses were also stopped in Drouin and I ran into former members Ray Thomas and, Andrew Kennedy …Ed.)

Some refuelled and then we headed towards Korumburra taking the Arawata turn. This stretch had about 8 kms of gravel along the way. (Actually, it is only 3 km, but it felt like 8 as it was so thick …Ed.) Parts of this section had a few fully focused freight train sessions, an absolute hoot.

Ben, the Ivan Malat of the bird world, was at it again, this time a duck hit so hard it literally blew it guts out its arse. Least he did the humane thing and went back and snapped its neck; glad he didn't do an Alice Cooper. This induced a roadside re-group while Ivan cleaned the rest of the corpse off his bike. (My next ride two weeks later I noticed the screen was vibrating and bent out of shape. The subframe is bent …Ed.)

After a regroup at the end of the dirt to clean our visors and lube our chains, we continued on to Hallston and Mirboo North for lunch at a really good location once again, the Bakery. It was a great clean shop with plenty of tables and chairs with pretty honeys serving behind the counter.

We finish a good feed, topped up with fuel and headed north, homewards bound. Everyone was rejuvenated and focused. It is a hot pace towards Trafalgar, Hill End and Noojee along great roads once again. Bruce, on his GPz, is doing a Harry Houdini staying with us. Rob Langer on his Beemer is carving everyone up. Ron and Cameron are blitzing it and I get passed by Paul on his Blackbird. Misho has got Casey Stoner’s genes.

We regroup at Icy Creek, 14 km from the Noojee, at the end of the tight twisties, all safe and sound. Alas, Corbin has a minor off a few kilometres further on where he lost the font end coming down a steep hill. We nearly had to call the Thunderbirds to drag him out, he put it that far into the bush. We dragged him out and did some minor repairs so he was able to limp into Noojee where further top sub-frame bending was undertaken providing clearance between the handlebars and the screen. Ivan donated a tonne of silver packaging tape to complete the picture.

On to Yarra Junction where we depart to make our own way home. Another well organised and well run day with a good group of men.  Thanks Ben.

Dave Twentyman