Snake Valley Sunday 6^th June, 2010

Geoff Jones (leader)	Yamaha R1	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX10
Misho Zrakic/Pina Garasi	Honda CBR1000	Ben Warden (rear)	Honda CBR954
Paul Sorenson (1^st ride)	Suzuki SV650

Numbers start to dwindle during the wet and cold winter Sundays; only a few die-hards turn up today – Cliffy, Ben, Misho and me, welcomed by an ever cheerful Geoff Jones as ride leader. Given that this was a fast little bunch and sensing I might be a little lonely for a lot of the ride today, I decide to hop on the back with Misho and be close to the group. A last minute entrant turns up for the ride – first time rider with us – must be a desperado to come on a day like today. Ben keeps a watchful eye as rear rider.

Wet roads for most of the day with fine, misty rain for the morning part of the ride. Cold and dampness waits for us at Trentham where I go in search of a well-made café latte. The usual little shop is gone… Geoff accuses me of being the cause of their closure as a result of some negative publicity perpetrated by me… huh? I don’t remember doing this at all. I go in search of my fix and find one in a wholesome café/bakery down a little lane. Hmm, a bit too strong for my Bel, but just right for me.

Too cold to hang about, off to Snake Valley. Geoff is in his element – he knows these roads so well and gets about at a very fast pace. It’s hard to catch him even at ‘speed-Misho’.

First time rider leaves us at Daylesford; I think our last crash story activated a ‘flight’ response.

It’s a quick lunch stop. The sun had only shone on us a very briefly and then relinquished us to the coldness again; it felt warmer to keep riding. Somewhere from here to Meredith we get the bumpiest roads ever in the west, which we’ve all come to expect by now. It’s here that Misho points out to Cliffy all the bits which have subsequently come loose on his bike, including a missing bolt from the rear master cylinder. Ben to the rescue with a spare from his most unassuming but very useful “bits and pieces spares kit”. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched him rummage through this kit and find exactly what is required to fix a problem… clever boy.

Once on a ride I accidentally knocked off Renzo’s Ducati’s side mirror when I was looking at him corner marking instead of looking at the road. I can still remember how mortified I felt as I begged Renzo for forgiveness. Ben ‘saved’ me by finding just the right screw in his little kit to secure the mirror. Absolution partially obtained, the passage of time providing the rest.

More long stretches of narrow, isolated and barren outback roads which invite a little bit of yeehah! We almost caught Geoff! But the Yamaha ruled for the day.

We all say our final farewells at Werribee and Misho and I eventually get home after collecting my bike at Whittlesea.

Many thanks: Geoff for leading the ride, Ben for rear-riding, Cliffy for your infectious happiness, and Misho for kindly taking me on the back.

Pina Garasi