Reefton and Black Spurs Sunday 23^rd May 2010

Ben Warden (leader)	Honda CBR954	Jean Yves	BMW R1200 GS
Pina Garasi	Honda CBR600RR	Peter Fisher	BMW S1000RR
Ha Du	Honda CBR600	Jason Duff (2^nd ride)	BMW S1000RR
Rod Boulter	Suzuki DL1000	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX10R
Darryl Mills (1^st ride)	Suzuki TLR1000	Peter Jones (½ rear)	Yamaha R1
Pierre Ong	Ducati 1098	Henry Wright	Triumph 675
Ken Goedere	Ducat 999	Shane Byrne	Hyosung GT650
Ivan Radywonik (½ rear)	KTM 990	15 bikes/15 riders	~230 kms

Boy oh boy, she is cold this morning. 7.30am in Geelong and it is 4.5 degrees, foggy, with plenty of ice on the grass. But no clouds. It’s meant to be good weather today, 18 degrees forecast. I have had a sore throat all week and a slight cough, but feel good this morning.

Had breakfast (toast, tea), pull on my gear and head off. It’s the Reefton Spur run today. I take the Ring Road right around to the end, through to Diamond Creek, Kangaroo Ground, Christmas Hills and on to Yarra Glen.

Peter on his beaut R1, Ken on his 999 Duke, and Jason Duff on his BMW S1000RR for his second club ride, are already there. Ben will sign Jason up next week for sure. Peter’s R1 is sporting the latest bling, blinkers incorporated into the tail lights, which look the business. I find a sunny spot and start thawing out while everyone else arrives.

Ben gives us the ride spiel and we head off. We don’t take the usual route north out of town because the highway is closed due to road works. We follow Ben, dropping corner markers as we go, picking up the new Yarra Glen bypass back to the Old Healesville Road, eventually turning up Myers Creek Road towards Toolangi. I’ve worked this well. I get to follow him up here at a good steady pace. There are minimal damp spots to worry about.

We get to Toolangi and I corner mark the Chum Creek Road turnoff. I hop off the bike and listen to the other riders on their way up. It sounds good with lots of different exhaust notes, twins and fours, the bikes slowing into and accelerating out of the bends. A symphony of pleasure J

They pass by me and soon the rear rider (Peter R1) comes into view. We head down Chum Creek Road. No one seems to be hooking into it. Plenty of wet spots. Not keen on wet roads myself either, but plenty of them to come over the next few months, eh? Get used to it or stay home. Yeah right! Stay home? I don’t think so.

Everyone makes it into Healesville okay. We head down the main drag and turn off towards Woori Yallock, bypassing Launching Place. Then onto the Old Warburton Highway. “Watch out for the gravel” Ben had warned. And there was quite a bit. We wind our way through the 7 km of twisties and reappear in Warburton central back on the highway.

A left and a right for morning tea at the biker friendly cafe. It looks like they are doing a brisk trade too, the bikes jam packed in. Ken remarks that some bugger has parked an R1 in front of his Ducati 999 blocking his view. He was trying to admire his bike which does look nice, but Peter Jones’ yellow Yammie looks good too. Very good in fact.

Smokes, tea, coffees, sanga, cakes, chit chat. And then it’s time to go. Rod Boulter is now the rear rider, sharing the load around.

Up the road a few hundred metres, we turn on to the Mt Donna Buang Road. I follow Peter Jones most of the 20 km up to the summit. The road is damp and quite slippery with green moss and shiny, smooth, wet tar in some corners - not good for grip or confidence at all.

We all make it to the top and climb the 127 steps to the lookout platform. To the south west you can just make out the Melbourne city buildings. The elevation provides a good view of the Yarra Ranges and in the distance the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales where we will be in a few short months (November). Ah, biking paradise. Roads to dream about. Almost no traffic to impede us on our way to our daily destination. Yeah, yeah, I know I can’t see them from here but I know they are there waiting for us to go blasting through. Don’t miss out. Book a spot when the trip comes up, Melbourne Cup weekend.

After a group photo, the next stop is Reefton Spur. Watch out for the cops, I’m thinking.

We climb down from the lookout and then ride to the bottom of the mountain. No heavy braking as the corners are quite damp. At the bottom T-junction we turn left and keep going till we reach the Reefton turn off.

I was looking forward to doing a legal 100 km/h run through here, but the bludgers have lowered the limit to 80km/h. No cops, but I was expecting them around every corner. I am not keen on getting booked so wimp out and sit at or below 80 km/h the whole way. Later Pina asked me why I was going so slow. The police have been highly active up this way and I am not keen on taking chances. I guess everyone saw the Channel 9 news footage of the two bikes on the Black Spur a few weeks ago. Coppers not impressed. So caution the better option today. I can do some wick winding elsewhere.

We regroup at Cumberland Junction at the top of the Spur before heading into Marysville for lunch and a visor clean. I break out my sandwiches and thermos and look for the others but they’re all inside fighting over numbers. (Get a number or don’t get served.) I spot Pina arranging chairs and tables outside to accommodate everyone in the sunshine. So we sit and talk the talk, watching people coming and going.

The American Trans Am and Pony Car Club rumble past, out on a run. Before we leave, I asked Ben where Acheron Way is. “Follow me”, he says.

We head out of town towards the Healesville turnoff at Narbethong. Just before the intersection we turn left on to the Acheron Way. We follow it to the end of the bitumen, about 5kms (It was 15 km at normal speed ...Ed.) and turn around just before the dirt. Ben said “If you keep going it comes out about half way up Mt Donna Buang where the road switches back.” On previous rides up there, I had noticed a road off to the right and wondered where it went. (And yes, I bet there is a sign saying where it goes.) “Thirty kilometres of dirt, clay and gravel” Ben said.

We turn left towards Healesville and on to the Black Spur, keeping the speed down, with very little passing. I followed a bus for a bit but got sick of all the black diesel smoke from its exhaust. So I passed it, with heart in mouth, expecting to be pinged. Single white line all the way along here.

We get almost to the park on the left side and sure enough two marked police cars are strategically parked on the side, one behind the other. They have one bike pulled over coming from the opposite direction. I sneak past and continue on. It’s the slowest I have ever been through here but I didn’t get passed by anyone, so everyone else must be thinking the same as me. Cops, cops and more cops.

Eyes darting in all directions. There he is; a black unmarked Commodore backed off the road, sitting there, waiting for his next victim (not me, my friend). Same spot as Pina’s near miss a few months back.

In another five minutes we are at the break up point in Healesville. Did I mention I’m not keen on this area?

Another ride done with no incidents. Good lead, Ben.

Thanks Peter for sharing rear rider duties with Rod.

A check of the odometer at home reads 45,097 kms. I’m already looking forward to next week, so see you there.

Trivia question: when was the last Club ride without a Honda CBR1000 !?

Incidentally, my nephew Danny is back at work with no lingering injuries from the infamous February four-crash Thompsons Dams ride. Broken collar bone in two places, broken ribs - all of on the left side as well as some on the right - with very little pain (AMAZING). Bashed around the head with no lasting effects. He’s a tough cookie. Onya bro!

Cliff Peters