Noojee Sunday April 25^th, 2010

Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000RR	Geoff Shugg	Suzuki Vstrom
Ian Payne (leader)	Honda CBR1000RR	Chris Pointon	Suzuki GSXR1000
Paul Southwell (rear)	Honda CBR1000RR	Jason Wilson	Kawasaki ZX9
Ben Warden	Honda CBR954RR	Damir Djikic	Kawasaki Z750
Ha Du	Honda CBR600	Raj Malhotfa (non-starter)	Yamaha FZ1
Pina Garasi	Honda CBR600RR		10 bikes, 10 people

This ride was originally to be led by Dennis Lindemann but as he was shifting house this weekend, I stepped in to lead. After all, with the route already planned it shouldn’t be too difficult; I just needed to find out where Coalville was!

Just as I was about to get the group together at Berwick I overheard Misho talking about Pina’s rear end and the noise it made. It turns out he was talking about her bike’s new Akropovic muffler.

The weather forecast of ‘occasional showers’ made it hard to decide whether to put on the wet weathers or not. But a sudden downpour quickly helped make up everyone’s mind. Ha had to borrow a waterproof top from Geoff. The rain also convinced Raj to go home instead!

We headed off through Berwick where a Police road block reminded us it was ANZAC Day. Up through Harkaway and Beaconsfield Upper where another ANZAC service blocked my intended route. I quickly changed tack but not quick enough to be seen by Jason who went straight on and wasn’t seen again. When I spoke to him later he told me he eventually stopped after six kilometres and came back but we had already gone. Undecided what to do next, he went to turn the bike around, overbalanced and fell over. He then put his back-out picking up the ZX9. After that he decided enough excitement for the day and went home to recuperate.

We continued on to Toomuc Valley, Pakenham Upper, Mt. Burnett and Cockatoo. Then, as we made our way to Gembrook, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour! Although I hadn’t planned to stop until Noojee, the Gembrook bakery was too inviting to pass up. So we sat drinking coffee for a good 45 minutes until the rain eased.

Off again but without Damir and Chris who where waterlogged enough. The rest of us headed to Hoddles Creek, Gladysdale, Powelltown and Noojee. I had expected Misho to catch me on this section but then remembered he had race tyres fitted and couldn’t get enough heat into them for sufficient grip in the wet.

After Noojee it was on to Hill End, Willow Grove and Moe where we stopped for fuel and lunch. With only a little over 100 kilometres to go, Ben decided he had enough petrol to see out the ride!

Surprisingly, it was dry in Moe, so most of us packed away the wets and enjoyed a relaxing lunch. Then, just as we were about to leave, Ben spied a nail in Paul’s rear tyre! Fortunately, with air from the local servo and some sticky spaghetti, a very easy fix was performed that hardly delayed us at all.

Next on to Coalville which is only a dot on the map. Then Thorpdale and Mirboo North before taking the highway through Berrys Creek. Just before Leongatha we detoured to Ruby and the dirt section to Arawata where Geoff unleashed the DL and powered past us all.

At Ranceby we rejoined the main road and starting heading north. As the roads were now quite dry, Misho loomed in the mirrors, having finally got some heat and grip into the tyres. But Ben, in fuel conservation mode, was no longer matching the pace as the Honda was now only running on fumes and at Lardner it came spluttering to a stop. But talk about luck, right where they stopped a piece of discarded hose lay on the ground. (That would be the hose I always carry …Ed.) Exactly what was needed to siphon some fuel to get Ben going for the final few kilometres to Drouin where the ride finished.

Thanks to Paul for the rear riding duties and the others for coming out on such a wet day.

Ian Payne