Mt Baw Baw               Sunday 5th December, 2010

Ron Johnston (leader)

Honda CBF1000

Chris Pointon

Suzuki GSXR1000

Paul Southwell

Honda CBR1000

Roman Biaroza (3rd ride)

Kawasaki GPx250

Chris Tran

Honda CBR1000

Phill Hotschilt

Suzuki Hayabusa

Jean Eldridge

Honda CBR1000

Rick Van (2nd ride)

Yamaha YZF600

Rod Merrett

BMW HP2

Raj Malhotra

Yamaha FZ1

Henry Wright

Triumph 675

Willem Vandeveld (rear)

Honda ST1300

 

 

Julie and I had been in NZ for the last week for my mum’s funeral. We stayed overnight with friends in Wellington near the airport but did not get much sleep because you have to be at the airport two hours before the 6 am flight to Sydney.  And with NZ being two hours ahead, the lack of sleep and different time zone really mucks up your system up. Next day I rose early enough but still ended up dragging the chain to get to Yarra Glen on time.

I was grateful for Paul Southwell getting all the In Case of Emergency details for me. I gave the usual spiel about where we were going, food and fuel stops. I was a little uncertain, but it all worked out in the end.

From Yarra Glen we took the back road to Healesville and on to the Healesville Koo Wee Rup Road. Just past the Rail Trail we turned left into Allsops Road, crossed the highway, right into Wickham’s and then Milners Road (Hoddles Creek) to the back of Yarra Junction. Let the fun begin… Gladysdale, Three Bridges, Powelltown, Nayook to Neerim Junction, our first stop. Brilliant! We had a long wait, but everything was okay. Paul spoke to Roman and suggested that it was in his best interests not to proceed on the rest of the ride because it was not suitable for first time or inexperienced riders. He accepted the advice and departed.

After the break, I lead the unwilling(?) in to the unknown. At the top of the Neerim Junction hill I lead the troops down that goat track into the back of Noojee. Let even more fun begin… Noojee to Icy Creek: dial it on; don’t spare the horses.

At the Icy Creek intersection there were about a dozen Hardly Dangerous riders waiting to go up Mt Baw Baw.  As I went past, I thought the other MSR riders would get caught up amongst them.  For the first few kilometres you had to take it easy because of leaf litter on the road, then let all hell break loose. After Tanjil Bren, Chris Pointon was in my mirror. I kept my hand on the brakes to indicate to slow down because of all the gravel and mud across the road.

I continued on up to the summit. The old toll booth is now gone; it’s just a patch of bitumen.

At the top I waited for the others. After four or five bikes had arrived, someone mentioned that Chris had had a spill. I asked if it was where all the gravel and mud was across the road. “Yes”, was the answer. Chris said later that when Rod had come around the outside, he had taken his eyes off the road for a split second and run off into a ditch at low speed. He had broken the right front indicator, cracked the fairing, scratched the pipe, and muddied the foot peg.

There was a young lady from the Resort operating a six wheeler motor bike. It was hot enough for the sun to melt the bitumen in the carpark.

I took some group photos before we rode back down the mountain, dodging a handful of pushbike riders. Between Icy Creek and Noojee, on the steep downhill section, Phil caught up and passed me. I didn’t get to pass him again until we caught up with the same Hardly Dangerous riders, the main group stopped at the pub. That got them out of our hair.

On to Neerim South where we had our last stop before Longwarry North finish. After about 15 mins and still no rear rider I suggested that “someone must have crashed”. But then Phil and Rod arrived and said that a couple of riders had inadvertently taken the Powelltown Yarra Junction Road. It was too late to give chase, so Phil and Rod continued on to Neerim South. While we were there, Rob Jones and Bart arrived. They had been to Licola (spotted by the returning Dargo group earlier in the day …Ed.) and stayed for 10-15 minutes before disappearing in the opposite direction.

Just as we were about to leave, Rick on the YZF600 turned up. He said Willem had headed home. Rick had taken the wrong turn because there was a biker on the corner, who he thought was one of us. Realising his error, he found his way back to the group.

From Neerim South we continued on through Jindivick, Labertouche and Longwarry North where the ride finished. The ride covered 273 kilometres with good weather, good company, and only one minor incident. Thanks to everybody who attended.

 

Ron Johnston

 

 

Mt Baw Baw     MK II                  Sunday 5th December, 2010

I've been asked to scribble a few words about the ride due to being the first one to ''stuff up''... see later. I usually do the same as everyone else at the mention of a write up... find something more interesting on the ground to look at!

Despite most of the hardcore contingent away on the Dargo ride, we still had a healthy turnout of 12 riders. The weather was blue skies and looking promising for the blast up to Mt Baw Baw. Ron was our crusading leader for the day and after formalities were over, we were off.

We left Yarra Glen heading for Powelltown. Then on to Neerim Junction for morning tea. The scones with jam and cream went down very well at the antique store rounded off with a cup of char...yum!

I've done this ride a couple of times before and note it seems to have a cult following of some riders you don't see on other rides.

The five minute warning goes up and we're on our way again.

With the recent stormy weather I was expecting a lot of branches and maybe the odd tree uprooted on the roads, but surprisingly it was no worse than usual.

The run up to Baw Baw was going well at a nice pace. I had Paul Southwell behind, obviously taking it easy. Maybe paying him too much attention, I ran wide on a right hander. I planted the gixxer in the soft stuff resulting in a broken blinker and a few more battle scars. Soon we're up and running again.

Made it to the top and all decided that a feed in Neerim South was the go as Baw Baw is notoriously a long wait for food.

A few riders decided to head home at Noojee so the remaining went on to Neerim South and made for the bakery. Bellies full, the last leg was the run to Longwarry North to breakup at the servo.

Thanks to all who rode especially Ronny for leading and Willem for the rear riding duties. The ride length was 320km for the day.


 Chris Pointon