Reefton Spur               Sunday 2nd  January, 2011

Tim Emons (leader)

Honda CBR1000

Marc Marais (2nd ride)

Triumph 675

Ricky Chambers (3rd ride)

Honda CBR1000

Jason Duff (2nd ride)

BMW S1000R

Gary Gilmour (1st ride)

Honda CBR1000

Peter Fisher

BMW S1000R

John Willis

Honda XL1000

Yudi Iswahyudi (2nd ride)

Suzuki GSXR1000

Alistair (1st ride)

Honda VTR1000

Karl Trsek (1st ride)

Suzuki GSXR600

Geoff Jones (rear)

Yamaha R1

Owen Rice (1st ride)

Suzuki GSXR600

Ken Goederee

Ducati 1098

Paul Sorenson

Suzuki SV650

Pierre Ong

Ducati 1098

Brett Chambers (4th ride?)

KTM RC8 Factory

 

16 bikes, 16 people

 

After a socially hectic end to the year I was pleased to find that the family’s original New Year’s plans had come undone; we weren’t hosting yet another group of interstate friends after the last lot had vacated, suddenly leaving the weekend clear. This meant I’d be free to go for a ride. Jump on the web and check the itinerary – leader required...

 

I usually try to avoid the Yarra Ranges, especially on weekends, during summer, and school holidays... But I figured it’s too late to change what’s already on the web, so I volunteered to lead using the suggested route as far as Marysville, then Kinglake via Yea instead of the Black Spur.

 

I’d convinced myself that no other riders would show up anyway, and started thinking about checking out the new Eildon - Jamieson Road as I made my way to Berwick. Hmmm...

 

Soon after 10am I was leading a group of 16 bikes including four first timers, three second timers and one third. It was an exotic mix of machinery heading out of Berwick and up through Harkaway.

 

This was my first ride since fitting the ‘Blade’s Xmas present – a pair of “Tech-Spec” snakeskin tank grip pads. No big difference immediately apparent. I’ve been curious about these for a while now, and decided the only way I’ll find out is to buy a pair. Once we reached the sweepers on the way to Beaconsfield Upper I hooked in and noticed that my legs felt more securely locked in to the bike making it easier to keep less weight on the ‘bars in the corners and under brakes.

 

I followed the now standard route towards Emerald, up Paternoster Road and down to Pakenham Upper. Ken pulled up beside me on his new 1098 (999 traded in) and suggested I regroup in Gembrook as the ride was getting very spread out due to the mix of experience levels.

 

I enjoyed a smooth run to Gembrook and then looked for somewhere that could accommodate 16 bikes on the side of the road that wouldn’t create a hazard – none apparent. Not without turning into the main street. I was having too much fun anyway, so decided to keep the ride flowing. We had some traffic to work through heading north, but then got back into a rhythm and wound up the pace a notch. We turned right into Milner’s Road and re-grouped at the T-junction at the end.

 

Right, left, and right onto the Warburton Highway before taking the Old Warburton Road (I’m sure I heard a few grumbles when mentioning this road in the pre-ride spiel), which was in unusually decent condition. Then into Warburton for morning tea at the biker’s café which provided a great chance to drool over the abundance of European bikes.

 

We were given the heads up to watch for an unmarked bike in the hills, but we didn’t manage to find it... The speed limit has now been dropped to a maximum of 80 km/h all the way to Cambarville Junction including the long open sections before Reefton, making this an even more tedious undertaking.

 

I continued to play bunny out the front all the way through the Reefton Spur, spooking myself with every clearing that could hide a car or bike, but it was clean. As for the road, it was in perfect condition, and was still a great ride, even close to the speed limit. More time to focus on good lines and smooth technique.

 

At the top of the Reefton I pulled in to say g’day to a few riders that were already parked at the junction. Soon after, John pulled in behind me on the Varadero wearing a big grin, having rounded up the two Ducati’s on the way. He sure manages to coax that big machine along at an alarming pace on any kind of road.

 

A few more bikes arrived so I moved on, enjoying the more sensibly posted 100 speed limit. We re-grouped at the top carpark at Lake Mountain where John complained that no corner markers had stayed behind at the end of Reefton Spur. He hadn’t realised that he was the first of our group to arrive after me, assuming the other riders were with us. No harm done (not this time...).

 

We descended to Marysville and had to cut laps trying to find somewhere to park! Needless to say, the queue inside the bakery almost made me turn around and walk out. Luckily I didn’t as they run a smooth operation and it didn’t take too long to get to the front of the queue. I saw Ken walking out with a huge bowl of fruit salad that looked the goods, but I had a hankering for a ham and salad roll. When the person in front of me snaffled the last one it was an easy decision to go for the fruit salad. It was as good as it looked, but we were met with comments of disbelief from the other riders – it seems fruit salad is not acceptable biker food.

 

A handful of riders headed home from here via the Black Spur as expected, while the rest of us continued to Buxton for fuel (Premium pumps all out of order in Marysville). Then on towards Alexandra to pick up the Molesworth Road. Yeehaa! Gotta love that feeling when your cheeks are pulled back from the surge of excessive forward momentum...

 

Everyone seemed to enjoy the chance for a bit of hooliganism (not hooning...) on this stretch. In the shade out the front of an ancient store in Yea we shared stories. I went in to grab an icy pole and was surprised to see the woman serving was about as old as the shop itself. The cash register looked original as well.

 

Eventually it was time to move on and I set off west through town to the Whittlesea turnoff. Peter pulled in behind me and I waited for a second corner marker before continuing. After a long wait, I left Peter at the corner and went back to check, but everyone had gone. I assumed someone must have taken the Yarra Glen turnoff and the rest had followed. Giving chase was not an option – the group would have 10 km start on us by now. So I picked up Peter and continued  on, cranking into the sweepers over Junction Hill, left to Glenburn, then right onto the Glenburn-Kinglake Road to the official finish in Kinglake after 281 km from Berwick.

 

No sign of any of the others here. Peter lives in Lilydale and was keen to go, so we made our farewells and he headed off towards Toolangi. I waited around for a bit, but figured that if the others had taken the Yarra Glen turnoff they wouldn’t stop until Maroondah Highway. I didn’t expect anyone to emerge, so headed home.

 

Thanks to Geoff for rear riding (“Best fuel economy the R1 has ever achieved”, he notes) and to all for coming out for the day. I’m not sure if I can get a prize for losing the most people on a Club ride, and would like to apologise to those who didn’t get to finish the complete ride as planned, but it was out of my hands.

 

Ben conducted a telephone inquisition later that evening which revealed where things went wrong (though still not sure who to blame...). It appears that someone turned left onto the short-cut road that joins with the Whittlesea Road further along. The rest of the riders followed and kept going, none the wiser - all the way to Whittlesea! Remember, if there’s no corner marker – CONTINUE STRAIGHT AHEAD!

 

Tim Emons