Simpson Sunday 12^th December 2010

Cliff Peters (leader)	Kawasaki ZX10	Ben Warden	Honda CBR954
Mark Copeland	Kawasaki ZX10	Bill Graham (1^st ride)	BMW K1200
Bill Simpson	Suzuki GSXR1000	Corbin Spur	Suzuki Hayabusa
Damir Djikic (1/2 rear)	Honda CBR1000	Kurn Bridgeman	Honda CBR600
Chris Tran	Honda CBR1000	Greg Jeffery	Kawasaki ZRX1200
Jason Wilson (1/2 rear)	Kawasaki ZX9		11 bikes , 11 people

Dragging my miserable butt out of bed on a Sunday morning can sometimes be a challenge, but when there’s a 500 odd kilometre ride on offer, well that’s a different story.

My day started with a few Weetbix and a cuppa. Looking towards the west I thought to myself, “This could be ugly”. I checked the Geelong weather website and sure enough it said 18 and possible showers. That’s OK, I thought, I don’t mind riding in the rain. But what about that dodgy front tyre of mine? “She’ll be right”! A quick phone call to Mark to tell him to meet me at my place before heading over to Moriac (15 minutes away) to rendezvous with the crew. We fuelled up at Bannockburn and headed off.

Five minutes up the road and down came the rain. At first it was light but the black sky ahead told me to expect something heavier. Minutes later and the skies opened. Soon after my new 100% water proof “Dri rider” gloves were drenched. Maybe they should rename their company. Any suggestions?

We arrived at Moriac rather damp. To my surprise, the main Melbourne crew weren’t there. Parked neatly to the left of the Moriac General Store was a beasty looking green ZX10 which could only mean one thing. Cliffy! With that impressive grin he is famous for. As always, it was a pleasure to see him again. After an exchange of pleasantries we got down to the important business of discussing the weather, talking bikes and telling the odd joke until another familiar sight appeared: Ben, on his trusty 954. Just like the arrival of a cream filled Boston Bun at a Weight Watchers meeting, we all smiled. “Bill, Ben” were the words uttered as hands were shaken. That combination of names arranged in the right order never fails to invoke childish humour in my brain. It also prompts the inner question, “Will I ever grow up?” Hope not!

Soon the rest of the bikes rumbled into town. There was a hot looking Blade, another green beast, a blue Beemer - which particularly caught my eye, and a variety of other powerful machines. The only thing missing was George Thorogood and the Destroyer’s belting out “Bad to the Bone”. Well not quite, but it was impressive all the same.

More pleasantries and some intro’s. Then Cliff gave the pre-ride brief indicating we were heading for Apollo Bay via Deans Marsh. Corbin decided to do his own thing so we bid him farewell.

The ride into Deans Marsh was a gentle one for two reasons. Our good friend rain had returned and so too our other good friend, the Police, who were also going to Deans Marsh and the pace was set by them. My biggest concern was whether or not Cliff had seen them behind him or not. Later he confirmed that he had. So with no damage done we soldiered on to the Bay. Greg left us at Deans Marsh, the wet and cold getting the better of him.

The weather was up and down like a mole’s undies, which is pretty normal for Victoria, but for crying out loud, it’s supposed to be summer isn’t it? Great care was needed because not only were the roads wet and littered with lots of organic debris, but there was the occasional gust of strong wind as well. Throw in my dodgy front tyre and a disaster cocktail was potentially around every corner. And that would be the shaken and stirred variety. Even though the conditions were crap, the temperature was not that cold! Wet hands were my only real problem. In the end I didn’t want to remove my gloves for genuine fear of not being able to get them back on again!

We refuelled at Apollo Bay and took a short break. The original plan was to ride straight to Simpson (and no, it wasn’t named after me) for lunch but the general consensus was that starvation was nigh and nourishment was needed sooner rather than later. Therefore the decision to eat at Lavers Hill was made.

The road from Apollo Bay to Lavers Hill is one of my favourites but again, very mixed weather meant one needed to take a cautious approach. The final twenty odd kilometres into Lavers was nice and dry, and with Cliff setting a warmish pace up front, Ben, Mark, Jason and I formed a Congo line of joyful motorcyclists. Boy that sounded gay! Hahah...

Burgers, pies, snag rolls and even a healthy looking salad sandwich were consumed. All washed down with everything from coffee to a strawberry milk shake. Happy days. Then it was off to Simpson.

I couldn’t work out why the traffic heading in the Port Campbell direction was so horrendous. Maybe there was a “buy one, get one free, ice cream deal” on offer at the Twelve Apostles cafe. Who would know! But what I did know was, trying to pass all those cages and buses, both mini and full size, was proving to be a minor nightmare. And all the while those awesome twisty roads were being wasted at 50 km/h. A few of the front runners got past early, and by all accounts, had a pleasant ride. I was left with a hollow feeling of what could have been and a new hatred of Toyota HiAces. But I’m sure that with time the emotional wounds will mend.

Eventually I got past, but only after the roads had turned to sweepers. Just short of Port Campbell we regrouped before heading north to Simpson on a road that I had never been on before, in either a car or on a bike. What a well kept secret! I doubt it’s even been published on Wiki Leaks yet! Thanks for showing it to me, Cliff. This road will be added to my “Ride more often!” list. Mind you, at the pace we were clipping along at (100 km/h, officer) any road would be fun!

Petrol and photos at Simpson. Then we rode along more great/new roads on route to the Shoe Tree and Carlisle River. I’m not sure what it was, but there was a seriously funk smell as we left Simpson. It brought a tear to my eye and a little vomit to my mouth. And for those that haven’t heard of it, the Shoe Tree is a tree with hundreds of pairs of shoes hanging off it. Go figure!

Heading towards Deans Marsh and with a fair head of steam, I observed my fuel light start to flash. It’s those times when you think to yourself “I really should have refuelled at the last stop when everyone else did.” You also start to think of how much of a dickhead you will look if you run out of petrol in the middle of nowhere. I think the miscalculation was slightly understandable if one was to factor in the pace of the riding since leaving Apollo Bay, some 180km earlier. Normally the bike’s good for 250km out of the tank. Anyway, I let the rear rider know I’d be slowing down a bit. So, with my head held high, I rode into Deans Marsh for a dash of fuel and a can of lemonade.

We sat around drinking milky coffees and hot chocolate, all the while debriefing about the day’s events before Mark and I bid the others farewell. The ride from Deans Marsh to my home in Bannockburn was an uneventful one.

After being told by Ben earlier in the day I needed to send him some words for the news letter, I pondered where to start and what to say. I hope my first attempt at writing one of these things has hit the mark. God knows, it took me a long while to do. lol.

P.S.: being a Geelong member of MSR can be both a blessing and a curse. The blessings are that when the Club rides down, or near the GOR, I get to have a sleep in. And I get home at a reasonable time. The curse is that going on all the other fantastic Club rides has the opposite effect. Because the Club is a Melbourne based club, a lot of the rides are East/NE of the city. I tend to only do rides on this side of town. Be that as it may, every time I do hook up for a ride, I have an absolute ball. And this ride was no exception!

Of course I’ve got my name down for Tassie next year. If all the stars align, then that will totally rock! I look forward to seeing my friends from MSR again soon. Oh, and as for my doggy front tyre, let’s just say that piece of rubber owes me nothing!

Love ya’s all!

Bill Simpson