Thomson Dam Sunday 19^th December 2010

Damian Djikic	Honda CBR1000	Chris Pointon	Suzuki GSXR1000
Chris Tran	Honda CBR1000	Mark Rigsby (rear)	Suzuki GSXR1000
John Willis	Honda XL1000	Yudi Iswahyudi (1^st ride)	Suzuki GSXR1000
Ben Warden	Honda CBR954	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX10
Dennis Lindemann (leader)	Honda CBR600	Jason Wilson	Kawasaki ZX9
Pina Garasi	Honda CBR600		11 bikes, 11 people

One week to go before Xmas so if I am going to get one more Sunday ride in this year. I thought the ride to Thomson Dam would be a good one. The weather forecast was for rain so better pack the wet weather gear.

As I headed down the M1 to Berwick I couldn’t help but notice five abandoned cars in different locations alongside the freeway with damage ranging from multiple flat tyres on one vehicle to the front smashed in on another. Unfortunately, it seems like the festive season road carnage is in full swing!

I arrived early at the Berwick servo and parked near the dumpster in front of the car wash as I usually do. As others were arriving I noticed they were congregating in front of the tyre dealer adjacent to the servo and I was duly called over and told we now do the pre-ride brief in front of the tyre dealer as the old spot was becoming too congested (maybe reflects the increased number of riders turning up). Shows how long it has been since I started a ride a Berwick!

Dennis was leading on his old black CBR600. He explained he had binned his new CBR recently on the Dargo ride and so was back to riding his reliable old 600 in the meantime.

We were joined by first time rider Yudi on his GSXR 1000 K8 and we had a good conversation in Indonesian as he is from East Java. Turns out he had not ridden on anything bigger than a 250cc machine and this was his first major outing on the GSXR. It was good to see Chris was also on board to bolster the GSXR ranks; we matched the number of Fireblades which does not occur very often!

Dennis did the pre-ride brief and we were off up to Yarra Junction via Gembrook.

I volunteered to go rear rider and followed Yudi who cautiously nursed the K8 in the dry to wet conditions throughout the day.

Although the road from Berwick to Yarra Junction is populated with small communities, farms and some houses, there is a good variety of roads and conditions. The road north of Gembrook offers a great mix of sweepers and tight corners. I was hanging back a bit from Yudi so I could get a bit of pace up. Some of the tighter corners sneak up on you and it is such a great feeling getting the bike cranked over as a corner closes up, and then blasting out the exit. It is such an exhilarating feeling when bike and rider are working in synch. I liken the feeling to doing a big bottom hand turn after taking the drop on a 2 m wave on a surfboard, or driving a golf ball sweetly 150 m straight up the fairway, or hitting all net from behind the 3 point line playing basketball.

Between enjoying myself and watching Yudi on the K8, I wasn’t paying to much attention to where we were going. I think just after Hoddles Creek we turned east from the Gembrook Road and cut through some back roads to come out on the Yarra Junction Noojee Road just south of the Junction.

As we proceeded to Noojee for morning tea, there were intermittent showers to keep things interesting. Those of us who had not already donned the wet weather gear relented and did so at Noojee.

Morning tea at Noojee saw a large number of bikes parked in front of the two cafes. I always seem to get an earful from the lower café owner complaining about the upper café across the road; it seems there is not much love lost between the two! I always go to the lower café as it takes forever to get service at the upper café, even when it is not too busy.

We ran into Ken Goederee at Noojee and I had a chat about his recent highside at a Philip Island ride day. We also discussed how cheap motorcycle accessories have gotten recently when ordering on line. I know I have been taking the opportunity, with the strong Aussie dollar, to get a few things like braided brake lines and a carbon fibre rear hugger for my GSXR.

I also had a good chat with John about his XL1000. He reckons he is starting to ride the bike on the limit of its current capabilities and is looking to boost the power with a Power Commander and remapping. The upright riding position on the XL suits him as opposed to the jockey position on sports bikes.

Yudi was enjoying himself although he was having a few moments in some of the corners getting used to the bike. John gave him some wise words of wisdom, “At the speed you are riding, just crank the bike over and it will take care of the rest”. As we all know, the trick is to trust the bike and not panic and hit the brakes!

Pina called it quits at Noojee and we bade her a safe trip home.

After Noojee we headed up to Neerim South and the Crossover sweepers where I followed the two Chris’s and Damir in a one litre freight train sitting on the ton up to the Old Sale Road turnoff. We then proceeded on to Tyers for a break and fuel.

I had not been up to the Thomson Dam before so I was looking forward to some new roads and the beautiful views I had been told are evident at the dam. Well, I liked the road so much up through Erica and onto the dam that I came back with my sister and a couple of friends two weeks later to enjoy the trip at much faster pace in the dry!

We stayed at the dam for a short break and took a group photo before the rain came in from the northwest. You could see it coming up the valley over the reservoir at a great rate of knots.

Back on the bikes for a wet ride back to Erica where we stopped for lunch. The rain poured down and the wind was blowing a gale so we ate and then waited some time for the worst to blow over.

On to Moe for fuel where Yudi and I also called it quits and headed up the Princes Highway in the rain to home.

Ben reported later that the rest of the ride was uneventful other than he went a couple of rounds with a dove on the Noojee Powelltown Road and the bird lost with blood and guts blowing up onto Ben’s visor, tank and screen. The bird somehow got wedged in between the bikes header pipes – very ugly.

There was no rain from Moe back through Hill End and Noojee until after the breakup point at Powelltown after which solid rain set in making for a cold and wet ride home.

After the ride, unfortunately John crashed his XL1000 about 10 minutes from home while attempting to overtake a car. Apparently he woke up on the ground and is okay, only suffering a sore shoulder. The bike incurred no serious damage. The driver of the car was kind enough to stop and assist John only to have his own car rear-ended by someone else. The festive season road carnage continues… All the best to John and I hope he has a speedy and full recovery.

Thanks to Dennis for leading and showing us the delights of the Thomson Dam ride notwithstanding some seriously wet and stormy weather. To all, have a safe and happy festive season. See you in 2011.

Mark Rigsby