Euroa Sunday
5th June 2011
Damir Djikic (leader) |
Honda CBR1000 |
Tom Bartus (1st ride) |
Kawasaki ZX1000 |
Misho Zrakic |
Honda CBR1000 |
John Willis/Lou Tickner |
Kawasaki ZX1000 |
Tony Stegmar |
Honda CBR1000 |
Mark Copeland |
Kawasaki ZX10 |
Paul Southwell |
Honda CBR1000 |
Jason Wilson |
Kawasaki ZX9 |
Ron Johnston |
Honda CBF1000 |
Pierre Ong |
Ducati 1098 S |
Colin Lacey (2nd ride) |
Honda VTR1000 |
Marc Marais |
Triumph 675 |
Ben Warden |
Honda CBR954 |
Gavin Chapman (1st ride) |
Triumph 600 |
Pina Garasi |
Honda CBR600 |
Cindy Lee |
Suzuki GSXR750 |
Raj Malhotra |
Yamaha FZ1 |
Rod Merrett |
BMW S1000RR |
Geoff Jones (rear rider) |
Yamaha R1 |
|
19 bikes, 20 people |
This was my first ride since April.
May proved to be a very busy month with birthdays, Mother’s Day and hosting
kids’ sporting activities.
My plan was to go through Kinglake to
Whittlesea but time got the better of me so I had to take the boring route via
the Ring Road.
A good turnout of bikes and riders
awaits me at Whittlesea. It was good to see Geoff Jones back from his hand
injury. Damir, today’s leader, has a quick
chat with the riders and then we are off.
Jason is in a real hurry and flies past me. Cindy’s ducktail flew off
just after Kinglake West at the bottom of the steep twisties. Trail bike riders
found it and gave it to Ben who ocky strapped it to
the back of his bike and gave it back to Cindy at the Flowerdale turnoff.
We lost new rider Tom Bartus at the
Flowerdale turnoff – he waited there for 20 minutes. He thought Ben was the
rear rider; he also thought the corner markers substituted for each other ie another
system not used by us. Amazingly, he eventually caught up with us at Yea and
continued on for the rest of the ride. Tom had a couple of close calls,
including not long after Merton where he ran wide and into the gutter on the
other side of the road, witnessed by Ben and Cindy at least.
Morning tea was at the Yea bakery.
It’s a great country bakery and the food is always fresh. I chat to Raj and he
informs me that his holed radiator from last week’s ride was fixed. Rod Merrett
and Colin Lacey went home from here. Colin had been kicked in the stomach by a
horse the day before and was all bruised. He is a farrier by trade (shoes
horses, trims their hooves, does 120 horses a week). But John Willis and
pillion Lou Ticker joined us, riding straight from Lilydale.
Off again and we back track along
the Goulburn Valley Highway to Highlands. I sit behind Pina for a while who is
riding really well. Misho flies past and I give chase. These are great roads with
no traffic.
Around 10km before Euroa, Mark and
I notice Damir parked on the side of the road. We thought he was waving us on,
but later found out that he had a puncture. Mark and I pull over in Euroa and,
after some time, realised that no other bikes were coming. Then Misho arrived
and explained that Damir had a puncture. Mark decided to go to the rescue and
headed back.
Misho needs fuel and leaves for the
petrol station. I decided to follow Misho but as I take off I stall the bike.
I’m on uneven ground and the bike goes over on its side. I swear under the helmet. Luckily, no damage
as the crash protection did its job; just a little dent to my pride and
ego. It reminded me of the time that I
went for a ride with my good friend Paul Simonson. As we were leaving his house his boot became
stuck on his right rear-set as he approached the end
of his driveway. He was unable to place his right foot down and subsequently
fell off the bike at approximately 0 km/h. I was right behind him and it was
the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. He broke his front and rear brake levers and
had no replacement. End of ride. And he didn’t even make it out of his
driveway. It was one of those moments where you don’t know whether to laugh or
to just keep a straight face. Fortunately, I had my tinted visor on so he
couldn’t see me laughing hysterically. The ironic thing about this is that he
is an A-grade racer capable of doing 1.38’s on a 600 around the Island. I guess these things can happen to anyone. Right Tim?
I digress. The rest of the bikes
rolled into Euroa except for Mark who has gone back to Merton but not on the
roads that the rest of Club had taken. He eventually came back to Euroa in time
for lunch. John and Ben let Tom’s tyres down from 45 rear/42 front to 36/35. His
bike now wasn’t as harsh or wanting to slide all over the place – the tyres could
get some heat in to them and do some of the suspension work. Tom was much
happier, the bike working much better, he reported later.
After lunch we rode back to Yea via
Ruffy and Highlands. I swapped bikes with Misho and had a good ride for a
number of kilometres. I can now understand why so many members of the MSR have
Blades. They feel comfortable from the moment that you sit on them. The power
delivery and fuelling is spot on. And the cornering capability is almost
telepathic.
The ride finished at Kinglake West.
The group photo that Ben sent to us via the Google Group really shows how cold
it was.
All up, around
325 km from Whittlesea to Kinglake West. Thanks to Damir for leading and Geoff Jones for rear rider duties.
Pierre
Ong