Jeeralang North (or bust) Sunday 19^th June 2011

Tim Emons	Honda CBR1000	Pina Garasi	Honda CBR600
Misho Zrakic	Honda CBR1000	Cliff Peters	Kawasaki ZX12R
Tony Stegmar	Honda CBR1000	John Willis/Lou Tickner	Kawasaki ZX1000
Craig Morley	Honda VTR1000	Tom Bartus (3^rd ride)	Kawasaki ZX1000
Ron Johnston (rear)	Honda CBF1000	Mark Copeland	Kawasaki ZX10
Ben Warden (lead)	Honda CBR954	Marc Marais	Triumph 675
			12 bikes, 13 people

I headed to Berwick nursing a mild hangover after too many bottles of red wine with dinner guests the night before, hoping the Aspirin I’d taken just before leaving would kick in soon. Running late, I just had time to fill up right on 10am, then offer navigational assistance to a couple of motorists hoping to find Lakes Entrance – "turn left in 400m, then keep on going...”

Ben gave us the rundown on the route and introduced John Willis’ pillion Lou and third time rider Tom. Ron had just fitted the Pilot Road 2 I’d ordered for him from the land of plenty, and elected to go rear rider. After some harassment from Pina, I agreed to do the write-up.

We took the well worn route east on the freeway where Ben locked himself on to the tail of a Land Cruiser with two KTM dirt bikes on a trailer. It looked as though he was trying to park in the spare bike space between the dirt bikes and get a free ride. I found out later he was saving fuel, watching his km/l readout improve as he was sucked along in its wake, all the way to the Tynong exit.

Once we’d dispensed with the back road to Longwarry and crossed the freeway, the pace quickened as we barreled down the Jindivick road, riding on the point of traction in the damp conditions. The low sun was shining, causing a strobe effect as it filtered through the trees, not doing my headache any favour. Alas, the road remained completely wet.

Craig found himself taking the same line I took a couple of months back through the big, sunken holes that have formed on the goat track after Jindivick. The holes gave the SP1’s suspension travel a good workout. Soon after, I saw Pina all crossed up in a long pile of gravel hiding a sharp ridge in the road. She eventually regained traction and was heading for the dirt, but managed to bring the bike back from the edge of the tarmac. Good work!

We enjoyed grippier conditions through Crossover, Old Sale Road and Willow Grove as we made our way to Moe for morning tea. The peace was shattered as a particularly noisy Harley belted through the main shopping strip with a wide open exhaust. Pina labelled me a “SNAG” just because I had made my own bread rolls! Very tasty too, I might add. My finest effort yet; this batch were a mix of wholemeal and rye flour, and I’d thrown in a handful of oats for good measure. They went well with thin sliced prosciutto, some aged cheddar and char-grilled capsicum.

After the break we backtracked north, then took off through Yallourn North and on towards Tyres. I was surprised to see corner markers waiting at the right turn on to Tanjil East Road. I’d passed this road a million times, but never wondered where it went. What a great bit of road! It had a grippy surface, and big, fast, open sweepers. We turned the fun dial up a few notches and hooked in, corner after corner.

Cranking into yet another corner with a big smile on my face, adding this road to my mental list, I thought “Wow, there’s a guy on a white 954 just like Ben’s coming the other way. You don’t see them too often... Hang on a minute – that is Ben?” Eyes front again, just in time to see the chewed up, gravel strewn, potholed surface just ahead, mid-corner! What happened next is a blur of surreal snapshots, all mixed up and out of order. I braked as hard as I dared and bounced straight through the potholes, desperately trying to wipe off speed and turn at the same time, expecting to lose traction and crash any moment. I thought I felt a nudge from behind at some point, and saw a flash of green Kawasaki spearing off the road, up the steep embankment and disintegrate upon impact with a tree. Its rider was flung an obscene distance into the air and disappeared into the branches of a pine tree. I’m not sure if the second green Kawasaki was already there, or if it arrived after the first, or even at the same time. I focused back on the road ahead, still hanging on, and saw Pina sliding off the road, narrowly missing the start of a wire rope barrier and disappearing in to the bushes. Then noticed further down the road Tony’s red ‘blade spinning on its side as it bounced off one of the wire rope barrier’s upright posts. Tony was still tumbling along the roadside. Somehow I managed to pull up unscathed (almost), and ran around with the other survivors frantically checking those not so fortunate.

Pina was up and about in a flash, much to Misho’s obvious relief. Her protective gear had taken a bit of a battering, and her aches and pains would probably become more obvious over the next few days, but no serious injuries were sustained. Her bike suffered minor cosmetic damage, but was still rideable.

Tony was nursing a wrist injury. He looked like he’d been playing inside a tumble drier filled with dirt and gravel, but was walking around trying to assist with the chaos. After a while he started to look pale and was ordered to sit down and wait for the ambulance.

Cliff and Tom were both conscious, but in very bad shape. Both had been thrown high into the air and through the trees. Cliff’s visor was found on a tree branch over 4 metres above the road. He’d come to land on the embankment next to the two broken bikes, while Tom was found further back up on the embankment, not readily visible from the road. Neither rider could move without severe pain. We did what we could to assist until help arrived.

Scrambling up and down the steep embankment I noticed a minor pain in my left calf as some mysterious bruising developed. I walked back to my bike to get a drink and noticed the left side of my number plate was bent right back. Also I was missing my left indicator and my left Ventura rack bolt was bent! Talk about my lucky day - whatever hit me could possibly have saved me from crashing.

Three ambulances, three police and a tow truck arrived on the scene. Cliff, Tom and Tony were assessed - see elsewhere in the magazine for an injury report. Tony was overheard yelling at the paramedic who was trying to help him “There’s no f*&%ing way you’re putting that *#%@@ neck thing on me. It won’t fit!” The injured were taken to hospital, while their bikes were unceremoniously dragged up onto the flat bed tow truck (I should’ve swapped my cracked RHS mirror for Tony’s good one.). The remainder of the group limped slowly into Traralgon for fuel and lunch.

We tried to shake off the shock of the past couple of hours over the break. Ben made good use of the feast he’d found in Cliff’s lunchbox, and reflected that he should’ve pursued Tom’s membership money at morning tea, realizing the opportunity had now slipped away.

Mark and Marc had both Pina and Lou drooling over their big dessert platters, dripping with ice-cream. Lou gave in to temptation and went in and placed an order. We soon learnt not to enquire after any missing food or coffees – “They will be brought out to your table WHEN THEY ARE READY!”

The bulk of the group decided to either head home or visit the hospital. Ben was determined to continue scouting out possible roads to the south, so I elected myself tail rider. Craig accompanied us and Pina went pillion with Misho for the run out on the twisty roads to Balook. We had a great ride in, but the final few km’s were particularly dark and greasy. After a quick break in the beautiful, damp rainforest, we retraced our route towards Traralgon where Misho and Pina picked up Pina’s bike and headed for home.

Craig and I followed Ben up some good roads to Jeeralang North as far as the gravel, then backtracked and tried to piece together adjoining roads around Churchill. Craig left at Churchill as it was getting late and he was already about as far from his home as any Club ride would get.

I tried to keep Ben in sight as he scouted around on some great twisty roads around Morwell National Park, although a couple of big slides on what appeared to be a sea of gum-nuts mid-corner made me more cautious. There was quite a spectacular drop off the side of the road along here.

We reached the dirt again, doubled back, tried out more roads and found a route to Yinnar South where Ben realized he’d lost his favorite map. Then across to Yinnar, Thorpedale and Trafalgar on dusk for the official finish. Just after we pulled in, Mark and Marc rode past on their way home from the hospital visit. After a break and a few phone calls we started the long highway run back to Melbourne, properly dark now.

All the best to the fallen; good luck with recoveries to man and machine. Hopefully the council will cover all costs. I hope to see everyone back riding soon. Thanks Ben for leading a ride that would’ve been fantastic if not for the crashes. Thanks Ronnie for rear riding for the bulk of the ride, and a special thanks to those at the crash site who did an exceptional job assisting the injured.

Tim Emons