Jamieson Sunday 24^th April 2011

Damir Djikic	Honda CBR1000	Jason Wilson	Kawasaki ZX9
Paul Southwell	Honda CBR1000	Raj Malhotra	Yamaha FZ1
Tony Stegmar	Honda CBR1000	Cindy Lee	Suzuki GSXR750
Ben Warden	Honda CBR954	Rod Merrett	BMW S1000RR
Pina Garasi	Honda CBR600	Pierre Ong (leader)	Ducati 1098
John Willis & Lou Tickner	Honda Varadero	Frank Hutchinson (1^st ride)	Honda CBR600

Geoff Jones was scheduled to lead this ride but an unfortunate workplace injury prevented him from taking part. All the best with your recovery and I hope you’re back on the bike soon.

The Jamieson ride is one of my favourites so I grabbed the opportunity to lead. Saturday night was spent going over the leader notes and Google maps. Given that this was my first ride as leader I didn’t want to get the group lost and end up somewhere near the A1 Mine Settlement.

I was woken in the early Sunday morning by my youngest son Kyle, keen to find his Easter treat!

As I arrived at Yarra Glen to fuel up, I’m greeted by Cindy and Damir. Throughout the day I proceed to call Damir, “Mirko”, and feel like a real idiot as I write this article. Sorry about that Damir.

The number of riders and machines at Yarra Glen was surprising given the Easter and Anzac holidays. Rod Merrett arrived on his new BMW S1000RR after trading his BMW HP2. It looks like he got a great deal on the new ride. My friend Frank from New Zealand also turned up, to my surprise. I emailed him a few days ago but didn’t get a reply, so assumed he would not show. Frank just bought a Honda CBR600 and has done a fair bit of road riding back in New Zealand. I’m still getting used to the Kiwi language and the relevant meaning of words. They call an esky a chilli bin. A doona is referred to as a duvet. A child is referred to as a sprog. So don’t get offended if a Kiwi asks you how many sprogs you have.

We left Yarra Glen and headed to Healesville via Chum Creek Road. The road is in very good condition considering the recent rain. A very slow trip though the Black Spur with an old lady holding up the traffic doing 45 km/h. A frustrated car driver passes her on the straight and is later pulled up by the police. A quick stop at Marysville for morning tea and then off to Jamieson. Rod leaves us at this point, resigned to family Easter duties.

The first half of the Torbrek River Road is fantastic with flowing corners and clean roads. It doesn’t get much better than this. But lots of gravel greets us for the last 15 kms and it takes real concentration to negotiate. As I wait at the end of the road, Jason is the first one out and is ecstatic that Ben didn’t pass him. Raj informs me at Jamieson that he officially hates me. (I don’t think he enjoyed the 15km of gravel.)

Jamieson is extremely busy with many tourists. I make my way to the petrol station, putting my lid on for the 10 second ride, mindful of Peter Jones’ unfortunate fine a few months ago for not wearing a helmet.

On the way back along the Torre Road, I almost had a head on collision with a trail bike rider. He came around a bend halfway over my side of the road. A quick counter steering manoeuvre was required to avoid a collision.

Ben and I have a pleasant ride through the last 20km. I can stay within sight of him but eventually become fatigued and decided to slow down. I must be getting old... We refuel at Eildon and have a short break to recover from the epic Torbrek Road. Cindy and Pina looked very relaxed after that ride. I don’t know too many women that would have the confidence to take on such a challenging road. Well done ladies.

I study the map again and John Willis asks me if I know where I’m going. “I hope so!” is my reply.

The final leg is relatively straight forward. The Skyline Road through Fraser National Park is a spectacular ride but I’m unsure whether to go straight or turn at one of the roundabouts. Fortunately, Paul Southwell was behind me and gave directions. As the lead rider, I didn’t get a chance to ride with Paul which disappointed me. He doesn’t like to be passed which makes riding with him interesting. Good stuff.

On to Molesworth via the Whanregarwen Road. This has fast flowing corners and we hit speeds of $1.80 through some of the corners. Sensational!

The ride finished at Kinglake with some riders electing to continue on to Whittlesea. Overall, a great day and great company. Many thanks to Cindy for volunteering for rear rider duties.

Pierre Ong

p.s. Two days later I headed down to Phillip Island to watch some of the members participate in a track day. I’ve spend a lot of time down at the Island and you don’t get too many perfect days. This was one of them. Kurn took a spill at Turn 11, which is a very fast corner. He was okay and his bike was in good condition considering the speed of that corner where I’ve seen many bikes destroyed. Misho was doing 1 minute 50’s which are very respectable times for a road bike. I had a few laughs with Dennis and his new suit. He was wearing a tight, black, under-suit with a lot of perforated holes. A black leathers biker’s cap and a moustache would have completed the look.

Overall, they had a great day and the opportunity to open their bike’s throttle without going to jail.