This was the day that Victoria was blasted by the tail end of Hurricane Pancho and almost came to a halt. Most of this was forecast, in the face of which your crazy fellow club members below met at Narre Warren, ready for another of Ed the Navigator’s interesting rides.

Ed was the last to put his waterproof trousers on and this induced a few drops of rain from the sky. Undeterred we set off, Ed soon leading us south to minor roads on the way to Drouin and Korumburra, the most notable of which was the Warragul – Korumburra road. This was very bendy with great views if you had the time to look. Some corners were wet, some were dry, most were demanding.

Philip experienced additional excitement when the clip holding the linkage for the rear brake of his BMW let go leaving him with no rear brake and a T intersection approaching. He survived this unscathed and rejoined the rest of us shortly after at a roadwork’s hold up.

Kelly’s Bakery and morning tea/lunch beckoned in Korumburra and after much chatting we headed homeward on a shortened route – the wind was becoming stronger by the minute, and riding tree-lined roads we were showered with leave and twig litter, some of it large enough to warrant avoiding on the road. Later on the way home on the S. Gippsland Highway we encountered a constant violent crosswind from the north. We all had trouble steering a straight line and staying upright. Bill reported being blown across the full width of his lane. Added to this environment was a local dust storm near Tooradin, which reduced visibility temporarily and made eyes sore.

The Melbourne area was a mess of power cuts, traffic jams and fallen trees, but we had made use of the best part of the day – thanks to Ed for organising it, Bill for riding tail end Charlie, and Reg for taking the photos.

Participants

Ray Isles, BMW R80 1995

Philip McArdle, BMW R90S 1975

Alan Whittaker, Honda VTR1000F 1997

Bill Weedon, Honda ST1300 2003

Reg Hammond, Honda Transalp 2006

Ed Sleightholm, Triumph Bonneville T100 2006

Jack Youdan, Yamaha FZ1S 2006

John Best, Yamaha FZ6N 2007.

John Best