 Ten of us met at Narre Warren North on the Princes Highway in relatively cool conditions under light cloud cover, both Ed and I arriving late after difficult rides up the Narre Warren – Cranbourne road. That was soon behind us as Ed led us north, east, and north again through attractive landscape and quiet roads to Beaconsfield Upper, Pakenham Upper, Mount Burnett, Cockatoo and Yellingbo. I know this not from recalling the place names from the ride, but because I have in front of me Ed the Navigator’s route plan for the day. This map looks complicated with three different colours of highlighter marking and a lot of directional arrows. All the more remarkable then that I didn’t see Ed refer to this map once – he must have memorised it.
Now under a blue sky and continuously surrounded by tall forest we approached Monbulk and a well deserved morning tea break. This was the ride of 1000 corners which was why I didn’t see much of the landscape Vicki (riding pillion) told me about – too busy getting the two of us and the bike around the corners.
After coffee and cake Ed led us on a mountain circuit of Emerald, Selby, Kallista, Sassafras and around the Silvan Dam, returning via Sassafras with lunch in mind. Sassafras was very busy, I guess with people escaping Melbourne’s heat, so a change of plan and we stopped at Olinda for lunch instead. By now the temperature had risen sufficiently to make the shedding of motorcycle clothing a must once we stopped moving. The café was air conditioned and comfortable and we all enjoyed the chatting and each other’s company.
Later Ed led us downhill out of the greenery to the urban Dorset Road area so that we could conveniently head our different ways homeward. Thanks to Ed for organising the ride, those who marshalled and Bill Weedon who rode tail end throughout.
John Best.
Participants:
Ed Sleightholm, BSA Lightning 650 1971
Tony Border, Ducati 750SF 1973
Bill Weedon, Honda CB650 (police bike) 1978
Adrian Nash, Kawasaki 250C 1982
Reg Hammond, Honda TransAlp 2006
Ray Isles, BMW R80 1995
Ian Roddick (guest rider), Yamaha FJR1300 2007
Tom Myers, Yamaha FZ6 2008
John and Vicki Best, Suzuki Bandit 1250 2008.
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