Fourteen riders, including a pillion rider (Dot) turned up at the start under blue skies and the fine weather stayed with us for the rest of the run.

We travelled out West of the Ballarat Freeway to Exford before entering Bacchus Marsh from the South and then rode up through Myrniong via Pentlands road and onto Greenvale where we diverted up to Trentham. The Greenvale to Trentham road is a motorcycling delight with plenty of bends running through the Wombat State Forest and some very nice open country all looking lush and green.

From Trentham we skirted Daylesford to head out on the Castlemaine Road and again diverting, this time up to Newstead via Franklinford and Clydesdale. Approaching Newstead we copped a thick swarm of locusts and again on the Newstead to Maldon Road. We had to drop our speed a bit as travelling around 90 kays I found I was wearing the locust’s splattered remains. A few days later I discovered three whole ones jammed in my barrel fins and bits and pieces of them all over the bike and my clothing.

We road through the heritage high street of Maldon and arrived just the other side of town at Elaine’s place right on noon. Elaine’s tree change consists of a comfortable older style home nicely situated close to town but far enough away from the weekend tourist hustle and bustle. Elaine told me she enjoys many a sunset sitting under the front veranda with a cuppa. At the side of the house, Elaine now has a recently completed magnificent 12 x 6 metre shed with the gable roof extending out to a further generous size car port. Heaps of space for just about anything. The whole structure is complimented by one of the best high finish concrete floors your likely to find anywhere. In all, a very nice set up in a nice quiet area.

Elaine had everything ready for us, tea, coffee, salads, roast spuds, beetroot and heaps of other vegies (can’t remember them all) plus mountains of bread and rolls. A barbecue was on the go for us to cook our meat and there were plenty of onions plus snags. A veritable feast!

We spent a very pleasant 2 hours over lunch with Elaine and also four members of the Bendigo motorcycle club, one being a girl who rides a very nice Ducati.

Thank you Elaine, you obviously put in a lot of time and effort in hosting us all at your heavenly abode and it was much appreciated.

After saying our goodbye’s four or five riders left the group for home directly from our venue, while the remainder of our group had a fuel top up at the one only petrol outlet left in Maldon. We then headed back via Castlemaine, Elphinstone and on through some very nice countryside and riding through Metcalfe before entering the Calder Freeway just South of Kyneton. We finally dispersed close to the Western Ring Road turnoff around Gladstone Park.

Thank you Ray and Elvira for your back up trailer duties.

Reg Hammond

PARTICIPANTS LIST

Bill Weedon Honda 650 1978

Richard and Dot Sommerville Honda CB 750 1975

John Killingsworth BMW R8GS 1985

Adrian Nash Kawasaki 250 Z 1981

Reg Hammond BSA Gold Flash 1957

Alan Kelly Velocette MSS500 1955

John Leahy Ducati 900 SS 1982

Tom Myers BMW 100 CS 1981

Noel Wills BMW K 100 RS 1988

John Best BMW R80 1986

D McDonald Suzuki Hayabusa 1999

Richard Haughton Moto Guzzi 750 2003

Ross Patrick Kawasaki 1200 2004

Graham Boulter BMW R1150 GS 2000

Burger Drake (over from Ballarat) Vincent 1000 1950

Keith and Belle Emmett Car

Back up trailer Ray and Elvira Isles