Nine of us met at the Caltex Plus Servo in Diamond Creek Rd. Diamond Creek. Pretty good turn up for a cold winter morning. Weather was overcast with some glimpses of sun trying to break through. It was good to see new member Gary Williams turn up on his very nice R 100 RS for his first club ride. I had only 6kms to the start and I guess while I was shaving Ed was already on the road as his distance to the start was 64 klms of mostly suburban riding. That’s a pretty good effort and one he has done quite a few times to this particular start. Also this midweek run was to be a fairly extensive one travelling as far north as Nagambie .Go to the Gallery for photos.
We rode up Yan Yean Rd, through Doreen, over to Plenty Rd and through Whittlesea then up the mountain to Kinglake West where we had a brief regroup. Here we learned that Adrian had encountered some sort of engine problem but could still run and decided to return home. It’s not often we have bike problems on midweek runs, bad luck Adrian. I called Adrian the next day, he got home OK and the misfiring is now a work in progress.
Now eight of us rode on through that fantastic winding forest road through Hazeldene and Flowerdale. When up this way I always take particular note of the water level of the King Parrot Creek running close to the road on our left. At various points I used to regularly canoe this creek, but only in the winter. Winter is the only time there is sufficient water for canoeing down the King Parrot creek and this morning and I noticed the creek nicely swollen and fast running, ideal for a spirited paddle. However in the last few years the creek has become so snagged with fallen trees etc that it is now too dangerous for canoeing in fast water. It’s virtually snagged all the way to where it joins the Goulburn River at Kerrisdale. Shame on the DSE or whoever.
After Flowerdale we rode up and over Break O’Dea (Junction Hill) and down into Yea for a welcome cuppa and a bit of a thaw out. We then headed out north on the Goulburn Hwy before diverting right and riding up to Highlands via Ghin Ghin. So far, it had remained dry……until now. It started raining on the way up to Highlands then cleared up a bit after riding down to Whiteheads Creek and through Seymour. However after Seymour the rain started again and belted down all the way up through Mangalore and Avenal. It finally cleared up as we got into Nagambie. We then turned west riding onto the Heathcote road and through Graytown and Costerfield on our way to our lunch stop in Heathcote. I hadn’t been on this 53 klm road from Nagambie to Heathcote before and found it most enjoyable. A good road with plenty of sweeping bends allowing for safe cruising at the 100 klm limit. Spotted a signpost to the site of a wartime prison camp in Graytown. Must go back for a look one day.
Our lunch stop in Heathcote was at the “Gaggle of Geese” café where we again thawed out, this time around a welcome wood fired stove and enjoyed lovely hot soup that came with generous chunks of buttered bread…heaven! It very heavenly though almost burning my bum and the upper back of my legs through overheated leathers by standing too close to the stove! Had to wait awhile before I could sit down to my soup! After lunch we rode down the Northern Hwy before turning right down the C235 to Lancefield, another good riding road. At Lancefield we stopped for a brief photo shoot. Our last leg was down through Romsey, Bulla and onto the Tulla Freeway where we dispersed near Gladstone Park. Phil and I turned onto the Metropolitan Ring Road smack into crawling traffic. However after a bit of slow lane switching we were soon clear of the pack and back to normal freeway cruising. I put the bike away spot on 4:00 pm and 355 klms added to the clock. Ed must have clocked up close to 480klms. Thanks Ed, another good midweek ride but could have been even better without the rain. Good waterproof riding boots now my priority!
Nine of us met at the Caltex Plus Servo in Diamond Creek Rd. Diamond Creek. Pretty good turn up for a cold winter morning. Weather was overcast with some glimpses of sun trying to break through. It was good to see new member Gary Williams turn up on his very nice R 100 RS for his first club ride. I had only 6kms to the start and I guess while I was shaving Ed was already on the road as his distance to the start was 64 klms of mostly suburban riding. That’s a pretty good effort and one he has done quite a few times to this particular start. Also this midweek run was to be a fairly extensive one travelling as far north as Nagambie .