My first ride report.

To ensure the high standards I have experienced on rides with the group, I looked at all the wigglies on the map and joined them together as best as possible. I set out on the 19th on a scout ride, travelling down to the Palace Hotel at Lang Lang, turning left at the roundabout on the first leg of discovery. Up ahead, a large contingent of fellow riders entered the intersection ahead.

I think to myself, ‘I wonder what group they are affiliated with?’ A couple of km up the road, this intrepid bunch stops.

As I ride past, the lead removed her helmet. ‘I recognise that hair – it’s Val.’ I thought the go-kart bunch would have been well ahead; it was around 10.30am. Didn’t stop – things to do, places to be.

As my recce continued, the planned course was looking good, then a dirt road of about 5km. This led to a narrow road with no lines and plenty of leaf litter. The overhead canopy also meant the road was damp.

The rest of the ride continued with good conditions, except for a couple of road work areas.

Although the timing was acceptable, these two roads were not. Back to the wiggly lines on the map, replacement roads located and another ride on Wednesday. Still had two short runs on gravel, which I felt was acceptable. In future, I will go 100km out of the way to avoid 2km of gravel!

That brings us to the BIG day. The usual group meeting at Shell Baxter; fuelled and briefed, stands up just after 10am. So, off we head – Lang Lang, Drouin South and Strzelecki Lookout where Steve, tail for the day, took a small tumble.

Then on to Korumburra for lunch. Candice managed to sit with the correct group this trip. After lunch, we set off to Inverloch for a fuel stop, then Cape Paterson, Wonthaggi, Glen Alvie, Grantville to arrive at Tooradin for ice cream around 3pm.

My bold statement of no ueys, I believe, was achieved. There was a section that had great looking paddocks that I thought we needed to see twice, so around the block we went!

To summarize: 14 riders covered 235km, approx. 5 hours’ duration.

I think I passed.

Special thanks to Steve for TEC duties, and the committee members for words of wisdom prior to and during the ride.

Don