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Don’s Gippsland ride

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

Nizz’s Walhalla Adventure ride

Well, Sunday finally arrived and I eagerly headed off, knowing the day ahead was going to be a full-on adventure. The weather was looking good and I knew I had at least 2 other die-hard adventure guys coming along for the ride. The days leading up to the ride were filled with riders dropping out for one lame excuse or another: ‘I’m getting new stickers’, ‘It’s my hair washing day’, ‘I have to work’ – you know, the same old stuff. Only Rossco was forgiven as he had a legit reason.

So, off I went down the drive, out the gate, and ‘dduuuuuurrrr’ – nothing. My not-so-trusty CF Moto just died and wouldn’t start. Turned the key off and on and up she went like nothing was wrong, or so I hoped. I made it to the 5-ways, albeit with a couple more splutters along the way, met my comrades, had a quick brew and we were off. ‘Dduuuuuurrrrr’ – oh shit, this could be bad. I’ll persist to Walhalla and if it’s not better by then, I’ll turn back. Don’t want to be stuck in the bush with a dead bike ‘Andy-style’ – I couldn’t stand the embarrassment.

Anyway, knowing that our ride start was actually 2.5 hours away, we made a decent pace (when my bike was actually running) through the usual route of Longwarry, Drouin West, Trafalgar East and to Moe for a fuel top-up, then onwards to Walhalla for morning tea, a quick wee, and turn off all ABS and traction stuff. By the time we got to Walhalla, around 11.30am, the fog had burned off and a magnificent day was presented. We sat in the main street having our coffee and muffins while a lone bagpiper wandered out on the elevated mullock heap and started playing for all to hear. It was rather cool.

Bikes prepped, let’s go! We have 140km to cover to make Noojee. ‘Dduuuurrrrrr’ – oh, stuff it.

We hit the dirt and, by this time, my bike was getting harder to keep running, but I was always able to restart it straight up after turning it off and on again, so I chanced it.

The first 20km out of Walhalla is quite rough; very steep road sides with switchback after switchback and a loose, rocky shale surface. It was a good challenge but made harder by having to keep my bike revving as it was not happy going slow. Anyway, the others seemed to be on top of things and we made our way down the mountainside, across the creek and up to the lookout that gives great views over Thomson Lake. We stopped here for a breather and photo moment but it’s getting rather overgrown now, so we continued on to the water tank lookout.

Along the last several kilometres, the CFA were doing a controlled burn of all the roadside litter – it went on for many kilometres with dozens of trucks and staff overseeing it. It was strange riding along with fire literally 2m away. Anyway, we stopped at the water tank and I was taking photos. I turned around and Woody was eating his lunch. ‘This wasn’t our lunch stop, Woody – just a drink and photo stop,’ but looks like it is now, so we’re sitting on the side of the road in the smoke eating lunch when ‘whoosh’ – just up from us, the ‘controlled’ burn had just jumped into the tree canopy. ‘Uuummm, let’s get the hell out of here while we can and have lunch elsewhere,’ so sangas and fruit got stuffed into the panniers and we hightailed it onto Aberfeldy for a proper lunch. Woody was happy he got his sandwich in the end.

As the road had now improved some and we were travelling OK, I started throwing in some side tracks just to spice things up a bit and offer a challenge to the others if they wanted it. These are just 4×4 tracks made by people to cut off corners and switchbacks, usually only a few hundred metres long but quite rough and rutted at times. They were fun.

We must have done a dozen of them but, not long from our turnoff to Noojee, I took a side track. It was one of the easier ones to start but it had a tricky, rutted downhill bit at the end. I pulled out on the road and glanced back – yep both Nick and Woody were almost down. Cool, off I went. About a km down the road, I noticed they weren’t behind me, so I pulled up waited a bit. Nup; I go back and here they were at the bottom of the hill, helmets off and one dusty Triumph sitting there in shame. Woody had run out of skill with only 10m to go but that’s offroad riding. You’re going to drop it at some stage. The beauty is that it’s usually at not much more than walking pace – but, yes, his trusty Tiger got a couple of cosmetic biffs to add to its cred.

We continued on to our turnoff at the Triangle but, by this time, it was already getting on timewise. Fortunately, this road was much better quality than what we had been on for 90km so we were able to sit on 80 at times but not all the time. It was a pleasant road but rather uneventful. We made Noojee at around 4.45pm; another wee stop and drink as we had now been on the bikes for 7-odd hours.

We headed off again after turning all our safety shit back on, and made a beeline to Tooradin. I had a plan in mind as I knew it was a late finish and I was starving, having only has a muesli bar a for breakfast and an orange for lunch plus half a muffin. So I was starting to dream of fish and chips on the water’s edge. That was the motivation to keep me going. We made Tooradin around 6.15pm, bloody stuffed! We had covered 400km and been on the bikes for over 9 hours with only small stops along the way.

Woody joined me for dinner while Nick made his way home. Yes, it was a big day but it’s hard to put an adventure ride together and keep the day short as you lose 4 hours, at least, getting to and returning from the ride, so it’s just a part of it I’m accepting. As for the CFMoto? Yes, it made it home, coughing and spluttering most of the way, conking out at random and starting straight up again. Guess I’d better sort it out before the next one.

Big thanks to my companions, Nick and Woody. Nick did a fine job as his first TEC – well, when he could remember that the TEC goes last (can’t count how many times he was behind me) but great blokes with a sense of adventure – my kind of people.

Nizz

Moe_lunch

Zippy’s ride to Moe

This was Zippy’s much anticipated ride to Moe, so we donned our Sunday best riding moccasins and gathered at Baxter in beautiful, sunny conditions in anticipation of a great day’s ride.bikes at baxter

DepartureWe had 17 turn up with 4 of our lady riders, Candice, Michelle, Annie and Deb, adding a bit of class to the event. We also picked up Peter D at our morning coffee stop in Woori Yallock, making our total tribe 18 – awesome.

Pre-ride briefing and rider blessing by three guest monks (check the pics) complete and, with our trusty leader, Zippy out front, and our super diligent first time TEC, Steve W out back, we headed off for Woori Yallock with a bit of Uey practice en route! One was a road closed that someone swears wasn’t there last week – but it is hard to understand the long grass and weeds growing around the sign base … just saying!ride blessing

Not to be deterred, off we went on a tour of Officer’s newest subdivisions. Feeling generous, I am only crediting 1 more Uey for that adventure. I think half the area’s population will be listing their houses for sale fearing the bikies are moving in!

Onwards to our coffee stop, then we headed off via Yarra Junction, Powelltown and Noojee, arriving in Moe for lunch via some of Gippsland’s best roads and countryside and another Uey (3).

Moe_lunch

Fed and watered, away we go again. A bit of backtracking, then heading past Buln Buln to Drouin, past the Robin Hood Hotel, Longwarry to finish up at Tooradin (bakery and ice cream – because we can).

Well done, Zippy and Steve, Steve.W. TECin delivering a great, well-planned ride but, please, if you intend inviting the monks again, give us some warning and I will borrow Wayne’s rosary beads to win a few brownie points

😀

Cheers,
Mark

Nizz’s Noojee ride

Ride leader: Nizz. Tail End Charlie: Rosco.

I hate writing a report on a ride I did a month ago. I can barely remember what I did
yesterday nowadays, but it all started sometime in the distant past …

The path of 8 brave souls come mysteriously together at a point randomly chosen by fate
(that just happens to be the Baxter Servo) after trekking alone from various points on the planet to form a ragged but legend-worthy band of men (and 1 woman) and become known forever in the writings of history as ‘the Noojee lunch gang’.
One man was chosen above all as their fearless and wise leader; chosen to forge the path forward for all to follow without the fear of poor planning and shit U-turns of those lesser who have tried to stand on the toes of his greatness. His name forever sends tremors through the
channels of time. His name was
Nizz.

Another chosen as the caretaker, a man of great strength and knowledge but also of patience and care, his place to follow those of the gang, to keep them on the path to glory, to fix the issues at hand and to lay praise even when the cornering skills of others may not be up to scratch. His name was Rossco.
The time had arrived for these 8 warriors to mount their steeds and bravely venture off onto a path that they had not yet foreseen but did so without fear as this was no ordinary band of heroes. The battles along the way of their first leg were epic, but they all managed to make
the safety of the cave of ‘Koorbmeg’ (Gembrook). It was here that they stopped to feed their
empty stomachs and patch up the wounds from the journey.

But the day was far from over and the long and perilous road lay still ahead so, again, they dragged their worn and tired bodies back onto the steeds and pushed onward to perils
unknown.
They battled the endless turns of the forest of ‘Gembrook’, the abominable traffic of the ‘Land Launching Place’.
They were not fallen as fools by the peace and tranquillity cast upon them by the Sirens who frequent the forests of ‘Powelltown’ as it was clear a battle lay ahead with another band of lesser men, or far lesser and of significantly lower quality steeds (Harleys) through the mountains. The fight was real and blow after blow was thrown, the ringing of steel from the clashing of blades was heard
echoing through the valleys (it may have been a Harley dropping parts on the road). Time and time again, they tried to shake off our band of heroes but, to no avail; they were beaten and lay down their arms as our heroes turned off to ‘Neerim’.
Arriving at the destination tavern of ‘Eejoon’ (Noojee) was a joyous occasion with laughter and camaraderie had by all. Songs of victory and stories of bravery were told; children listened with awe, townsfolk celebrated our tales, and a well-earned ale and meal was ordered and given by the barkeep and maidens of the tavern.
But not all was as it seemed – although the day was long, it was not done with yet. Our merry band was well aware that our journey home took us. through the dreaded forest of ‘Valflats’, a place so vile, the trees reach out with branches like swords and they can take the air from your tyres in a flash! So, on our greatest care we must forge.
We made our pass of this horrible place without incident; perhaps the stories of this place were exaggerated or we were just fortunate this time. We continued onward with less resistance on this leg. ‘Willow Grove’ was passed without problems. We turned off back towards the forests and our merry band was starting to get complacent with the ease and the little resistance we were encountering. This was concerning for our great leader as he knew what lay ahead. By the time our band passed the ‘Village of Jindivick’, wandering minstrels could be heard singing the tales of our glory, but the leader grew more and more concerned. The great Nizz was wise and could foresee a tragic end to this quest as his band of heroes had now become distant and absorbed by their own needs. No longer travelling as a solid unit, they had lost the strength in numbers.

‘This will only lead us to failure alone,’ he thought. He was right. The chosen path had to cross over the ‘highway of confusion’ with many paths and roads that could be taken, all but one leading to various horrible fates for those foolish enough to fall for their lure. Our leader had lost many men here before and was nervous as he made mark on the last two turns. As he continued on, he could hear the faint sounds of his band fade away into silence and he feared the worst had come true.
He stopped just short of the village ‘Bunyip’ and waited. What seemed like hours had passed and with nightfall now approaching, he knew the worst had happened to his band of heroes; they had all succumbed to the trail and followed their individual paths
to their own end. Sadly, he could wait no more and, as he hopped aboard his steed for the lonesome ride home, he heard a familiar sound. It was ‘Andy the Silly’, one of his greatest allies and stern friend. He had made it through the ‘highway of confusion’. Only
Andy had the wisdom to not be fooled by this trick of evil. A clash of hands and smiles as
these brothers were united again in the final journey home.
Safely back within the walls of his castle, our great leader looked to the heavens and was thankful for making it home, for having the band of brothers start this epic day, for overcoming all that lay before them, but a little sadness for those lost along the way (yes,
they did get home). Now forever in the pages of history, this journey will remain (until I do it next time) as a symbol, a blueprint of greatness, of a band named ‘the Noojee lunch gang’.
Nizz!

Birky’s ride to Port Campbell

Ride leader: Birky.
Tail End Charlie: Stephen Gray.

This is my second year of leading this annual event after ‘Rotten’ Ronnie Gray passed the baton last year.

The ride, as always, left from Sorrento wharf, where 12 members met me for the mandatory completion of the ride sheet, bit of chat, a lot of banter (started early this year) before boarding the 9am ferry. Chris, a guest of Neil’s, joined the group over the Queenscliff side.

I decided to change things up again this year and took a different route to previous years. Leaving Queenscliff around 9.50am, we made our way along the coast via Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Anglesea to Lorne where the group had a short leg stretch and toilet break.

After Lorne is where the fun level went up a gear.

We headed inland via Deans Marsh, Barwon Downs, Forrest, Skenes Creek stopping at the Apollo Bay Hotel for lunch. Absolutely fantastic roads, lots of twisties and, apart from the odd road works and caravans, the run so far had been great.

After lunch, some chose to fill up and then we were on our way again up through Lavers Hill (another great bit of roadway) and travelled along the Great Ocean Road, arriving mid afternoon at our destination, Port Campbell Caravan Park, on what turned out to be a stunning day for riding – ideal conditions.

After checking in, we headed to the camp kitchen opposite our rooms to continue what is a well-established tradition of whisky, beer and talking a lot of shite. It was during this session that Mark S was presented with a ‘Fishing for Floaters Poop Game’ acknowledging his part-time role as a lifeguard at the Rosebud Swimming Pool where some of the little patrons, from time to time, have little accidents that need to be fished out. I do believe he was honoured to be recognised which will, no doubt, aid him in practising his technique at the pool.

Refreshed, we all headed up the hill to the Port Campbell hotel (another tradition) for a hearty meal, lots of banter and a great night had by all with lots
of laughs.

Thursday morning, after some had gone for their walks, we rose to a beautiful sunrise and headed up the hill again to a local café for a welcome coffee and wholesome breakfast, where the banter from the previous night continued. Muzz is well known as the sun god, but I have to be at least the sun god’s apprentice, as we were blessed with two great days of riding.

After breaky, we walked back down the hill, back in the saddles and we headed off around 9am (yes, Ronnie G – the sun was already up … just saying) along the coast. The return trip was all on the Great Ocean Road and the road through Lavers Hill, towards Apollo Bay, was just as good as yesterday.

We stopped for a leg stretch, fuel and toilet break in Apollo Bay but, as we were all full from breaky, no one felt like morning tea. So we moved on towards our next destination, Torquay Pub for lunch (seems to be a theme here). We did encounter what seemed to be an unusually high number of caravans and motor homes, especially mid-week, but these didn’t present any challenges to us – just held us up on occasions.

We said goodbye to Chris, Neil’s guest, at Torquay and headed to Queenscliff to catch the 3pm ferry home. At the terminal, we bode farewells and the banter continued to be hurled around onboard. Total distance 627km.

On a personal note, thanks for the support and attending the ride and a big thank you to Stephen Gray for his TEC duties.

Ride to Bendigo or ‘The tale of Two Ueys’

Mark for TEC on day 1. Thanks also to Birky for leading and Bob for TEC on day 2.

Five Wanderers met up for a 9.30am start on the morning of Friday, 7 March. It was a glorious, sunny day with a top temperature of 33 degrees forecast.

To make the trip interesting, we headed up Eastlink to Ringwood, then through North Warrandyte, Kangaroo Ground to St Andrews and up the Heidelberg-Kinglake Road to Kinglake for morning tea.

The Kinglake National Park is spectacular, but difficult to take in while riding on this goat track of a road, with plenty of traffic ahead of us and coming at us. Not sure why a truck would use this route, but one came towards us occupying a fair chunk of our side of the road – as a necessity. He was almost scraping the cutting on his left side.

From Kinglake, fun riding down through the hills to Whittlesea, where we took a sharp right to Wallan and stopped at Kilmore for lunch. McNamara’s Irish Pub was our chosen lunch spot. A great menu, a lovely old pub and friendly people. Spirits were high and the conversation was lively! Bob and I can vouch for the Guinness pie – delicious.

One of the group (you’ll never guess who) entertained us at lunch with a quotable quote. With his arms held out to each side, he said: “I’m a lateral thinker. I think sideways.” 😂

After lunch, for reasons unknown, I questioned the planned route, which had us going back the way we had come (briefly). It didn’t seem right to me, but it didn’t take more than a block or so in Kilmore while nervously checking the GPS to realise my mistake. So, we took a right turn arrow to perform the weekend’s first U-turn! – required.

Holy CAPOW Batman can we do a 'U' Turn in the Bat Cave??

From Kilmore, the roads flattened out a bit – across to Lancefield and onto the Calder Freeway, turning off at Malmsbury, to Elphinstone (nearly a U-turn there, but not quite), Chewton, Castlemaine, Maldon, Lockwood South and then into Bendigo. By this stage, the temperature had soared. We stopped for fuel at Golden Square, then onto our digs at the McIvor Motor Inn.

We spent some time recovering with pre-dinner drinks at the hotel. Those amongst us with ‘tatts’ had them out on display. Happy proudly declared that you can tell who the real bikie is by their koala tattoo!

An ex Nat Comm member, Perry, also had a room at our hotel and kindly offered us a lift to the dinner at the Tyson’s Reef Hotel. A good crowd there with what are now becoming familiar faces – Paul B (organiser), John H from the Grampians branch, Marlene and Stan K from the Geelong branch, Lyn Tout, Nat Comm Secretary and Melbourne branch member – along with Wanderers past members, Ali W, Chook and Mac D.

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Ahh yes, the old social lubricant , say no more!

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After dinner and social lubricant, Chook kindly drove us back to the hotel, where nightcaps followed (for some).
The next morning started off pretty warm. The venue for the breakfast was a shaded courtyard at Percy and Percy café, a stone’s throw from the pub the previous night. It’s great to see everyone gather and enjoy the moments together.
A delicious breakfast followed by an auction of a leather vest and belt, donated by Perry, the proceeds going to UCARF. One of the ladies, Jan, did a fabulous job as auctioneer.
Birky rallied our group so we could get home in reasonable time. He chose a route east out of Bendigo, past Lake Eppalock, to Redesdale, where we turned towards Lancefield and rode down the gorge to the Redesdale Bridge, a wrought iron truss bridge with a wooden board platform over the Campaspe River, built in 1868.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the 2nd U-turn of the weekend – performed between Bendigo and Redesdale. A few moments spent consulting the GPS – as is the usual practise. We all know the feeling, so enough said.
We turned onto the Burke and Wills Track for Lancefield. Along the way is a plane propeller monument which commemorates the first Australian to build and fly an aeroplane in 1910. From Lancefield to Kilmore for a short break, then on to Wandong and back along the same route we’d covered the day before. Great roads, very little traffic, a good mix of twisties and open road.
We said our goodbyes at the BP Service Centre at Caribbean Gardens, then headed home – hot but satisfied. Another great overnight ride, 523km in total. Thanks to Mark for TEC on day 1. Thanks also to Birky for leading and Bob for TEC on day 2.

Cheers, Val

2025 Go Kart Challenge

A group of expectant riders gathered at the Baxter 5-ways servo, drinking their coffees and speculating on the day ahead. The event? 2 x 10-minute sessions at the Stony Creek Go-kart track to determine the fastest in the group – the ultimate winner.

To say tactics were being discussed is an understatement; some ideas a little less sportsmanlike than others!

Pre-ride briefing done, the competitors mounted their bikes to head south. On our approach to the South Gippsland Highway, dark clouds had noticeably gathered. The forecast was for a chance of 1mm of rain. 1mm would have been OK – but we appeared to get our 1mm and several others as well. We managed to get to Poowong in the now very wet conditions. We pulled over and donned whatever wet weather gear we didn’t already have on.

We arrived at Korumburra to pick up Derek – by this stage, we were pretty late, so he’d taken off – and then continued on to Stony Creek. When we arrived at the track, conditions had eased. Phil, Trev and Derek were waiting for our arrival. We filed in and each of the 15 competitors registered and paid their fee. Then we waited for our race to start.

The first session: the track was still a little wet – in what could have been a precursor of the Formula 1 GP in Melbourne! Then the fun began. There were spin-outs, some push and shove and a bit of off-roading done. Not entirely shabby, but also some good speed for the front of the pack with a fastest lap of 57 seconds.

Round 2: this time, the competition was fierce. The track had dried considerably, and our expectation of getting quicker times was palpable. Our marshal told us that a 53-second lap was possible, so we were up for it.  But, before you knew it, the race was over. We’d given it our all (if not, too late).

So, for the results. The winner: Derek with a time of 56.234 seconds. Second place: Les with a time of 57.764. Third: Muzz with a time of 58.984. A pretty fine effort all round, and Derek got to take home the perpetual cup. I’m not sure where he was in the first session, but he sure made up for it in the second.

We then got back on the bikes, wet weather gear packed away, and headed to Trulli’s in Meeniyan for some woodfired pizza.

Then the trip back home via Leongatha, Korumburra then through the hills to Kongwak, Glen Alvie, Kernot, The Gurdies – where the blackened trees from recent bushfires lined the road – and ending at Tooradin.

234km all up (excluding laps around the track). What a day! Thanks to everyone for coming along and throwing yourselves into the day’s activities. I think we can call it a success and start plotting, planning and perhaps training for next year. Thanks to Andy for doing a fine job as TEC.

Cheers, VAL
Heathcote

Val’s ride to the VIB Breakfast Club at Heathcote

The morning was sunny and the forecast was for a warm day. What a fabulous day for a ride! 5 headed off at 7.30am for Heathcote where the Victorian Breakfast Club had its monthly get-together.

We needed to get some substantial kilometres behind us so we could arrive in reasonable time at the Juniper Café in Heathcote, so rode up Eastlink, through Doncaster, Greensborough onto the Western Ring Road, taking the Hume Freeway exit – much to the confusion of the group since I’d told them we were definitely not taking the Hume Highway. Ooops!

Turning left onto the Northern Highway, we stopped briefly at Wallan, which was very busy with a Saturday morning market. Having done what we needed doing, we were back on the road, arriving at Heathcote a little late and with quite a hunger.

The café is quaint. LP covers were stuck to the ceiling – and there was something for everyone: Demis Roussos, Tom Jones, Nana Mouskouri to name a few. As the bulk of Ulysseans had already enjoyed their breakfast, ours arrived … eventually.

Great to see John, a Grampians Ulysses club member who rode with us on the Halls Gap weekend. Also bumped into Jim (Mij) and Cogs, friends of Trev from Geelong.

After breakfast, a petrol stop and then we headed south out of town, turning onto the Seymour-Tooborac Road, through Puckapunyal. Along the way, we saw an emu under a tree. Not long after that, a group of 3 in a paddock. It’s such a pleasure to see different places and experience things we often wouldn’t otherwise.

We crossed the Hume at Seymour, then headed south-east on the Goulburn Valley Highway to Yea, then taking the Melba Highway to the Toolangi turnoff. A spectacular section of road winding its way through the Toolangi State Forest to Chum Creek and eventually Healesville. By this stage, it was pretty warm and Bob suggested we find the nearest pub for a beer. Being unplanned, we got ourselves a little tangled up, having to do a U-turn back to the Healesville Hotel.

Thirsts quenched and on the road again through more familiar territory – Woori Yallock, Cockatoo, Berwick and stopping at Cranbourne West to say goodbyes.

All up, approx 410km. Thanks to Mark for doing his usual great job as TEC, and thanks to Bob, Shots and Glenn for a great day out.

Cheers, Val

Woody’s ride to Walhalla

  It was a perfect morning for motorbiking, which was a relief after some poor forecasts earlier, and me leading for only the second time! I took the first chocolate from the Advent Calendar and headed out. We assembled at Pearcedale at the usual time, a group of 9. My pre-ride instruction was a bit shabby! Thanks, Glenn, for the prompts on the location of morning tea and fuel.

We turned off the Bass Coast Highway at Lang Lang and headed up to Drouin on a road I was not familiar with until I prepared the route. We stopped at Drouin Bakery. I did a lap of main street to make sure everyone got parked (roundabouts were used, not U-turns).

For me, this was my first visit to Drouin, but the Wanderers are clearly regulars. The owner was welcoming and loud, and was happy to see us.

The chosen route from Drouin to Walhalla did not include fuel, so some of us refuelled in Drouin, thereby avoiding a tour of the Moe suburbs. We headed up to Walhalla via Buln Buln and Willow Grove, avoiding the freeways and all those damned cars. Glorious roads in the early Spring sunshine; lots of long, sweeping bends until the last 11km – hairpins galore!

Smiles all round as we dismounted at the Wally Pub, weather still perfect. Ross commented it was the first time he had travelled that road in the dry. Lunch was good, if a little pricey, and the pub not at all crowded. We cruised up to the top of the village and back down, taking in the sights (it didn’t take long), then back to the hairpins.

Thankfully, the traffic was minimal on that stretch, but we did encounter a line of traffic at Rawson/Erica. I overtook a black Audi, and the other vehicles peeled off soon after. Delightedly, I hit the throttle. While enjoying the thrill of the open road, I noticed the Audi in close attendance. Not sure if the driver was hostile at this stage, and Birky, at number 2, was also concerned, joining the chase inorder to memorise the number plate. After a while, I let the Audi pass – but it was always within sight, disappointed perhaps at having nothing to chase.

We stopped for afternoon tea at Willow Grove, a new concept that was embraced by all present. Relaxed vibe, awful coffee though!

A fuel stop was made as requested by Glenn in Drouin. Weather still fine as I led the group down old Drouin Road from there under darkening skies. By the time we said our goodbyes in Tooradin, the rain was increasing, but no one complained about it. Jack commented that he had never been on any of those roads, which was good to hear.

All in all, a grand day out!

Thanks to Robin for being TEC for the day.

Cheers, Woody

Mark’s ride to the VIB Breakfast Club at Neerim South

Saturday, 9 November was a great day for a ride, a typical Melbourne spring day with a nice clear, crisp morning that blossomed into a beautiful sunny day, ideal for riding.

Nine Wanderers departed from Pearcedale at the earlier than usual time of 0800 hours to join a group of fellow Ulyssean members for the monthly Ulysses Victorian Breakfast Club (VBC) at Misty Hills Cafe in Neerim South. This was our second branch VBC ride following an unofficial pilot ride to Creswick in August and a September ride to Romsey that Muzz led. The October breakfast was in Wangaratta, but we did not attend.

Paul of the Echuca branch organises these rides with the usual format being a Friday night pub dinner for those doing an overnight trip. The breakfast is at 0930 on the Saturday morning, all nice and casual. The only requirement is you advise your attendance to assist with the businesses catering and staffing arrangements and, if required, organise your own accommodation. All activities are at your own expense.

So, with our arrangements in place and a bit of chill in the air, we tracked a well-worn route from Pearcedale via Tooradin, Bayles and then on through Longwarry and Jindivick for a quick regroup stop. Then through a nice little twisty run into Neerim South where we joined a group of 40+ Ulysseans (including Flyrr and Jackie) at Misty Hills Cafe for a hearty breakfast, some banter and BS with like-minded people. It was great to have Trevor on the Yellow Peril and Annie along for the ride.

Following breakfast, Trevor and Muzz headed home for other commitments while Woody headed on to do a reconnaissance ride for his next club ride as Ride Leader. I know it will be good. Check the calendar, 1 December for details.

While Flyrr and Jackie headed home to Warragul, the rest of us headed off through the hills via Nilma and Ranceby to another coffee stop at the Drouin Bakery before heading home via Lang Lang to Tooradin for goodbyes. While a relatively short ride, we still managed some nice roads, beautiful scenery and good company.

It was noted how responsible this ride was with not a drop of beer passing anyone’s lips. (Not sure how that happened, may be my last Ride Leader gig!)

There were also some assertion that an unplanned U-turn occurred. That may or may not be true. There were also some complaints about a patch of dirt road I came across. I know Nizz would be proud of me LOL.

All in all, I think it was another good day. Thanks to all who turned out to support the ride, the Breakfast Club with Paul organising the gathering. And a special thanks to Ross as TEC.

Enjoy the pics and look for more on the Ulysses VIB Facebook site. I recommend keeping an eye on the calendar for future Breakfast Club rides.

Stay happy and safe.

Mark S

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