Midweek Ride Report May 2018

Classic Club Mid Week Ride Report Wednesday 2^nd May

Some people may have thought that the excellent turnout of 27 riders was due to the good weather and desirable route, but some of us know better . We are fortunate enough to have a number of celebrities in the club and our ride leader for the day , Reg Hammond ,is just that – a celebrity! Now he was ably assisted with Ed Sleightholm as TEC and as most of us know Ed is somewhat of a God when it comes to expertize in ride organization. Everybody did as they should with regard to corner marking and the day appeared to me as flawless in execution.

We took off at 10 am from the Caltex servo in Diamond Creek Rd to  Yarrambatt and then turned off that main Rd to Bannon Lane to Nutfield and then Arthurs Creek. Bannon Lane is not only picturesque but quiet  and a good alternative when we travel north to leave the suburbs behind. Next came Whittlesea and we enjoyed the endless curves to Kinglake West with the only dampener being the 80 kph speed limit in this sector. We road to Flowerdale and experienced some moist road works but a sharp left got us onto the road to Strath Creek which for a change had no road works being undertaken. From Strath Creek we travelled north along King Parrot Creek Rd - always a favourite of mine and then the Goulburn Valley Highway saw us into Yea. This was our lunch stop and most of us started peeling off clothing as the day was warm. When a large number of motorcyclists descend on a country town and all want to be fed pronto it is hard to beat the Bakery for fast service and typically a good coffee.

It was an opportunity to have a look at some bikes amongst us that are not regular mid week riders and I was particularly impressed with 3 beautifully presented and performing Nortons and the oldest bike on the ride, Neal Videan’s 1949 Vincent, was a joy to behold. If you attended the Broadford Bonanza this year  the display of magnificently presented Vincent’s were a sight for sore eyes. I must thank Richard Fanning who helped me at lunchtime to replace a very recalcitrant headlight bulb in my BMW. We have just got to get Richard to attend some Wednesday meetings and possibly share some of his legendary knowledge of BM’s and Velocettes. It was good to see 3 ladies join us on this ride – always helps the tone. Peter Cullen often turns up out of nowhere and he arrived again today at lunchtime and got his camera out to capture a group shot for the record.

After lunch we finished the 170 k round trip via Murrindindi ,Glenburn and Dixons Creek to Yarra Glen and had to put up with a bit more road works on this leg ,but we are all used to road works aren’t we!

Well done Reg and Ed. It was a great Day.

Greg Costello