Reefton Rampage Feb 2018
Reefton Rampage Club Ride 25nd February 2018
A cloudy and overcast morning (with an expected top of 20C) greeted the club members for the last week end of summer as they arrived at the designated rendezvous location. Sam giving a ride brief, we were to loop thought the Yarra valley country side, taking in Wooli Yallock, Warburton, Reefton, Lake Mountain, Marysville finishing at Healesville.
10 Keen riders and a pillion passenger on an assortment of bikes of all ages and sizes headed off towards Woori Yallock via Yarra Glen and Healesville, with Sam Leading the way and Richard taking the Tail End
Heading off down Diamond Creek road to Wattle Glen, Tom struck trouble here on the first turn with his T120 Triumph, reassuring Richard (TEC) that he was fine and would head home or catch up further along the route. We turned and headed for Kangaroo Ground, Yarra Glen, then along Old Healesville road to Healesville then turning to Woori Yallock, where we were to have morning tea. We hit the local bakery for coffee and a pie, chatting about the ride so far, how the surrounding bush was broken up with vineyards and orchards, marvelling at the massive nets covering the fruit and vines. During morning tea, Tom caught up with on a now smoothly running Triumph, we also collected members Jack, Gary & Robert, who were joining us for a shorter ride.
With Morning tea out of the way, now numbering 13 bikes we headed off on the second stage of the trip, heading off to Warburton and to tackle the Reefton Spur along the way original homesteads and farms with a mix of the modern farm houses popping up along the way making for a very picturesque ride. The back roads heading to Warburton was light on traffic, allowing our group to spread out and enjoy the roads and views.
A quick comfort stop and fuel top up at Warburton had as all ready for the next stage of our ride Reefton Spur, first sign out of town reads “20km of windy road ahead”, and, yes it was windy and tight, with short straights and numerous tight turns (FYI “VicRoads”, please spend my motorcycle registration levy on some corner speed advisory signs) the road would have been fun if not for the amount of road litter (bark, branches vegetation piling up due to windy conditions) and small streams of water keeping the road damp on the corners, keeping us alert.
Once over the Spur we mustered up for the side trip off to Lake Mountain, the 20k detour was to be the highlight with breath taking views and a look out for snow bunnies. What we got was far from promised. The route up had a mountain bikes event going on, the mist and fog dropping visibility down to 100m, one enthusiastic rider decided to do some overtaking just as a Ute we were following, chose that moment to overtake a mountain bike, a bit of serving and breath holding saw all come out well.
Wind having picked up to a fresh 60k+, with the temp dropping from our 15c to a cool 5c (which felt like 1c) before wind chill took its toll, a day to rival the Brass monkey rally. Needless to say, it was a very quick photo and we off down the mountain to Marysville a for some tucker and a much-needed warm drink.
The downhill ride gave our gears a rest and our brakes a workout. The trip down gave us much to talk about, with 3 WRX’s punting their way up the mountain at race speeds, on some corners drifting out and off the corners towards our descending group of riders. I survived a meter-long branch hitting me across the chest as it blew down from the trees, trying to get it off while taking a corner.
As we left Marysville the sun finally broke through the cloud cover, we grouped up for the ride over the Black Spur, after Reefton the wide clear and dry roads made for an excellent ride back to Healesville’s Beechworth bakery, (three bakeries making this a real Foodies trip) where we were to finish. Tom not want to finish so early, left the group at Marysville and headed off to Buxton, Yea and Flowerdale before tuning the Triumph homeward.
What a day, with riders doing between 180 – 240 km’s depending on the stages they completed, Interesting weather, NO Snow Bunnies, new and exciting roads, good conversation, what more is there do you want on a club ride.
Club Members attending;
Name Bike Year
Martyn Goodwin Vincent Comet 500 1951
Tom Anthony Triumph T120 1969
James Linton Triumph Tiger TR7 1974
Gary Moore Honda CB750 1974
Peter Andrews Honda CB750 1974
John Leant Ducati 900 SS 1982
Graeme Wilson BMW K75S 1985
Sam & Anna Panagatteri Suzuki GSXR 750 1989 (Ride Leader)
Jack Youdan Yamaha FZ1 2006
Richard Haughton Kawasaki W800 2012 (TEC)
Rob King Honda VFR 2012
Robert Mullins BMW S1000R 2015
Reg Hammond Triumph T100 2016
Peter Andrews