Southern Region mid-week Ride Report, 2 Nov

Officer to Gembrook

Tuesday 2 November 2021 Melbourne Cup Day

It was smiles all around as we met up at Officer for the first ride after another agonising lockdown. All was looking good with very light traffic on the Cup Day holiday and a forecast of 30 degrees. Our Prez welcomed us back for our post Covid ride and gave us a briefing about the procedures we are following due to the Covid regulations and there was general consensus that they weren’t too onerous. Our ride leader Mike gave us a detailed outline of the day’s ride and Tom put his hand up to be TEC.

We set off in a very relaxed fashion heading South on the Princes Hwy to turn off towards Narre Warren. We toured through some straight roads around Narre Warren and Longwarry until we turned onto Jackson’s Track which took us through Labertouche and the very scenic Jindivick. Just over the range we stopped at Neerim S next to the Recreation Reserve for morning tea. Alan Kelly joined us here on his nice-sounding Moto Guzzi.  A couple of us walked up to the Serigraph Gallery to get coffee and enjoyed their excellent lemon cake. We were well served with picnic tables as most of the riders had brought their own food.

After a generous, relaxed stop we fired up our bikes and headed off towards Gembrook. We went through Piedmont, Powelltown, Yarra Junction and down into Gembrook.  There were so many bikes on the road it was almost like heading towards Phillip Island for the MotoGP.  We weren’t the only ones making the most of the good weather to get back on our bikes and enjoy what we had missed so much! There was plenty of evidence of damaged trees from last week’s storms and many which obviously had to be cleared to make the roads passable. Well done to Mike for choosing the right date. At Gembrook we parked right next to the railway siding at the Gembrook Puffing Billy Station and most of the crew settled themselves down at the covered picnic area. Once again a nice long leisurely stop catching up with old friends and making new ones. From here the plan was to make our own way home. Thanks to Mike for the ride and the great weather.

Damien Lewer

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