Sunday Club Ride Report, 19th May 2019
As a retiree, I find it difficult to get out of the nest early during the cooler months of the year. The weather forecast was dry and I thought it would be a great opportunity to take my Guzzi out for its first outing with the club.
As things would happen, the battery was flat, so out came the Yamaha instead.
I surprised myself by arriving ahead of time at the 7-Eleven store at Rowville where many others were already enjoying a coffee and a chat prior to Graham’s brief on the coming ride.
Graham led us out in rather chilly conditions East along Wellington Road to Cardinia Dam where we had a short stop. From there we headed out through Beaconsfield Upper along familiar favourite roads of mine to Pakenham where we picked up our President Ian on his trusty R90S.
From here we headed down the Freeway for a short stretched till we turned off through Longwarry North where the roads just got better. As we headed towards Labertouche, we took a couple of turns along some unfamiliar back roads winding through some fantastic farming country through Rockeby and then ended back on the Neerim South Road. It was here where the sun’s rays began to do their job and seemed smoke haze lifted.
Neerim South was our designated stop at the bakery for morning tea with a chat and a comfort stop for those that needed it.
Once refreshed with their morning tea, we headed off through Noojee along the road towards Mt. BawBaw and made a turn off to Hill End, Willow Grove, Shady Creek and onto Darnun for fuel and another comfort stop.
Wow! What a road! Never been there before, scenery was great and the roads were perfect for motorcycles. The route took a couple of turns and we seemed to travel in all directions of the compass. I was completely lost at this stage. This was a section of road that I can’t wait to explore again but will top up with fuel at Neerim South so I don’t have to keep one eye on the fuel gauge.
From Darnum, we headed back towards Melbourne along the back roads through Warragul South, Lardner Park and on to Garfield where we stopped for lunch and a further chat.
From there everyone made their own way home.
I realised I will have to drag myself out of the nest more often to attend more of these rides. A great ride was had by all – many thanks to Graham for organising the ride and to Tom and Deborah for their Tail-end Charlie duties.
Gary Moore
SUNDAY RUN REPORT PARTICIPANTS LIST – 19/05/2019
| James Linton | 1970 | Triumph | 650 |
| Robert Mullins | 1972 | BMW | R75/5 |
| Russell McGhie | 1974 | BMW | R75/6 |
| Graham Boulter (Ride Leader) | 1974 | BMW | R90S |
| Ian Snadden | 1974 | BMW | R90S |
| John Leahy | 1982 | Ducati | 900SS |
| Ian Bryant | 1984 | BMW | K100RS |
| Bill Washington | 1986 | BMW | K75S |
| John Best | 1986 | BMW | R80 |
| Gary Moore | 1997 | Yamaha | XJR1200 |
| Brian Boultor | 2002 | Kawasaki | ZRX |
| Ray Isles | 2004 | BMW | F650CS |
| John Killingsworth | 2011 | BMW | R1200GS |
| David and Mez McLennan | 2016 | Triumph | Thruxton |
| Tom Thursfield and Deborah Lunney | 2016 | Can-Am | Spyder F3 |
| (Tail – end – Charlie) |