For Those Not Away Ride
Sunday 7/01/2007

Ride Leader : Brian Malpas.
Tail End Charlie : Alan Ralph.
Ride Start : 10.00AM. Ride Finish : 3.45PM. Distance: 210Kls
Ride Report : Danny Morrison.

Firstly I should say thank you to Brian for his extreme generosity in allowing me to write this, my first Ride Report. Thanks Mate. (LOL)
Well here we go.
The day started off not looking to good weather wise as showers had been forecast for the morning although it was pleasant enough at Yarra Glen. Not to worry though as our President Garry was riding with us and I’ve been told it won’t rain as long as he is around. Hmm, we shall see.
Considering it was the holiday season we had a good turn out of some 30 bikes with several guests and one or two new members along for the day which was good to see.
Before leaving Yarra Glen we were subjected to Jo (Ladyrider) wandering around taking movies of anything that moved or didn’t for that matter. Looking forward to the results Jo.

Time to leave. Brian first outlined the basics of the ride ensuring no one got lost and we were away to our first stop, the Whittlesea I’Screamery.

With Garry (The Prez) playing traffic controller we all got away to a clean start and headed towards Mt Slide. A caravan along the way broke us up a bit with the more sedate riders choosing to hang in behind and enjoy the scenery along the way. A left turn at the top of the Slide towards Kinglake and on to Whittlesea where we stopped for coffee and a chat with other riders already there having a break. Was nice to see the Old Man logo hanging in the shop window as well. From here Brian rounded us up and we headed for lunch at Broadford along some nice roads and a quick squirt along the Freeway much to the delight of a Triumph Rocket Rider.

Lunch at the Broady pub was not bad at all with cheap meals and good service considering 30+ people descending on them in one go. This however did not deter our Tmax rider Laurie from bringing his own cut lunch anyway only to find that someone had forgot to put the sandwiches in meaning he had to find the local Bakery and buy a pie (his favourite food I’m told) to top up his tucker bag.

When we were about to leave it started raining and we thought Garry had let us down as several of us put our wet gear on, myself included. We need not have worried as Garry came through holding the rain at bay with just a few drops and a dry road greeting us on our ride to Yea. Here a few wandered off for an ice-cream as the weather was getting a bit warm now, some of the smaller bikes refueled and the rest just had a good natter and a visit to the loo. We lost a few riders here as they headed off to make their own way home due to prior commitments.

From Yea we did a bit of a circle through Flowerdale to arrive at Glenburn along some nice roads where I sat back one up on our tail rider Alan and did some sight seeing. Very pleasant. A right hand turn put us on the Melba Highway and heading towards home.

At this stage we became a bit separated due to the traffic and Sandra on L plates and her magic little 250 V-Star led the last seven of us up over and down Mt Slide as though she had been riding for years. Well done, Bruce might even let you ride the Harley one day and Henri is always looking for ride leaders.

Our last port of call was of course Yarra Glen where we said our goodbyes and thanked Brian for a lovely day out.
Summing up it was a good day weather wise, a nice ride on good roads, not to short or to long and of course good company along the way. Can’t ask for much more.
Thanks again to Brian for organizing and leading the ride and to Alan for bringing up the rear with his lovely pillion Helen.

Danny Morrison.