Easter Sunday Melbourne Riding

[dougman1]

Thanks to Squizzy for the effort In organising the ride. We covered a few old spots, and a few new ones for me.
And as predicted I was slower than a wet week!


All fuelled and waiting for Ant on his DRZ 400



Views to the West, Somewhere near Beveridge. Quite amazed at all the building that happening in the North. The city limits have expanded.



Hungry, thirsty. It must have been all of an hour. The Pie was nice though!




We ventured into the forest, where the roads were not roads!



Surely they Jest. It was a super highway!




Ant in the rearview mirror, which is where I tried to keep him! Fail.





Managed a quick shot of Squizzy as he motored off.

 

[dougman1]

The super motard was an excellent choice for the back roads.



The wonderful old farm buildings you find in the middle of nowhere!




This forest was a bit spooky. Was very windy with lots of trees down.



The rolling volcanic hills around Pyalong



We dined in the park opposite the pub, then headed home. It was a very refreshing day out.

Thanks to Squizzy and Ant.

Cheers Guys!

 

[ant]

Great to see you Dougie, we worked out the last time we had seen each other was NZ 2019. Too long.

Squizz took us on some fantastic lesser known dirt roads out from Whittlesea and Eden Park. I spent time as a young kid in Eden Park so I love the look of these fields, hills and roads.

Peach of a day - so clear, cool in the morning and then warm but not too hot in the afternoon. Was incredibly windy coming out of Whittlesea but it settled later.






Having tried the DRZ with the road contis in Toolangi yesterday, I didn't feel too bad about it today and the roads were nice and packed tight so it was all good. The DRZ has had some brake tweaks I reckon - I stayed off the front brake entirely on the dirt but locked up the back wheel repeatedly with only a light touch of the foot... was OK once I got used to it. Need some more dirt oriented tyres though.

Below - the No Road was definitely not accurate - a fairly steep descent kept me concentrating all the way down.







The "ghost tree" forest - white sandy road and twisted trees would make this atmospheric at night. Just tapping on the rear meant instant lockups in this fine sand, no resistance to keep the wheel turning.

 

[Squizzy]

Thanks for coming today guys, it was a very pleasant day.

Looking towards Darraweit Guim.




That DRz looks nice Ant.



Those bark buster covers really stand out Doug.




I am sure he said WTF!



Lovely view.



Looking towards the Strath Creek area.




Zooming along Upper King Parrot Creek Rd.





All in all a great day. The curse was broken - no broken bones on a ride I was leading. The new camera worked and was easy to use - Olympus TG-6, small enough to fit in my pocket or inside the jacket.

We didn't go on that little track from Strath Creek to Flowerdale Pete, I had been on that detour before a few years ago and it was a bit average. We had a good day until then, so I didn't want to push the curse (see above).

Doug left us at Kinglake West and I took Ant down Beale Ave to Strathewen then Hurstbridge. Ant thought Beale was interesting.

Thanks again for coming guys. Cheers.

 

[ant]

Out of the forest heading into Pyalong.

 

[ant]

Ant thought Beale was interesting.

Yeah, it was a good trick - "how steep could an avenue be" I thought. Cursed you all the way down, while trying not to neck myself by touching the front brake or locking up the rear

But seriously, great day. Thanks for leading Ian!

 

[glitch]

All in all a great day. The curse was broken - no broken bones on a ride I was leading.

third time lucky?

The new camera worked and was easy to use - Olympus TG-6, small enough to fit in my pocket or inside the jacket.

NICE!!

We didn't go on that little track from Strath Creek to Flowerdale Pete, I had been on that detour before a few years ago and it was a bit average. We had a good day until then, so I didn't want to push the curse (see above).

Fair call...will go and have a snoop through the winter months.... there are a few "check-outs" on the list.

Ant thought Beale was interesting.

with only the rear brake, that sure would be the case

Thanks again for coming guys. Cheers.

Looks like you had a great day out there....and "no thru" roads are the BEST!

 

[Squizzy]

This is the route we took, about 300ks.